DILLA'S MOTHER URGES HIP-HOP STARS TO HELP HER FIGHT LUPUS

Last updated: Sunday, May 14, 2006

DILLA'S MOTHER URGES HIP-HOP STARS TO HELP HER FIGHT LUPUS

Tragic rap producer J DILLA's mother is calling on all hip-hop stars to help raise awareness of the disease which claimed her son's life.

Dilla succumbed and died from Lupus in February (06) after being diagnosed too late.

His mother MAUREEN YANCEY joined celebrities including SHARON STONE and BACKSTREET BOYS star HOWIE DOROUGH, who lost his sister to the disease, at a fundraiser in Hollywood last week (ends12MAY06), vowing to spearhead a crusade to find a cure with the help of rap's luminaries.

Yancey hopes hip-hop artists will lend their talents to help raise money for a cure, and revealed that some of them have already contacted her, offering

to get involved.

She's particularly concerned about the growing number of men who are dying from the disease, which is largely associated with women.

A spokeswoman for Yancey says, "Her son had told her that he planned to commit himself to making more people aware of the illness, but tragically, he

never had that chance.

"She urges people in the hip-hop community to get involved, and to also make sure they don't have the illness, themselves."

Yancey says, "Everyone's case is different, and therefore, too many people may not realise they have it until it is too late."

Lupus is a chronic disease which sees the immune system become hyperactive and attack normal tissue

| Sunday, May 14, 2006

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