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A week ago today (March 30), Miami rapper Trick Daddy revealed during a radio interview with The Rickey Smiley Morning Show that he has been suffering in silence for years with the disease Lupus [click to read]. Late last week, Trick candidly spoke with HipHopDX about his battle with the life-threatening autoimmune disease, revealing that he has abandoned treatment necessary to successfully stave off the Discoid Lupus he suffers from potentially spreading from damaging his skin to ravaging internal organs [click for additional information]. “I stopped taking any medicine that they was giving me,” Trick told DX, “because for every medicine they gave me I had to take a test or another medicine every thirty days or so to make sure that medicine wasn’t causing side effects – dealing with kidney or liver failure…I just said all together I ain’t taking no medicine.”Trick was initially using expensive prescription sunscreen to protect his skin (that he explained was “greasy or oily and uncomfortable”), and taking cortisone shots to treat lesions that appeared on his body.“If there’s one thing I want people to know, do not accept those steroid shots for [lesion] flare ups,” said Trick of the cortisone injections. “They leave scarring. They leave indentations in your skin. Trust me. I used to get these shots in my face and in my beard. So I let my hair grow…’cause the breakouts are in the hairy areas more so than other [areas]. So I [grew a] beard, [but] after awhile I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’ll just shave…’”In addition to using prescription sunscreen, taking cortisone shots and additional medications, Trick was told by his doctor to alter his lifestyle in ways he has found difficult to do. “We ain’t gon’ ask that question,” Trick gently replied when asked if he had stopped smoking – an activity that can expedite the appearance of skin lesions. “Just pray for me. Help me help myself so we can help others.” Clearly, Trick’s primary personal focus is educating the masses on the form of Lupus he suffers from, a condition that can include symptoms such as the aforementioned lesions, damaged hair that can eventually stop growing, and chronic fatigue.“With my friends I joke about me having to always look in the mirror and make sure my face ain’t too fucked up,” said Trick of how he copes with his own symptoms. “Or, I joke about me forgetting that I can’t go outside with my tank top on… I learned as a kid to joke about my mama being on welfare, and to joke about our lights was off, and to joke about all those things. ‘Cause if I can laugh at it, then you couldn’t make me cry about it.”First diagnosed in 1998, after going to the doctor seeking treatment for severe dry skin that had begun to appear spotted and discolored, Trick was subsequently told to take the aforementioned drug treatments, limit sun exposure, and to stop drinking and smoking.But Trick quickly tired of the medical routine he was subjected to. “It gets so serious to that point, with the needles and doctor visits, I know it discourages people,” he explained. “And I just need to encourage them to do whatever they need to do to make [themselves] better.” In a combination of nobility and arguable foolishness, Trick Daddy is now encouraging others to seek the treatment he himself has stopped taking. “Me and the Lord best friends,” he noted. “That’s why he sent me to talk to people about this…At least I can give the youth that’s dealing with Lupus, [or] even the older generation that’s [living with the disease] – some people’s dealing with a form of Lupus that’s even crippling that I know me talking about it could even make them feel better. And if I could just make them feel better, then I feel like I did my job.”
Friday, 27 March 2009
Is Rihanna trying to send a message to Chris Brown? Since they're reportedly taking time off from each other, RiRi has gotten some new ink, and maybe, just maybe she's subliminally sending Brown -- who allegedly assaulted her in February -- a message.
Her latest piece are of two tiny handguns.
Her artist BangBang, who works out of Eastside Ink in New York, was reportedly flown to Rihanna's house in Los Angeles to ink the singer's friend, but when she got there, Rihanna ended up getting some work done as well.
"I think it's very empowering, very protective," BangBang told E! News of the tattoo. "I think the gun is very strong and very powerful."
According to the tattoo artist, she suggested the idea, showed her what it would look like, and boom, Rihanna is flashing some guns.
"I'm a big advocate of guns. So I said, 'How about a gun?' " said BangBang, Rihanna's regular ink slinger. "I printed out a picture of a gun that I thought would look good, and she loved it."
Rihanna and the artist tested several spots on her body, but in the end, the permanent mark was inked under her right armpit.
"We were thinking of putting it on her finger next to her wrist, or on her shoulders. She loved that, but it took away from her face, and you know, she's a CoverGirl, so we couldn't do that!" the tattoo artist explained.
Despite the violent connotations, BangBang insists the new ink is not a reflection of Rihanna's recent troubles with Chris Brown.
"I think that if anything did happen with her that the tattoo has nothing to do with it," he told E!. "I wasn't there. I don't know what happened, but she's very much herself. She's very happy, and she loves getting tattoos. I don't think it has anything to do with it."
BangBang has done many pieces on the pop star, including Roman numerals on her shoulder, Sanskrit script on her hip, a few stars and the "Shhh..." on her finger.
