HEAVY D

Born: Dwight Myers; Kingston, Jamaica, 21 May 1967

Genre: Rap

Best-selling album since 1990: Nuttin' but Love (1994) with Heavy D and the Boyz

Hit songs since 1990: "Now That We Found Love," "Nuttin' but Love," "Big Daddy/Keep It Coming"

Heavy D is one of the most well-balanced artists in hip-hop. Lyrically, he combines fun and romance with social awareness. Musically, he mixes elements of pop, reggae, and R&B for an accessible yet grounded sound. He has been a producer, actor, and music executive. He is also largely responsible for the career of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

Myers was born in Jamaica. His family moved to the New York City suburb of Mount Vernon. Myers began to rhyme as a child and asked friend Eddie F. to help him write songs. He adopted the name Heavy D as a reference to his large frame. He linked up with three dancers named Eddie, G-Wiz, and Trouble T-Roy, collectively called the Boyz, and in 1986 signed to the fledgling rap label Uptown Records. Heavy D and the Boyz's debut album, Living Large (1987), includes the danceable "The Overweight Lover's in the House," a remake of the Jean Knight hit "Mr. Big Stuff," the early rap ballad "Don't You Know," and a Teddy Rile–produced hometown homage "Moneyearnin' Mount Vernon." Heavy D also showcases his early production skills by co-piloting the tracks. Heavy D's rap style is colorful and lighthearted. The Boyz's buoyant dancing on stage and in their video intensifies the electric energy.

Fortified by the success of the debut, Heavy D and the Boyz' second album, Big Tyme (1989), boasts a variety of musical styles and big-name collaborators. The group scored crossover success with "Somebody for Me," the masterful dance-hall song "Mood for Love," and the New Jack Swing–influenced "We Got Our Own Thang." Around this time another Mount Vernon teenager named Sean Combs was badgering Heavy D to give him an internship at Uptown Records. Heavy D eventually obliged, thus starting Combs's legendary ascent through the music industry. Big Tyme went on to sell more than 1 million copies, establishing the group as a hip-hop juggernaut.

In 1990 Heavy D and the Boyz suffered a devastating blow when Boyz member Troy Dixon, aka T-Roy, fell off a stage to his death. T-Roy's passing influenced the sound of the group's third album, Peaceful Journey (1991). It is a calm often introspective album, as evidenced by the missive "Letter to the Future." The tribute record to TRoy, "Now That We Found Love," became the group's best-selling single, earning a gold plaque. The entire album went platinum, and Heavy D catapulted to stardom. In 1990 he became the first rapper to record with Janet Jackson when he lent his vocals to the remix of her hit song "Alright." Soon after, Heavy D scored another pop slam dunk when he rhymed on Michael Jackson's song "Jam," from Jackson's album Dangerous (1992). Heavy D was the first rapper to record with the self-proclaimed King of Pop.

Balancing out these high-profile collaborations, Heavy D returned to his pure hip-hop roots on Blue Funk (1992). Gone are the R&B producers of past. This time he employs underground rap track-masters like DJ Premier of Gang Starr and Pete Rock (who is also Heavy D's cousin). Nevertheless, the album's most remembered hit is "Truthful," airy with an R&B melody. It is one of the few times a rap artist, typically concerned with maintaining a Teflon image, rhymes honestly about heartbreak.

Heavy D and the Boyz tipped the scales again with the rap/R&B triumph Nuttin' but Love (1994). Heavy D had become a well-entrenched hip-hop heavyweight, and this album is slick and well packaged. The hit title song, the female-directed "Black Coffee," and "Keep Waiting" (based on a smooth Luther Vandross sample) helped Heavy D and the Boyz score another platinum plaque.

In the ensuing years Heavy D began to expand his career horizons. He received a 1995–1996 Drama Desk award for his performance in the New York play Riff Raff, starring Laurence Fishburne, who also wrote and directed it. In 1996 Heavy D succeeded André Harrell and was named president of Uptown Records. He discovered and developed R&B acts like the successful Soul For Real and Monifah. Soon after, he relinquished the title, and the label folded. Heavy D decided to focus on acting, obtaining recurring roles on the TV show Living Single and parts in the films The Cider House Rules, Life, New Jersey Drive, and Big Trouble.

Taking a break from the Boyz, Heavy released a solo album, Waterbed Hev (1997), which features the gold-selling single "Big Daddy/Keep It Coming." His sophomore solo album, Heavy, became his first to sell fewer than 500,000 copies since his debut album with the Boyz.

Nevertheless, Heavy D had built a strong career behind the sound boards. He produced a hit single, "Summer Rain," and album track "Hey Now" for the R&B singer Carl Thomas, from his debut album, Emotional (2000). He tracked the daring, rock charged Jay-Z/Lenny Kravitz collaboration "Guns & Roses" for Jay-Z's album The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse (2002). He also produced "Call Me," a song for the album Street Dreams (2003) by the rapper Fabolous.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Living Large (Uptown, 1987); Big Tyme (Uptown, 1989); Peaceful Journey (Uptown, 1991); Blue Funk (Uptown, 1992); Nuttin' but Love (Uptown, 1994); Waterbed Hev (Uptown/Universal, 1997); Heavy (Uptown/Universal, 1999).

dara cook