Rapper Eazy-E Suffering From Aids

Eazy-E, who co-founded the ground-breaking rap group N.W.A., disclosed Thursday that he has AIDS. He is hospitalized in critical condition.

The 31-year-old rapper, whose real name is Eric Wright, was diagnosed with AIDS after being hospitalized for breathing troubles three weeks ago, said his publicist, Norman Winters.

“I would like to turn my own problem into something good that will reach out to all my homeboys and their kin because I want to save (them) before it’s too late,” Wright said in a statement read by his attorney, Ron Sweeney.

“I’ve learned in the last week that this thing is real and it doesn’t discriminate. It affects everyone,” Wright said.

The singer does not know how he contracted the disease, Winters said. Wright was a drug dealer before becoming a rapper.