Without any doubt, Lady of Rage is one of Hip-Hop’s most distinguished female emcees and unquestionably a pivotal figure in the emergence of West Coast rap. Since the beginning of 2018, the “Afro Puffs” star has been in and out of the hospital due to what is an undiagnosed illness and a recent incident has caused her to put a pause on her career.
On Sunday (Aug. 5), the once Death Row Records artist took to Instagram to share an update about her whereabouts and revealed she has been hospitalized five times since last September. The seesaw of hospital trips was triggered by an shortness of breath episode, and since doctors and specialists have not been able to diagnose Rage’s condition. She said pneumonia was the initial diagnosis but throughout the five visits, the analysis transformed into a wide of illnesses starting from sarcoidosis to depression. What the medical practitioners are certain Rage is suffering from is Sjögren’s syndrome and “idiopathic interstitial lung disease with fibrosis,” an immune disorder and progressive lung scarring.
“Since Sept. 2017 I have been going back & forth to doctors & specialists for what started out as shortness of breath. Within that time I’ve been hospitalized 5 times,” Rage recalled. “Initially pneumonia was the diagnosis. Then I was told pneumonitis, to “we think you have lupus or sarcoidosis”, to “you’re depressed ” take this prozac…fibromyalgia, sjorgens syndrome and idiopathic interstitial lung disease with fibrosis, which means the lungs are progressively being scarred & they don’t know why. That’s a lot, from 1 day you’re good, to the next day you’re not!”
Back in March, Rage took the stage of the Phillips Arena in Atlanta for the Queens of Hip-Hop concert where she joined fellow legends MC Lyte, Yo-Yo, Nikki D, Monie Love, Mia X, Rah Digga, Eve, Trina, and Remy Ma to commemorate the culture’s most honored femcees. She credits Daz Dillinger for the opportunity. It was her last performance that sent her into a deep hiatus from the world of Hip-Hop showmanship. According to Rage, she was scheduled to perform with Doug E. Fresh at this year’s Essence Music Festival but was, unfortunately, a no-show. Upon checking into her hotel room, she experienced a temporary loss of consciousness causing her to faint and hit her head against a body of cast iron leaving her eye and the side of her nose fractured.
“As I walked in to the hotel I was cool. By the time I got to the counter I knew something was wrong! I asked for some water, and the next thing I know, I’m hearing someone say, “don’t move, and don’t touch your eye”! I had blacked out and fell face first into a cast iron frame at the front desk! Blacking out is called syncope, and this was my 3rd & most damaging time!”
After spending six days in the hospital, medical practitioners deemed the rapper as a “medical mystery” after tests revealed nothing was apparently wrong besides fibrosis.
She was also scheduled to perform with Snoop Dogg at the 2018 LBC Festival just the next day. The lyrical murderer received many wishes for a speedy recovery from fellow Hip-Hop icons Grandmaster Caz, DJ Spinderella, Monie Love, Redman, Fat Joe, and many more. Flavor Unit’s Nikki D took to Insta and queried the Hip-Hop community to lend a hand of support towards the health of their Hip-Hop sister.
“Please help support my sister @theladyofrage_ as she is in need of some serious support. If you go to her page you’ll see her post as well. I’m reaching out to you all because we always have money for #bundles, #weed#strippers #materialthings and hope you’ll maybe skip a week to help my friend.”
The Lady of Rage’s hip-hop coming hit the masses in the early ’90s on primary west coast hip-hop albums Dr. Dre‘s The Chronic and Snoop Dogg‘s Doggystyle. Her performance on both albums alone heralded Rage as one of the most practical female emcees of the ’90s. She later went on to give birth to her widely acclaimed hit, which hones her signature hairstyle in 1994 “Afro Puffs” and is best recognized for her place as the first female rapper of Death Row Records. The AfroPuff emcee is a pivotal figure in the emergence of West Coast rap and has contributed to the mainstream presence of the feminine rap star through her talents in acting.
We send grand amounts of healing energy to the Lady of Rage for a sound and speedy recovery.
