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At the end of 2023, Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim launched It Takes 2: The Remix, a campaign that revamped an iconic old-school hip-hop track with a healthcare message.

The effort’s updated lyrics were intended to raise awareness about the importance of testing and early diagnosis for treating kidney disease, especially among patients living with type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. 

Rob Base who performed the original version of “It Takes 2” in 1988 returned for the remix with its updated lyrics. At the time, he said he viewed the campaign as a tribute to his musical partner DJ E-Z Rock, who died of complications related to diabetes in 2014.

In the remix, the “two” in the lyrics — “It takes two to make a thing go right, it takes two to make it out of sight” — represent a patient and a doctor, armed with testing capabilities that can lead to a diagnosis. 

The initiative was a success when it launched last fall and now, it’s back with a Spanish-language version to appeal to a growing portion of the U.S. population.

Approximately 19% of the American population identifies as Hispanic and 68% of them speak Spanish at home, according to the Pew Research Center.

Sadly, while we don’t get a version of the rap anthem with Base singing “Con dos todo irá bien, con dos desaparecerá tambien,” all of the other materials have been translated for Spanish speakers. 

This is a strategic move by the drugmakers given that the rate of kidney failure among the Hispanic community has more than tripled since 2000, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Renal disease advocates point to the lack of educational and awareness efforts as one significant cause of the spike. 

Dr. Charles Vega, a family medicine specialist and director of UC Irvine’s Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community, led a discussion on the topic of kidney disease for the campaign website and is helping to spread its message. 

He describes the higher rates of kidney disease among Hispanics as a common experience among patient populations of color. 

“Whether you’re African American, Native American, Alaska native or Asian Pacific Islander, all have higher rates of type 2 diabetes compared to white populations, but Latinos are definitely disproportionately affected,” he explains. 

Vega adds that it’s important to get the message of proactive care out to those historically underserved communities. 

Even then, he notes, many people in these disadvantaged populations don’t have regular sources of care, which leads to a combination of a higher propensity to have some of these chronic illnesses as well as poor care. 

“Many of my patients arrive at my practice with more advanced chronic kidney disease, and I know if they had come in five or seven years earlier, we could have made an intervention that prevented it entirely,” he says.

While Vega notes that higher rates of diabetes and poorer care outcomes are shared by a variety of patient populations, the linguistic disparity is undeniable. 

The difference in outcomes between English-speaking and non-English-speaking Hispanics necessitates a plan by drugmakers like Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim to create a diversity of messaging that can speak to an equally diverse patient audience. 

Another key aspect to the It Takes 2 initiative is David Rodriguez, a member of the American Association of Kidney Patients and a national ambassador for the state of Texas. 

While both high-blood pressure and kidney failure run in his family history, he says he thought he didn’t need to worry about the possibility of kidney failure until his 50s or 60s. 

However, when he was in his mid-30s in 2008, he unexpectedly found himself in an emergency room with stage 5 kidney failure and in urgent need of dialysis. 

More than 15 years later, after a kidney transplant and then later a liver transplant, Rodriguez is a passionate patient advocate, especially concerned with speaking to Hispanic audiences whom he describes as both stubborn and often uninsured. It’s a combination that leads many patients to not get checked for signs of kidney disease early on. 

He sees the new Spanish-language version of the It Takes 2 initiative as having an added plus beyond merely pushing patients to talk to their doctors. It can also help to create patients who are empowered and engaged in their own healthcare. 

“We can go to the patient and instead of telling them, ‘Hey, this is what you need to do,’ they can read the materials in their own language and they can educate themselves,” he says. “That way they won’t have as many unanswered questions when they go see their doctor.”

Whether in English or Spanish, Vega describes the campaign as sharing one action-oriented message that transcends linguistic divides. 

“A minority of folks at significant risk for chronic kidney disease are getting appropriately screened and it takes two — the patient and their clinician — to get that screening done,” he says. “If you do so, good things happen.”

To read a January 2025 article on how a kidney health float in the Rose Parade brought awareness to millions, click here.