From 50 to Kanye, 5 Rappers Who Needed Hip-Hop Healthcare

This weekend the House of Representatives passed Obama's health care plan, setting up a showdown in the Senate over the landmark legislation that would provide health care for every American. Unfortunately the bill will come far too late for some rappers who were in desperate need of some quality medical care after sustaining some serious (or in the case of Gravy, not so serious injuries). From 50 Cent to Bushwick Bill, here are 5 rappers who needed a doctor bad (and no, Dr. Dre doesn't count).

"50 Cent Shot in the Face...9 Times"

When he first came out you couldn't hear the name 50 Cent without hearing "that's the dude who got shot in the face nine times." For the record that's a bit of an urban legend. 50 was indeed shot repeatedly, but only one bullet struck him in the face, the others hit him in the hand, chest and hip (not like that's much better). 50 may come across as fearless now, but at the time he was justifiably terrified about the shooting: "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh shit, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'

Kanye Fractures His Jaw in Car Accident

Well before he was taunting Taylor Swift, Kanye West was just another up-and-coming producer driving home late from a studio session in L.A. But at 3 a.m., October 3, 2002 West reportedly fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his rented vehicle into the W Hotel in West Hollywood, where he was staying,resulting in a fractured jaw and material for his first song. Listening to "Through the Wire" in retrospect you can totally see his ego coming as he self-aggrandizing traits as compares his relatively minor injury to Emmet Till, the young black boy whose horrific beating helped set off the civil rights movement. Because crashing your car into your posh West Hollywood hotel and being beaten to death by the KKK are totally the same thing.

Fabolous Shot and Arrested. Worst...Night...Ever

Getting shot sucks, getting shot and then arrested sucks even more. On October 17, 2006, Loso was in a New York parking garage when an unidentified man approached and opened fire, striking the rapper in the leg. Fabo and his crew quickly ducked into their car and speed off, blowing through traffic lights and attracting the attention of police who were responded to a shots fired call. After pulling the car over cops found several handguns in the vehicle and promptly arrested Fabo (and then taking him to the hospital for treatment). Yeah, his night sucked. Hey, it could have been worse. He could have shot himself in the leg with his own gun and then been kicked out of the NFL.

Gravy Takes (a Bullet) in the Buttocks

Before he played Biggie in a major motion picture Brooklyn rapper Gravy accidentally did some research for the role after he was shot in the ass outside of New York radio station Hot 97’s SoHo studios. Amazingly/hilariously, after the shooting Gravy insisted he was fine, sat down for an interview (yes, "sat down") and then told police he "fell down", which might just be the worst alibi in rap history. More alarmingly, the shooting also prompted 10,000 people to make "I wonder if Gravy poured out the bullet hole" jokes and think they were being original.

Bushwick Bill Shoots His Own Eye Out

Bushwick Bill remains one of hip-hop's biggest outsider stories, and also one of its gnarliest injuries. In May of 1991, the Geto Boyz' rapper got into an armed struggle with his girlfriend while depressed, drunk and suicidal. The gun went off and pierced his right eye, leaving a bullet lodged in his brain and permanently blind in that eye. To top it off, as he exited the hospital the Boyz took a picture of his missing eye and then used it for an album cover. You know what would never happen now? Pictures of a midget rapper with a bloody hole for an eye on an album, but in the early 90's rappers could still pretty much do whatever they wanted.