this week on a special edition of "our world with black enterprise," r&b crooner charlie wilson has another hit and he's battling a great personal challenge that he can't sing his way out of. plus, two harlem doctors helping thousands live longer and healthier lives are our "slice of life." stay tuned. our special look at a battle against prostate cancer is up next. captions made possible by the u.s. department of education and central city productions, inc. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ he's done it again. there goes my baby can be added to the long list of hits for charlie wilson. wilson and his two brothers' rise to fame began in the late 1970s when the gap band became one of the most popular groups in r&b with classic hits including "burn rubber on me," outstandi outstanding. scoring big hits with songs like -- ♪ ♪ ♪ >> which was produced by r. kelly and of course, wilson's latest, co-written by legendary hitmaker babyface. i caught up with the tulsa, oklahoma, aetnaive in new york city where we talked about the ups and downs of his career, how he almost lost it all, including his life, and the new life and death battle he's fighting for himself and others.

charlie wilson, good to see you, man. >> good to see you, too, man. >> before we get into the history of charlie wilson the singer and all of what we have, i want to ask you something, and i mean this with all due respect. you are no longer a spring chicken. now this new album. >> yes. >> really is contemporary music. >> yes. >> there are a lot of guys who at your age could not pull this off. what makes charlie wilson able to do that? >> first of all, i never stopped believing in myself. that's number one, and i have always had a dream, and i believe in my dreams and i go for my dreams, you know what i'm saying? and hip-hop has embraced me and has been that for me for many years. so i've been able to transcend and bridge gaps since 1995. >> hip-hop has embraced wilson. in fact, there's an entire generation that cites him as an influence from snoop dog to r.

kelly, many pay homage to the frontman of the gap band. he's even earned a nickname from this crew, uncle charlie. >> back in the day, did you know the influence you had? >> no. no. i'm just singing and having fun. that's all i love to do. you know, it is just -- this is what i love to do and i sing from the bottom of my heart. i had no clue that i was touching this many youngsters, you know what i'm saying? at that time, no. >> one of the things the gap band did and you said it, i was singing and having fun. >> yes. >> it just seemed if you ever went to a gap band concert and even just listened to the record which is doesn't always translate, you can tell that you and your brothers are having fun doing this thing. was it as much fun as it seemed? there is the business side of it. >> well, during that time we tried to keep it as much fun as we could besides that particular

record company just taking everything that we had, you know what i'm saying? it was hard for us to try to smile and go to the stage with a smile because that part of it is what we loved to do. we also loved to be in the studio, that part of it, too, but not being able to get anything from that and then when we went to the stage, when we finished that we didn't get any of that. so it was really hard. it was definitely hard for us then. we were robbed in every way. >> music was released from the gap five, through six, seven -- all of those records were music from the cans. we had nothing to do with any of that music. it looked like we had taken a nosedive from drugs and alcohol. now we were on drugs and alcohol, but we weren't in the studio, either. you see what i'm saying? they were releasing gap 6 and gap 7 and those were all outtakes that we took down so

when we started butting heads about the money and they were, like, i don't care we have plenty of songs and they started releasing records and they made us look real bad and it was want good. >> while fighting executives, the music of the business took its toll on the band. it was the brothers' indulgence with drugs and alcohol. which not almost ended their careers, it almost cost him his life. >> when i was in my lowest in the streets and alleys of hollywood -- >> literally. >> literally. i never, ever stopped praying. i have god. don't let the devil kill me out here because i still want to do something else. i asked him for that and, you know, the scripture says ask and you shall be given. don't let the devil kill me out here. i was literally -- if you can picture this. three shopping carts wrapped in

hefty bags, a cinder block republic for my pillow and a piece of carpet for my bed and that's how i slept. yeah. >> charlie, how many days or were you even able -- were you even functioning enough to say i'm charlie wilson. i'm not supposed to be here. >> i said it every day. i said it every single day. however, i had no place to go. not in los angeles, you know? homeless people took care of me, you know? it was -- i had -- my brothers and i, we had literally nothing really because everything was taken us from. >> what about the personal side -- not the business side, but the personal side of charlie wilson. how disappointed were you in you? because i knew that -- >> because you have a gift that many do not have.

