Biography
Heavy D, hip-hop's pioneering overweight lover, leveraged an inherently appealing image and sharp MC abilities to sustain a long-running presence across music, television, and film. Tipping the scales above 250 pounds, his size might have confined him to a single gimmick, yet he broadened his rhymes to encompass uplifting anthems and playful dance-floor cuts while projecting genuine warmth and regard toward women in a manner free of explicitness or mawkishness. His sound proved equally expansive, blending R&B, reggae, dance, and pop flavors, though his rapid delivery spared him the sellout charges leveled at many contemporaries who crossed over. Beyond rapping, he proved versatile as a nimble dancer, accomplished songwriter and producer, believable actor, and sharp executive who attained an A&R leadership post. Well after his primary commercial run concluded, he retained consistent popularity into the 2000s, crafting beats for artists such as Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel while continuing to earn gold plaques for his own releases.
Born Dwight Errington Myers in Mandeville, Jamaica, in 1967, he relocated with his family to Mount Vernon, New York, during early childhood. He encountered rap at its dawn and began recording his own demos by junior high. Later he assembled the Boyz alongside high-school companions DJ Eddie F (Eddie Ferrell), Trouble T-Roy (Troy Dixon), and G-Wiz (Glen Parrish). Their demo reached Def Jam executive André Harrell, then launching his own imprint, Uptown. Harrell signed Heavy D & the Boyz as Uptown's inaugural act in 1986; the group issued its first album, Living Large, the following year. Singles “Mr. Big Stuff” and “The Overweight Lover's in the House” fixed Heavy D's image with rap audiences, while “Don't You Know” crossed over to the R&B chart and nearly cracked the Top Ten. Overall, Living Large achieved gold status.
The 1989 follow-up, Big Tyme, marked the group's true commercial arrival. Like its predecessor, it carried production from Marley Marl and new jack swing architect Teddy Riley. By then Heavy D's persona had gained added dimension and his songwriting had reached peak reliability. “Somebody for Me,” “We Got Our Own Thang,” and “Gyrlz, They Love Me” all scored major R&B hits, the first two reaching the Top Ten; additionally, “We Got Our Own Thang” earned MTV airplay, and his guest spot on Janet Jackson's “Alright” widened his mainstream visibility. Big Tyme eventually topped the R&B album chart, entered the pop Top 20, and earned platinum certification. Tragedy struck during the supporting tour on July 15, 1990, when Trouble T-Roy fell from a two-story height and died. He inspired Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth's elegiac single “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” and a tribute track on the next Heavy D & the Boyz album, 1991's Peaceful Journey.
Peaceful Journey also attained platinum, propelled by “Now That We Found Love,” a contemporary take on the Gamble/Huff song first cut by the O'Jays, which established Heavy D as a broad pop star. The track climbed to the R&B Top Five and came close to the pop Top Ten. “Is It Good to You” and the all-star posse cut “Don't Curse” resonated with hip-hop listeners, while his theme for the sketch-comedy series In Living Color kept him on weekly television. Blue Funk, released in 1993, took a harder approach with beats from Pete Rock (his younger cousin), DJ Premier, and Tony Dofat; though it lacked mainstream polish, it still reached gold. Meanwhile Heavy D launched a parallel acting career, securing a recurring supporting role on the Fox sitcom Roc, and assumed the vice-presidency of A&R at Uptown. He later appeared in a recurring part on another Fox comedy, Living Single.
Heavy D & the Boyz regained platinum standing with 1994's Nuttin' But Love, which yielded the hits “Black Coffee,” the R&B Top Five “Got Me Waiting,” and the title track. The album also became their second to top the R&B chart and served as their final group release.
The ensuing two years proved eventful even without new solo material: Heavy D wrote and produced for Montell Jordan and Soul for Real (including the hit “Candy Rain”), briefly presided over Uptown, and made his off-Broadway stage debut in Laurence Fishburne's one-act play Riff Raff. Returning as a solo artist in 1997, he issued Waterbed Hev to unexpected commercial success; it reached the Top Ten on both pop and R&B charts and spawned the Top Five R&B single “Big Daddy.” His seventh album, 1999's Heavy, extended his streak to seven consecutive R&B Top Ten entries.
