Cara Delevingne was "on the edge of so much self-hatred" amid her struggles with drugs.
The 34-year-old star has enjoyed success as a model and as an actress - but Cara delayed embarking on her music career due to her drug struggles, observing that she "just wouldn’t have been able to hack it" at the time.
The London-born star - who abused multiple illegal drugs during her adolescence - told Bustle: "Not being a sober person, I was so all over the place, and was on the edge of so much self-hatred, that putting out music and people having judgement on that — I just wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
"Back then, I could just about cope with people telling me I’m not pretty or ugly or not good at acting, but I couldn’t deal with [scrutiny over my music]. I just wouldn’t have been able to hack it."
Cara relished the experience of working with singer-songwriter Fiona Apple on her debut album, describing the 49-year-old star as an "inspiration".
Cara said: "The verses of [Need It] were written through us sending pictures of Post-it Notes back and forth to each other, which is now a weird thing to think about. Why did we not just send a Notes app screenshot? But we were like, 'I need to write this down on a Post-it Note and send it!'
"You can’t really hear her as much in the music, but she’s just been an inspiration to me as a person and as an artist. I absolutely adore her."
Meanwhile, Cara previously explained that she tried to "numb" herself during her younger years.
The musician - who released Not Normal, her debut album, in September - told ELLE: "I feel so much more excited and open about everything at this stage in my life.
"I numbed myself for a pretty long time and felt numb in general, even if I wasn’t numbing myself to what I was doing. I didn’t feel as grateful as I do now because it was just so intense, and I found that whirlwind of being recognised quite difficult. I’m just open to anything at this point."