Doctor Dre of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ Goes Blind Due to Diabetes

Ten years ago, Doctor Dre, of the landmark television program Yo! MTV Raps, developed Type 2 diabetes, and in an interview with The New York Times published Sunday (June 12) the DJ and hip-hop statesman reveals that the disease has caused him to lose a toe, suffer numerous ankle injuries and three years ago, it took his eyesight as well. With weight loss surgery ahead of him, Dre is hoping to share his experiences with the world through a proposed reality show that would document his surgery and recovery.

“My stubbornness put me where I’m at. Now my energy is going to change that,” Dre said. “We got young people, grown people, old, all having this. We can prevent this. We can cure this. I have an idea how to do it.”

Dre turned to Bill Adler, a former Def Jam executive, for help in shopping the reality show, what Dre hopes will serve an informative and cautionary tale on the disease. As the Times notes though, the calls that Adler has placed to "high-profile hip-hop personalities and entrepreneurs with television experience and a history" with Dre have thus far gone unanswered.

“These are people I’ve known for 30 years, and they haven’t gotten back to me,” Adler said. “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.”

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