On Saturday, May 24th, Heavy D would have been 58 years old. In 1967 he was born in Mandeville, Jamaica. In the early 1970s his family moved to Mount Vernon where he was raised. So, in celebration of one of Mount Vernon’s favorite sons, I share this excerpt from my book, We Got Our Own Thang—A Look At Hip-Hop From The 914, aptly named after one of his songs.
You cannot discuss music from the 914 without including the Overweight Lover, Hip-Hop legend Heavy D. During the course of his 25-plus-year career, the larger-than-life entertainer was a superstar in every sense of the word. But even so, the brother doesn’t always get the props he deserves for how important he was to Hip-Hop and how many people he touched, inspired, and put on.
Pete Rock, easily one of the greatest Hip-Hop producers of all time, sparked a recent discussion surrounding the lack of recognition Heavy D has received as Hip-Hop celebrates its 50th birthday. He advocated for his older cousin and expressed his disappointment that Hev is left out of the conversation altogether in some of these Hip Hop 50 tributes.
“I respect absolutely NONE of this talk about 50 years of Hip-Hop that does not include HEAVY D and the Boyz,” the Chocolate Boy Wunda wrote in an IG post.
“He KICKED DOWN the door and paved a way for A LOT OF MOTHERF****RS!! I think his smoothness and humbleness make people forget his impact and relevance in the music business. I NEED EVERYONE WHO AGREES (ESPECIALLY EVERYBODY FOR MONEY EARNING MOUNT VERNON!!) TO REPOST AND SHARE SO WE CAN GET HEV A PROPER TELEVISED TRIBUTE for his achievements and contributions to the game,” he added.
“After Pete sent that out, everybody started including stuff, music, or language on their social media platforms to include Hev,” Floyd Myers, Heavy D’s older brother, shared with me. “Even pictures with the collages, Hev wasn’t in there.”
Artists and fans chimed in and agreed with Pete. Snoop Dogg immediately agreed in the comments, writing, “Facts. Big. Tyme.” Queen Latifah chimed in, “Heav was my friend. Put us on his tour and showed us what rocking a crowd was About!!! Love to him his family and his Whole Crew!!!!” “Bruh Heavy D was huge in joining Reggae & Hip-Hop together. It’s sad how humans quickly forget,” another fan wrote. Marlon Wayans added, “I concur,” while actor Omari Hardwick wrote, “1000%. As special as they come! Who happened to be a dear bro of mine like yourself? And who btw….was 1 of the few Hip-Hop artists who could equally bring that gift to screen. A very strong actor.” “I also agree with you my brother … that folk (especially in our culture) who make things look easy while equally possessing humility….usually get overlooked & undervalued. Heav was special & I know he’s smiling with pride & humility at this powerful post from you Rock!” he added.
Platinum-selling Jamaican legend Super Cat also reposted Rock’s post.
“Mi friend and #icon the late great Heavy D #theoverweightloversinthehouse,” he captioned the post. The post has received support from a throng of artists and actors who knew or worked with Heavy D or those influenced by his music, including Rohan Marley, Lloyd Banks, and many others.
Like I started, there is no way to do a book about music from the 914 without celebrating the Overweight Lover.
“Hev was the beginning of the middle school, he wasn’t old school, he’s not the new school, but he was the beginning of the middle school,” Floyd shared.
As the first group on Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records, Hev helped kick off a new brand of Hip-Hop Soul that would become known as New Jack Swing.
Before the success of acts like Guy, Mary J. Blige, and Jodeci, it was Heavy D & The Boyz that were the cornerstone of Uptown Records. In fact, rapper-turned-Record Executive Andre Harrell departed from Def Jam and launched Uptown largely off the potential of Heavy D. Hev was instrumental in the structure of the Uptown roster including getting Al B Sure a deal and getting Andre Harrel to hire fellow Mount Vernonite, Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs as an intern and you know where that led. Diddy went on to create Bad Boy Records and Sean John.
Hev touched so many people with his cool spirit and influenced a lot of rappers like Fat Joe. When DJ Felli Fel asked Joe when he was in Los Angeles during an interview, about Joe’s influences, he responded, “My two idols are KRS One, Boogie Down Productions and LL Cool J” But Felli Fel said what I meant was, and Joe cut in “influence me to make big hits, LL Cool J and Heavy D. So Heavy D made me feel good to be a big man and dress fly and make that kinda music for the ladies…”
Legendary emcee Kool Moe Dee who rapped alongside Heavy D and several other NY rappers in ‘Self Destruction,’ talked about how when every rapper were very competitive talking about “I’m the biggest, I’m the baddest, I’m the greatest, Heavy D just wanted to have fun,” on Astrid In The ATL on Peachtree TV. “His position was I’m just here to enjoy and for you to enjoy, so his whole approach to the equation to me changed the direction of a lot of what Hip-Hop was going through.”
Director Bart Phillips paid tribute the life and legacy of Heavy D with a documentary in 2012 after he passed called, “The Life Of Heavy D – Be Inspired,” featuring stories and artists like Will Smith, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Mary J. Blige, Chuck D, Marley Marl, Al B. Sure, Doug E. Fresh, actress Kim Fields and his older brother Floyd and others who all paint pictures with words of how important and influential Heavy D was to the music industry as a well-respected artist, friend and businessman.
“I don’t know too many people who have touched so many people’s lives in such a consistent way for so long. Hev had a heart this big, and it was always love whenever you saw him. It was like a big hug, and you felt the love in the hug. Hev was just lovable like that…” Queen Latifah says in the documentary that she interviewed with some of Heavy’s closest friends. I believe you can still catch the documentary on Amazon Prime, I caught it on YouTube as I was writing this chapter.
