With the release of P.O.S.'s first album in three years, We Don't Even Live Here, just around the corner, the Doomtree crew member and Rhymesayers recording artist broke some big news today: He's canceling his tour (with the exception of next Friday's release show at First Avenue) to undergo treatment for kidney disease.

P.O.S., known off stage as Stef Alexander, made the announcement via a video today, saying, "everyone keeps telling me, including my doctors, that I have to take care of my health first."

"Both of my kidneys are garbage," he says, "they've been going bad since I was a teenager. It's a really inopportune timing, but, now's the time. I need a new kidney. I've been on dialysis for about a month, and I was planning on hitting the road doing a machine called a cycler that does your dialysis at night, but due to some complications I can't do the cycler at night so I have to do all my dialysis in a stable location."

He also shared that he was forced to confront the severity of his health issues when he attempted to perform recently at McNally Smith College of Music. "I played a show at McNally Smith a week ago, and I played a half-hour set and had to go to the emergency room the next day. That's what it looks like if I can't easily and readily do dialysis on the road... It sucks to put out a record and not be able to hit the road and support it, but I gotta sit down. I gotta not play too hard. But that's only until I get a new kidney, and then I'm better than I've ever been, ever. So... that's life, right?"

Watch his whole statement here:

And stay tuned, as we'll continue to stay on top of this story and let you know if any benefits or other fundraising events come together for P.O.S.

UPDATE 10/24: There is now an official fundraising site for collecting donations: Stef Needs a New Kidney.