Alonzo “Lonzo” Williams already had several handles before prostate cancer entered the picture 14 years ago. Most knew him as the “godfather of West Coast hip-hop.”
Williams was the talent scout who launched the careers of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, among other superstars. Artists and promoters knew him as the owner of Eve After Dark, the iconic nightclub he established in 1979. Early fans remember him as Grand Master Lonzo because Williams pioneered sounds and styles like electro funk while DJing with his group World Class Wreckin’ Cru.
But since 2011, Williams has gained a new handle. “I’m the neighborhood prostate cancer whisperer,” says the 68-year-old Compton native.
Advocating for men to get tested and be informed has become Williams’ mission. “My phone rings regularly with people saying, ‘Hey, my nephew has prostate cancer,’ or ‘My dad has prostate cancer,’” he says.
After his cancer diagnosis in 2011, Williams had cycled through the usual emotional stages. In a moment of self-pity, he remembers asking God, “Why me?” The answer came flashing back with light bulb clarity: Because you have a platform.
That same day, Williams contacted the American Cancer Society. Within a week, he was on a panel talking about his disease. Soon he was organizing a golf tournament and kick-starting an annual walkathon.
“I’m a very public person in my community,” he says. “When I started talking about prostate cancer, people started listening.”
At High Risk
Prostate cancer is especially relevant to Black men, who experience the world’s highest incidence of the disease—nearly twice the rate found in the general population (see sidebar). And yet, Williams says, “nobody talks about it.” He attributes this reticence to “the finger test,” referring to the digital rectal exam (DRE). It’s a running joke among comedians, who “make it seem so invasive that it leaves men terrified,” he says.
Cancer runs in Williams’ family—his mother died of the disease, and a brother and sister are fellow survivors—so he was proactive about regular screenings. A suspicious DRE in his early 50s led to close observation, lab tests and a positive biopsy, which in turn brought Williams to Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where Garrett Matsunaga, MD, performed a nerve-sparing robotic prostatectomy to remove the cancerous gland.
Because Williams’ cancer was detected early, no radiation or chemotherapy was necessary. The only therapy Dr. Matsunaga prescribed was Cialis, with instructions to resume sexual activity as soon as possible. “And yes, I’m still in therapy today,” says the married father of five, with a mischievous grin.
Open Dialogue
As news of his cancer circulated, friends started sheepishly inquiring about his mixing boards and other audio equipment. They assumed he was finalizing his will.
Exasperated, Williams took to the stage of his nightclub. “Y’all may have heard I have cancer,” he told the audience, “but it’s prostate cancer, and it’s curable. So stop asking for my stuff! I’ll be OK.”
Everyone laughed, which opened a space for dialogue. Soon Williams discovered “nobody knew anything about prostate cancer. It was all myths.”
Nowadays when he speaks at prostate awareness events—which he does often—Williams educates audiences about alternatives to DRE, such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, other labs that measure a patient’s 4K score or prostate health index, and an imaging technique called multiparametric MRI.
The annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Walk that Williams co-founded is now in its sixth year. He hopes to raise $50,000 for the American Cancer Society at this year’s event, to be held September 20 at Compton College.
On the Go
Williams also keeps busy with other projects. He hosts a weekly hip-hop-themed YouTube show, N.W.A. Stories with Lonzo Williams, with 16,000 subscribers. He continues to DJ events and work as a music promoter. In June he was in charge of “street marketing” for the Summer of Soul at the Cerritos Center, an immersive tribute to the legendary Harlem Cultural Festival.
Eve After Dark, his club on Avalon Boulevard, is currently being remodeled and will reopen by year’s end. The famous venue was spotlighted in the 2022 Super Bowl LVI hip-hop halftime show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. An aerial shot showed Dr. Dre standing on the rooftop. A 2023 documentary titled "Eve After Dark" chronicles the nightclub’s storied past, featuring Williams as narrator.
Williams’ other screen credits include co-writing the 2024 prize-winning documentary "N.ot W.ithout A.lonzo," retracing the origins of the West Coast hip-hop movement. He also collaborated on the 2001 documentary "Welcome to Death Row," as well as the 2015 feature film "Straight Outta Compton" and the four-part documentary series "The Defiant Ones," which aired on HBO in 2017.
Hip-hop is now a global phenomenon, but Williams has stayed within a 2-mile radius of Compton his entire life, and he has no plans to leave the neighborhood he loves. His civic leadership roles include co-founding the Compton Entertainment Chamber of Commerce and The Hub City Legend newsletter.
Promoting Awareness
Williams sees his work in men’s health advocacy as another way to better his community. A stranger at a local hamburger stand once tapped him on the shoulder and said, “You don’t know me, but you saved my life.”
A Facebook video posted by Williams prompted that man to get a cancer screening. The test came back negative for prostate cancer, but other markers detected treatable early-stage colon cancer.
Another meeting haunts Williams. A man pulled him aside after a prostate cancer talk. “I wish somebody had talked to me a couple of years ago,” the 48-year-old confided. “I just found out I have Stage 4 prostate cancer. I’ll be in hospice in a few months.”
Encounters like these keep Williams focused on promoting prostate cancer awareness and pushing for early detection. “It may sound a little crazy, but in my golden years these are the things I find rewarding,” he says. “It’s my job, and I love doing it.”
Prostate Cancer Facts
According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 300,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed annually, and more than 35,000 men will die of the disease. African-American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the world. They’re 1.7 times more likely to get the disease and more than twice as likely to die of it. In America, the average age for first diagnosis is 68, but studies indicate it may develop three to nine years earlier among Black men, which is why the American Urological Association advises they consider screening by age 40. The good news is that treatment is very effective. Across all demographics, the 10-year survival rate is 98%.
