Former YO! MTV Raps host Doctor Dré is hoping to spread awareness about the disease that took his eyesight three years ago.
While his former co-host YO! MYV Raps co-host Ed Lover has managed to stay in the public eye via radio, we haven’t heard much from Doctor Dre as of late. That is because he has secretly been battling with Type 2 diabetes and he suffered a major blow when the disease robbed him of his eyesight three years ago.
The man who used to bring us our favorite rap artists and videos throughout the 90’s is hoping to make a return to television, this time by hosting a reality show that will chronicle his battles and hopefully warn others about the dangers of the disease.
In an interview with the New York Times, Doctor Dré [born Andre Brown] revealed plans to shoot a show that will revolve around the steps he is taking to get better. In the ten years that he has lived with the disease, he has also lost a toe and suffered numerous ankle injuries. He is now planning to undergo weight loss surgery to help reduce the symptoms. The proposed show will chronicle his surgery and recovery.
So far, the only help he has received has been from former Def Jam publicist, author and all-around music industry veteran Bill Adler. Adler has pledged to help Dré secure the money and resources needed to produce the show, but he admits it hasn’t been easy.
“These are people I’ve known for 30 years, and they haven’t gotten back to me,” Adler told NYT. “Dré just wants to share his enthusiasm with people. There are plenty of other folks who star in reality shows who are plainly narcissists, who are convinced every absurd thing out of their mouth has to be captured by a television camera. That is not Dré.”
To give you an idea of the people Dré has helped directly or indirectly, consider this. He told Def Jam about Public Enemy, who later signed with the label. He introduced Ice Cube to Public Enemy, whose production team The Bomb Sqaud produced his classic debut album. He and Ed Lover’s 1993 movie Who’s The Man featured everyone from Ice-T to Queen Latifah and the soundtrack was essentially one of the first projects that Sean “Diddy” Combs executive produced and it featured The Notorious B.I.G.’s first ever single “Party and Bullshit.”
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