>> first of all, my father is a minister, my mother with with the oklahoma of northwest for 40 years. we come out of the church. i knew that even just drugs and alcohol period was want an option, period. we come from a home that didn't allow any of that. cigarette smoking, blues, no blues in the house, no r&b in the house. you know what i'm saying. i was very, very disappointed in myself. the way i looked. my cousin came to me and said, she just broke down and started crying and said oh, my god, cous, give me a hit. she said i've been clean for three years. you've got to any in. you've got to come in. you're going to die out here. i had to have somebody that would be a rock and an anchor for me because if not, i'd be

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♪ ♪ after trying rehab a number of times, wilson gave it one more chance after his cousin who had kicked her habit convinced him to try one more time. >> she got me in this program, a 28-day program. now for 14 days, ed, i must have been signing autographs and i was bragging and i didn't have a nickel, but i'm popping off and bragging. then this lady kept coming down

the hallway of my room. every time i would get ready to doodle it or something she would knock on the door. she said mr. wilson, i notice you haven't been paying arc tension in classes and you've been late, tarredy and different things. she said i want to talk to you, come to my office. i went to her office and we started talking and she said, where are you going to go when you leave here? i broke right there. i broke down. i started, from that moment i started coming in touch with my own feelings, you know what i'm saying? i said i don't have anywhere to go, basically. she says, are you serious about being clean and sober? i said oh, man, i want this now. i only have 14 days left now. the first couple of weeks i was just, you know, so i began to go

to classes and stuff and tried to get the tools that i needed for the rest of my life. like i said, i only have 14 days. so she says, this lady says okay, i'll buy you a house. she said if you have nowhere to go i'll buy you a house. so she got me a pass and took me looking for a house. >> i found a house, like three, four or five bedrooms, three-car garage. i said i don't have any furniture. she said okay, we'll go next week and buy you some furniture and the next week she got me another pass and filled the whole place up with furniture. i said i don't have a car and i was looking at her benz. she's, like, i'm sorry, i can't get you a car because your subconscious will probably take you back to some drug dealer's house or some places you've already been and where you will use your drugs.

so i kind of understood that and then my first gap band show, "clean and sober," i had to get a pass and i asked her to go with me, and she went with me, and i asked her to marry me, man. i said i have to have somebody that would be a rock and an anchor for me because if not, i'd be dead already. she said if i go with you that means i'm going to have to quit my job and i'll have to be with you every day for the rest of your life. i was, like, i'm ready for that. >> charlie, people are going to say, was this a marriage of convenience? was it a marriage of love? was it a marriage of both? what was it? >> first of all, she was the only one who came to my rescue and i was looking that the woman who straight out just showed me so much love. the lady i was with before i hit the streets, i thought i loved

her, but she was the one who gave me the dope. i immediately -- my heart spoke to me and said this is the woman that you need to have. i prayed to god and he said this is the woman. >> 15 years after their marriage, maheen, the former head of the center continues to be the head of his life. >> every year my wife has insisted on me going to the doctor and getting a blood test. so this last time she -- i was doing a routine, annual checkup like i normally do and she insisted i get a ps attest, and i did. now, a normal prostate exam the results would be 000, you know? my tests came back 3.9. so my doctor was a little concerned. they said, we want to do another test on you next month. this was the latter part of july. the first test. so in august, i took another

test. it came back 4.9. now the one-point jump within 30 days was way too high. so when i got to the specialist he said i'm concerned about these numbers, man. i want to do a biopsy on you. so they did a biopsy, and he called me into his office and he said i've got some good news and i've got some bad news. which one do you want to hear first? i said give me the bad news first. he said, charlie, you have prostate cancer and at that moment my heart hit the floor, my face hit the floor. everything that i loved i thought i went out the window, that i thought. i looked at my wife and she looked at me and said okay. what's the good news? he said the good news is we've -- this is an early stage, and i've been doing this for 30 years and i think we can get this. >> wilson has undergone