During the same period he appeared in the 1999 Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence comedy Life and took a key supporting role in the Oscar-nominated drama The Cider House Rules. In 2000 he gained further exposure as a counselor on the Fox series Boston Public, which ran for several seasons, while contributing to projects by Babyface, Jay-Z, Fabolous, and Timbaland, among others. Throughout the decade he held recurring parts on The Tracy Morgan Show and Bones, and he released Vibes, a credible and engaging reggae-pop album. On November 8, 2011, weeks after issuing the rap EP Love Opus and less than a month after performing at the BET Hip Hop Awards, Heavy D collapsed outside his Beverly Hills residence and succumbed to a blood clot at age 44.
Born Dwight Errington Myers in Mandeville, Jamaica, in 1967, he relocated with his family to Mount Vernon, New York, during early childhood. He encountered rap at its dawn and began recording his own demos by junior high. Later he assembled the Boyz alongside high-school companions DJ Eddie F (Eddie Ferrell), Trouble T-Roy (Troy Dixon), and G-Wiz (Glen Parrish). Their demo reached Def Jam executive André Harrell, then launching his own imprint, Uptown. Harrell signed Heavy D & the Boyz as Uptown's inaugural act in 1986; the group issued its first album, Living Large, the following year. Singles “Mr. Big Stuff” and “The Overweight Lover's in the House” fixed Heavy D's image with rap audiences, while “Don't You Know” crossed over to the R&B chart and nearly cracked the Top Ten. Overall, Living Large achieved gold status.
The 1989 follow-up, Big Tyme, marked the group's true commercial arrival. Like its predecessor, it carried production from Marley Marl and new jack swing architect Teddy Riley. By then Heavy D's persona had gained added dimension and his songwriting had reached peak reliability. “Somebody for Me,” “We Got Our Own Thang,” and “Gyrlz, They Love Me” all scored major R&B hits, the first two reaching the Top Ten; additionally, “We Got Our Own Thang” earned MTV airplay, and his guest spot on Janet Jackson's “Alright” widened his mainstream visibility. Big Tyme eventually topped the R&B album chart, entered the pop Top 20, and earned platinum certification. Tragedy struck during the supporting tour on July 15, 1990, when Trouble T-Roy fell from a two-story height and died. He inspired Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth's elegiac single “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” and a tribute track on the next Heavy D & the Boyz album, 1991's Peaceful Journey.
Peaceful Journey also attained platinum, propelled by “Now That We Found Love,” a contemporary take on the Gamble/Huff song first cut by the O'Jays, which established Heavy D as a broad pop star. The track climbed to the R&B Top Five and came close to the pop Top Ten. “Is It Good to You” and the all-star posse cut “Don't Curse” resonated with hip-hop listeners, while his theme for the sketch-comedy series In Living Color kept him on weekly television. Blue Funk, released in 1993, took a harder approach with beats from Pete Rock (his younger cousin), DJ Premier, and Tony Dofat; though it lacked mainstream polish, it still reached gold. Meanwhile Heavy D launched a parallel acting career, securing a recurring supporting role on the Fox sitcom Roc, and assumed the vice-presidency of A&R at Uptown. He later appeared in a recurring part on another Fox comedy, Living Single.
Heavy D & the Boyz regained platinum standing with 1994's Nuttin' But Love, which yielded the hits “Black Coffee,” the R&B Top Five “Got Me Waiting,” and the title track. The album also became their second to top the R&B chart and served as their final group release.
The ensuing two years proved eventful even without new solo material: Heavy D wrote and produced for Montell Jordan and Soul for Real (including the hit “Candy Rain”), briefly presided over Uptown, and made his off-Broadway stage debut in Laurence Fishburne's one-act play Riff Raff. Returning as a solo artist in 1997, he issued Waterbed Hev to unexpected commercial success; it reached the Top Ten on both pop and R&B charts and spawned the Top Five R&B single “Big Daddy.” His seventh album, 1999's Heavy, extended his streak to seven consecutive R&B Top Ten entries.
During the same period he appeared in the 1999 Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence comedy Life and took a key supporting role in the Oscar-nominated drama The Cider House Rules. In 2000 he gained further exposure as a counselor on the Fox series Boston Public, which ran for several seasons, while contributing to projects by Babyface, Jay-Z, Fabolous, and Timbaland, among others. Throughout the decade he held recurring parts on The Tracy Morgan Show and Bones, and he released Vibes, a credible and engaging reggae-pop album. On November 8, 2011, weeks after issuing the rap EP Love Opus and less than a month after performing at the BET Hip Hop Awards, Heavy D collapsed outside his Beverly Hills residence and succumbed to a blood clot at age 44.
Albums
Singles
