Appetite of the Culture

When your hero's become human, it tends to get a little realer!!

As of lately, a few of my favorite Hip Hop Artist have been battling with Kidney Disease. For those who are unaware of what Kidney Disease is, it's when the kidneys are damaged and can't filter blood the way they should. Having Diabetes and High Blood Pressure are factors that can increase the risk of Kidney Disease. Treatments of Kidney Disease are Dialysis, which is the filtration of the blood, or having a transplant. Kidney Failure may initially occur in one of the bodies two kidneys, but if untreated can spread to the second over a short period of time.

As we've come to learn the phrase "Health is Wealth," many members of the Hip Hop Community have adopted a healthier lifestyle. Exercise and diet have become focal points in the physical lives of artist such as Rick Ross, but sadly much of the music hasn't made the adjustment. With the recent call from Scarface to his audience on Twitter for a kidney donation, I believe that it's beyond time to have a discussion on health. Exercising is a great addition as we all know to becoming healthier, but it begins much earlier with the things that we decide to put into our bodies.

The Hip Hop Culture for years has taken on the persona of living the rich and famous lifestyle. For the onlookers that meant doing what the most impressionable celebrities did. Celebrating the so-called good life meant, drinking the most popular liquor, smoking the best weed, and as of lately pill popping. Not always eating the best food, but being able to eat whatever desired at the moment, such as "A t-bone steak, cheese eggs and Welch's Grape." All the appetites of man being fed meant you were living the life of a "baller." All these things still exist in the "baller" handbook, and although many of the people we revere and respect have died early due to medical illness, I wouldn't be so sure that things will change.

One hopeful moment has come with the news of artist Freeway, of Roc Nation, who has successfully undergone a kidney transplant. Freeway had been battling complications with his kidneys for several years before being blessed with a compatible donor kidney. As far as we know, there have been no complications, and Freeway is thriving. We're praying that Scarface will enjoy the same success that Freeway's had. In the meantime, it's imperative that as Hip Hop's bottom line grows, the education of health as well as wealth reflects in the music and lifestyle of the artist... Long Live HIP HOP!

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