Bad news for Non-Prophets MC Sage Francis, whose LP Hope was one of my favorite hip-hop albums from last year.
Here is what he posted on the Non-Prophets forum about his experiences right after Coachella.
Went to the throat specialist, an appointment I made 3 months prior to this visit. A visit I should have made years ago.
The doctor entered the room and shot some Novocain into my nose that went down my throat. He left. I went numb. He came back.
Shoved a metal scope into my left nostril that reached into my throat.
He looked into it and poked around for about 10 seconds.
Pulled it out, turned around and said, “This is not good.”
He sat down.
“You have polyps on each vocal cord. Not only that, but due to excessive straining through the years you have developed a nodule on TOP of one of the polyps, which is rare. Polyps can usually be cured with lots of rest to your voice, but nodules can only be removed with surgery. Surgery will cause a distinguishable change to your voice. Without taking care of these things right now you risk losing your voice forever. How were you able to perform like this?”
“It’s been like this for years.”
“Well, you aren’t going to last much longer. I am going to give you medication and for the next two weeks you can’t speak. Not a single word. No sound. It is the only way to bring the swelling down. When you come back in 2 weeks and your throat is better I will have a better idea of what we need to do.”
Went to the pharmacy and picked up the meds. Called everyone close to me and told them I can’t speak for the next two weeks (which in all actuality could go on longer than two weeks.) Came home and said my last audible “I love you” before going to bed and waking up the next morning with notebook in hand.
I avoided the inevitable for too long, but there aren’t any pit stops on the ladder I’ve been climbing. Now is the best time for me to deal with this issue, and I feel no sorrow about it. No regrets. I played through the pain to the point where it actually hurt my throat to hold a normal conversation. But if I didn’t perform as frequently as I did or with the amount of intensity as I did, then no one would know who I was and my words would have been wasted with whispers. I played my hand and received my winnings. Now I can afford the surgery and treatment that I wouldn’t have needed if I never raised my voice at all. It’s a fair trade off.
Whatever happens, this Epitaph album will be recorded. It is half recorded already. While on silent treatment, I will be fine tuning the lyrics and when I am allowed to speak again I will be back in the vocal booth. I will be doing less shows. No two hour long marathons. I will say more with less words. It’s the perfect situation for someone who doesn’t really like to talk anyway.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
peace,
Frank