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Lil Eazy-E knows the perils of HIV more than your average American citizen. After all, he did lose his father, the Godfather of Gangsta Rap: Eazy-E, to the deadly virus back in March 1995.

With the arrival of Universal’s Straight Outta Compton, an entire generation who weren’t entrenched in the N.W.A culture were made aware of HIV in the Black community and its affects and stigmas. For Plus magazine’s second cover of their first-ever dual covered issue, Lil Eazy-E is becoming an advocate for the cause yet again in hopes to eliminate the catalyst for AIDS once and for all.

“We, as entertainers, do have a voice, a lot more than the news, a lot more than the newspapers, a lot more than politicians,” the 31-year-old gangsta rap heir born Eric Wright Jr. says. “They have their attention and they have their ear.”

“Don’t be scared to get tested,” he continued, speaking of the young people. “Let them know [HIV] is not a scare tactic,” he added, referencing educators.

Despite Straight Outta Compton making more than $200 million worldwide, the pivotal scene where Jason Mizell’s Eazy-E revealed he had been diagnosed with HIV didn’t exactly ignite a newfound discussion for awareness regarding HIV, as Los Angeles Times writer Gerrick D. Kennedy pointed out in the article.

“Out of everything in the film, I think that was handled with the most dignity, but also with the most truth,” Kennedy says, praising Compton for “showing exactly how quick it was, the fact that his friends struggled with it, the fact that his fans really struggled with it.”

Nevertheless, Lil Eazy-E’s fortitude to keep fighting the good fight is a win in itself.

Click here to read the full issue of the latest Plus.

Photo: Plus, WENN