radiation seed implantation and says his prognosis is promising. he thanks god and says had he not gone to the doctor he would not be here. the singer says his goal now is to inform others. >> one in three african-american men will be -- will develop prostate cancer. that's just -- that's how it is. that's what's going to happen, and if you don't want to die because you ain't been to the doctor, you have to go get a checkup. just go get the ps attest. i'm telling you, brother, it's worth it. early detection is the key. we lost 28,500 men last year. that's staggering, man. those numbers are way too high, and you on eye want to say to you brothers, you have to know your family history because, listen, my grandfather didn't tell my father, and my father didn't tell me. my father has prostate cancer

and it's too late for him. he's in hospice. you need to go to the doctor. >> finally, after all of the battles within the industry, the struggle with addiction and his current fight against cancer, i wondered how he felt that some 30 years later his music is still relevant, popular and loved. >> now that really is amazing me. 35, 30 years or whatever it is later, it's incredible. it's incredible. the sound can fit now. that's a lovely gift. ♪ ♪ ♪ up next, charlie wilson isn't the only man drawing awareness to prostate cancer. we'll meet two doctors who made their careers dealing with it. ♪ ♪ [ michael hall ] we are only as good as the things we make today. and today we're making 5,400 welds, in the body of the new jeep grand cherokee. ♪ that might seem like a lot, if you're building a car.

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based out of new york's harlem hospital, dr. ashford is director of medicine and dr. hoke is chief of urology. prostate cancer is often hard to detect. >> if you have symptoms, it's probably too late. so you never want to wait for symptoms. >> an estimated 2 million men live with prostate cancer and it disproportionately affects the black community. african-american men are 6% more likely to develop the disease compared to white men and two and a half more times likely to die from it. each year in the united states, approximately 220,000 men are diagnosed with this disease and up until recently, approximately 27,000 of those men will lose their lives to prostate cancer. >> prostate cancer, by and large, is a silent killer. so the best thing a black man can do or any man, for that matter is to have regular check-ups with their primary

care physician or even your urologist and that includes a prostate examination and a psa. getting at age 50. >> age is the number one risk factor. it occurs more often in men 65 and above, but it does occur in young men as well. symptoms include frequent or burning urination, pain and stiffness in the lower back and erectile dysfunction. >> if you've been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, some of the tips i would suggest is number one, find out what all your options are. okay? try not to be steered into a particular option. most of the time patients are going to have more than one choice, not all of the time, but most of the time. you will have at least two choices. number two, do your own homework. there are lots of resources like the american cancer society. you can go online and find out about the different treatment options. i encourage my patients to get second opinions just so they can find out if there are any other

options that i'm missing and then talk it over with your family. >> while there are a number of treatments to try and combat the disease, many wonder is there a way to prevent it. >> it's always a low-fat diet and certain supplements may mitigate against your risk and the jury is still out and when patients ask me that very same question. i tell them, really, there's no one thing that i can really say that's going to reduce your risk. >> colin powell, harry belafonte and as you heard earlier, singer charlie wilson are just a few of the well-known men living with this disease. >> this is a treatable disease when you catch it early. the good news is that compared to 10 or 15 years ago, i've noticed more patients are asking to be screened for prostate cancer and more primary care physicians are screening their patients because when you screen, you have a shot at detecting the disease at a treatable stage. >> for their dedication and

their work against fighting prostate cancer and also giving men a chance with life, our world with black enterprise salutes doctors ashford and hoke as our "slice of life." we encourage every man to get tested. early detection is key. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ where can you find ingredients like... 100% angus beef, hickory-smoked bacon, red onions, swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms? where else but mcdonald's? the mcdonald's angus third pounders. that's what we're made of. ♪ ba da ba ba ba

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edition of "our world with black enterprise." our look at prostate cancer. don't forget to visit ourworld.black enterprise.com and share your comments and questions about the show. we leave you with more from charlie wilson and his hit "there goes my baby." until next week, i'm ed gordon and thanks for making our world, your world. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i get to sleep faster, stay asleep and wake refreshed. melt to sleep fast. unisom sleep melts. (announcer) when diarrhea hits... kaopectate stops it fast. kaopectate stops it fast. kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. (announcer) stop the uh-oh fast with kao.