Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Now That We Lost Heavy D, What Are We Gonna Do?

In 1995 I went to a summer program at Syracuse University before my senior year in high school. My roommate was a real asshole but he had a good collection of rap CDs. So before we left I asked him to make me a mixtape of the best songs from those CDs. That song included "Nuttin But Love" by Heavy D. I know it is not Heavy's best known work but I think it typifies what people liked about him. Rhythmic beats, curse-free lyrics and a fun, upbeat, non-combative style.

"Nuttin But Love"



Heavy D, nee Dwight Myers, died yesterday at the age of 44. He collapsed on the sidewalk in front of his home and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Official cause of death is not yet known. At one point he weighed over 300 pounds but had slimmed down in recent years.


"Now That We Found Love"



Many people, including myself, were surprised to learn Heavy D was so young. He first came onto the scene in 1987 when he was only 20,


"Candy Rain - Remix"



It wasn't just rapping, in later years Heavy D acted in a lot of movies and TV shows. He was one of the auto repairmen (along with John Witherspoon and Katt Williams) in the garage owned by Tracy Morgan in "The Tracy Morgan Show." Which was actually a great show before Tracy Morgan became a caricature of the cariacture he was playing.

1 comment:

Bill said...

Funny, I had an asshole roomate at the same program, who only liked Wu Tang.