HIP-HOP’S STATE OF
EMERGENCY: OUR HEALTH CRISIS
State of Union Address to
the Hip-Hop Generation by Supa Nova Slom, The Hip Hop Medicine Man
Part I: “Hip-Hop Is Dying”
Dear Hip-Hop Generation:
This
is a call to my fellow hip-hop artists, community, and generation at large:
WAKE UP!!! HIP-HOP IS DYING!!!! IT IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY AND WE ARE IN AN
URGENT HEALTH CRISIS! HIP-HOP ARTISTS ARE DYING, OUR FAMILIES ARE DYING, AND
THE HIP-HOP GENERATION IS THE FIRST GENERATION THAT MAY NOT OUT LIVE THEIR
PARENTS!!!
As
we mourn the passing of hip-hop icon Guru, I challenge all of his peers and
fans to not let his death be in vain.
There is no reason that Guru and so many others under 45 should be
passing away at the rates they are.
Every MC, B-Boy, DJ, Graf Artist, sista in the club, college student,
brutha on the corner, G, and hustler is personally suffering from or knows
someone battling cancer, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, obesity, or
one of many other illnesses, most of which are caused or worsened by the foods
eat.
Don’t
think for one minute your aunties, big mamas, and parents are the only ones
battling these sicknesses. The entire African-American and Latino communities
lead in all the statistics for all of these crippling diseases and people under
40 are being hit at younger and younger ages. According to the Office of Minority health, about one in
four African-American women are overweight or obese and nearly 20% of
African-American children ages 6-17 are termed obese. This is means that 20% of our children are at high risk for
high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and a slew of other obesity
associated diseases.
It
is the fast food and over-processed pre-packaged US food culture that has
driven us to this place and if we do not act soon we may not be able to turn
back. You still think this does
not apply to you or perhaps you just need some extra reinforcement. Read the
list below of mainstream celebrities who have battled major life threatening
health conditions:
MC Breed- Dead at 37- Kidney Failure
J. Dilla- Dead at 32- Cardiac Arrest
Big Pun- Dead at 28- Heart Attack
Nate Dogg- 40- 2 Strokes at 38- Partially Paralyzed
Alonzo Mourning- 40- Kidney Disease: Kidney Transplant
at age 33
Missy Elliot-38 High Blood Pressure- Takes Pills Daily
Ghostface killa- 39 Diagnosed at 26 with Type 1
Diabetes
Lil Boosie – diagnosed at age 20 with Diabetes-
Takes insulin 3 times a day
Phife Dawg- 39- Type 1 Diabetes and Has Had a Kidney
Transplant
Angie Stone- 48-Type 2 Diabetes and High Blood
Pressure
Halle Berry- 43- Type 1 Diabetes
This
is only a short list of famous people who have disclosed their health status to
the public and it clearly shows you don’t have to be old, poor, overweight, or
living in the hood to be sick.
Beyond being a hip-hop artist, I am a second-generation holistic health
advocate. I have traveled on the
road with Erykah Badu as her wellness consultant and over the years I have
encountered countless celebrities dealing with minor and major ailments. On the personal front I am sick and
tired of losing young people and reading outlandish statistics. At this point NOBODY IS EXEMPT. Everyone is vulnerable to these
diseases and unless we make some immediate major changes to incorporate
healthier eating habits and lifestyle practices we may not live to see 50.
If
you are living on the American diet YOU TOO ARE A WALKING TICKING TIME BOMB
ready to explode at any moment for the build up of fast food, fried foods,
candy, sodas, sugar drinks, chemical additives and I am talking to you in this
letter. Most people know McDonalds, Popeyes, Wendy’s, Snickers, Twix, etc. are
bad for them but they continue to eat them every single day so I ask everyone
at what point are we going to wake up!!!
People’s
number one excuse is eating healthy cost too much but yet most of these are the
same people that spend hundreds of dollars on Jordans, Coach, Prada, car rims
and other material indulgences.
When we tell these same people who may buy two or three bottles in the
club to go buy a juicer they say it is too expensive or laugh it off. Our priorities are horribly messed up
when it comes to spending money and taking care of ourselves. People care more about what they look
like from the outside then they do about how their bodies feel on the
inside. They are more concerned
with being able to participate in the Pass the Courvoisier Blame it on the
Alcohol lifestyle than learning to do away with the same sicknesses that force
them to take medication daily.
They would rather invest in overly expensive shoes than work to prevent
diabetes that could one day lead to amputations and no options to wear shoes.
I
recently wrote a book called The Remedy: The Five-Week Power Plan to Detox
Your System, Combat the Fat, and Rebuild Your Mind and Body. It is
the first comprehensive wellness book written with the hip-hop generation in
mind and features testimonies by Melyssa Ford, Hype Williams, Tyson Beckford,
Erykah Badu, Chuck D., and Jim Jones sharing simple things they do to maintain
healthy active lives. I provide
the step-by-step plan to remedy your body and work to prevent future sickness
thru diet, exercise, and positive thinking. In this Hip-Hop’s State of Emergency series I will share
some of these easy to incorporate tips and tools that can change your entire
life with small things like drinking water and eating green vegetables. For all of you who think it costs too
much money I will provide inexpensive meal plans and easy to make home remedies.
Big
Pun passed we didn’t take heed.
Nate Dogg had two strokes and not much was said. When we lost J. Dilla
finally people started to show some concern and when Phife Dawg exposed his
battle with diabetes, people began to realize there is an issue but still no
one has effectively challenged our generation on a widespread scale to reclaim
our wellness at every level. Today
I challenge every one of you to stand up and take charge of your own
health.
We
have just lost Guru and the entire hip-hop community is in mourning. Let’s take the opportunity to seize the
time before we find ourselves back here again with the next artist or family
member dying too early and too soon. In the midst of street beefs, egotism,
misogyny, disunity, and materialism I call for unity amongst us all on the
issue of survival and health. It’s
about time we get sick and tired of being sick and tired and DO SOMETHING. In the memory of Guru let’s all get
GANGSTARR for our health and wellness.
If
you have any questions I invite you to email me at supanovaslominfo@gmail.com.
I am here to help you along your journey to saving our lives and becoming
wellness warriors. The time is
now!
Salute!
Supa Nova Slom
The Hip-Hop Medicine Man
Supa Nova Slom is an author, artist, and activist from Brooklyn, NY. Between his music and wellness
platforms he has worked with artists such as Erykah Badu, Jadakiss, The Game,
Ice-T, Common, and many more.
He recently released a new song called, “Tastes So Good.” One-third of The Cosnarati, the hip-hop group Bill Cosby assembled and
executive produced, Supa Nova Slom is making a profound mark on music, culture,
and wellness. For more on The Remedy Book and Supa Nova Slom’s Five-Week Power
Plan to Detox Your System, Combat the Fat, and Rebuild Your Mind and Body
please visit www.theremedybook.com.