This edition of HoodHealth hits a somber tone with the passing of Sean Price, making us all take a trip to the doctor just in case

This weekend the whole Hip Hop world was hit with the news that the self proclaimed “world’s brokest rapper”, Sean Price, passed in his sleep. With his death, Hip Hop was dealt a hard blow. He is regarded by many as “their rapper’s favorite rapper”. By looking at how many days his death stayed at the top of trending topics on Facebook and Twitter, you can tell that his influence over many was great. One of the hardest things about digesting the news was that he passed in his sleep at the age of 43. At this point, the cause of death hasn’t been determined, yet we can all agree that 43 is way to young to be returning to the essence.

Along with hearing the news of his death this weekend, I watched the Unsung documentary of Kool Moe Dee. One of Kool Moe Dee’s breakout songs was “Go See the Doctor”. We have written about signs and symptoms on one’s body that should be causes for health concerns. This time around though we are citing another reason that one should go see the doctor…just for the Hell of it. Basically, we don’t do enough preventative maintenance on our body.

When you take that car to get the oil change, if you take it to a good mechanic, they are going to check all of the fluids, check the windshield whippers and look at the tires. The last thing that they are going to give you is that sticker that tells you to come get your oil changed after a certain amount of miles or mileage. They don’t tell you to come back if you are having problems with your car. They tell you that there is a set time that your butt better be back up in the shop or inevitably you will have problems with your car. We need to take the same approach with our bodies.

I know, speaking as a male, I used to never go to the doctor unless my arm was falling off. And even if that was the case, I might just use duct tape and some “tussin.” I don’t know if that is the male ego hard wiring or what. In the past, the only time that I really went to the doctor besides something really wrong with me was if I needed a physical for a new job or school. The reality though is that we have to get in tune with doing annuals or quarterlies. It doesn’t matter if you have a primary or go to the clinic. You need to have regular checkups with the doctor.

Fear keeps a lot of people from the doctor’s office. It is fear that something might be wrong with us. Even if that is the case, nothing was ever fixed by ignoring it. Even if you are an advocate of non-Western medicine, it is definitely good for identifying the root cause of many ailments. The list of preventable illnesses is way too long to list here. Many dire illnesses even can be effectively treated if detected early. Regular checkups gives the doctors a baseline on your body to detect when something is off with you. Sometimes it is nothing except a simple lifestyle adjustment that will clear up disease within your body.

We gonna miss Sean P because he didn’t have an identity as a rapper. He was Sean P in front of the camera’s and off camera. He represented in Hip Hop what is sorely missing in many realms nowadays…the common man. He was a family man, a comedian, one of the illest rappers, a human being and just extraordinary all around. Yet one of the strongest things that stands out is that he passed at the age of 43 and that ain’t anything normal. It does offer us a moment to reflect and check our own health. Why don’t you make some appointments this week. Why don’t you make it a habit. Let’s add a appreciation of HoodHealth to the legacy of Sean P!

C’BS ALife Allah is the co-editor of the Hood Health Handbook and co-creator of the HoodHealth concept. Check him out at ALifeAllah.com and follow him on Twitter and IG @Alifeallah