Heavy D is the only rapper (and possibly the only artist, period, whose last name is Jackson) to have worked with both of the Jackson superstars. He worked with Michael Jackson – The King of Pop (Jam) and his sister Janet – Ms. Jackson is ya nasty (Alright) – arguably two of the most influential entertainers of the modern era.
He traded verses with both Biggie and Tupac over a bubbly sample of Barry White’s ‘You’re The One I Need,’ on Grand Puba’s “Let’s Get It On,” and went on to perform the theme song for the Keenen Ivory Wayans created sketch comedy television series, In Living Color. And yo, who else could have Kool G Rap on a song called “Don’t Curse” also featuring some of the dopest wordsmiths at the time, Grand Puba, CL Smooth, Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip!
In the mid-90s, he became the President of Uptown Records. Then he caught the acting bug and went to collect countless credits for his contributions in both television and film.
Get up, party people, listen to this rap
‘Cause I’m about to go down and put my town on the map
MC Heavy D, delighted you’ll be learnin
About the place where I rest, Money earnin’ Mount Vernon
The year was 1985 when Heavy D walked into Rush Management without an appointment in hopes of walking out with a record deal. Russell Simmons wasn’t interested, but he caught the attention of Andre Harrell. Shortly after Harrell left Def Jam, he launched his own label, and his first order of business was to sign Heavy D. Hev put both Mount Vernon and Uptown Records on the map.
Heavy D & the Boyz were the first group signed to Uptown Records, with Heavy D as the frontman and only rapper. Eddie F was his business partner in the group, a DJ, and one of the producers. The other two members, T-Roy and G-Wiz, were the dancers.
Their debut, ‘Living Large,’ was released in 1987. The album was a commercial success; his sophomore endeavor, ‘Big Tyme’, was a breakthrough that included four hits. “Trouble T. Roy” died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, in Indianapolis. Dixon’s death led to a tribute on the follow-up platinum album, ‘Peaceful Journey.’ Pete Rock & CL Smooth created a tribute to Trouble T. Roy called “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” which is regarded as a Hip-Hop classic by everyone’s standards.
They reminisce, the reminisce… I reminisce for a spell, or shall I say think back…
I reminisce so you never forget this
The days of way-back, so many bear witness the fitness
Take the first letter out of each word in this joint
Listen close as I prove my point
T to the R the O-Y,
Despite being devastated by the loss of his best friend, Hev got back out there and rocked the crowd and saw the tour through to the end, as many people told me and as I saw in numerous documentaries and interviews. Even though it would be understandable if he bowed out for the rest of the remainder of the tour or even for a few shows, he continued to take the stage night after night and gave it his all because that’s how he was. He felt he owed it to the fans; he had committed to the shows and was going to fulfill his commitment. He was the type of person who, after suffering a personal loss, would still give his all to the audience. Hev completed the tour when many others would have given up or merely have just gone through the motions, and he gave the fans everything he had. That’s Heavy D!
Heavy D may be gone, but his hometown will never let him be forgotten and will be forever grateful for how he represented Money-Earning Mount Vernon, no matter where in the world he was.
On Saturday, May 22, 2016, hundreds gathered at the newly renamed Heavy D & The Boys Park (formerly known as Lorraine Park) to celebrate the life and legacy of Mount Vernon’s favorite son, Dwight “Heavy D” Myers.
A month later, the Mount Vernon Public Library hosted a very special reception in honor of the Dwight Arrington Myers Hip-Hop Collection housed at the library on Thursday, June 30th.
In honor of Hip-Hop legend and Mount Vernon native, Jamaican-born record producer, singer, actor, Heavy D, the Mount Vernon Public Library has acquired a collection of books, music CDs, DVD’s and multimedia materials that share the history of Hip-Hop and its global influence.
“I got my SAG card, baby. I’m an actor” – Common (Break My Heart)
It seems like Hip-Hop is a gateway to onscreen fame. Judging by the prolific number of rap artists who have also dabbled in film and TV acting, it seems today’s biggest hip-hop artists are truly multihyphenates. Artists from the 9-1-4 are no different. Several Westchester artists, like Hev showed they can do more than just appear on soundtracks accompanying movies and simply provide music for background sound on television as they make appearances on both the big and small screen as actors.
His musical background actually was his ticket into the TV industry. By way of producing the opening theme for the 1990s-’94 TV series In Living Color. To be more specific, comedian Tommy Davidson says that Heavy D “had the brilliance to come up with the line that summed up our historic show on its opening night.” ‘What’s mine is yours, what’s yours is mine.’”
He always had acting aspirations of his own. Heavy D’s career in television began in the mid-1990s, with guest appearances on episodes including Tales from the Crypt and Living Single, when he played Darryl, a friend of Kim Fields’ character Regine. His most notable role was appearing with Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine in the Oscar-nominated movie, The Cider House Rules in 1999. In a cast that also included Erykah Badu, he played Peaches. After that, he had a steady acting career, appearing in films and television shows including Tower Heist, in which he portrayed a security guard, and Law & Order: SVU, among others.
He also made his off-Broadway theatrical debut in 1996, starring in the one-act play Riff Raff (written and directed by Laurence Fishburne), which earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor In A Play.
His TV credits include, A Different World (1989), The Fresh Prince of bel Air (1990), Booker and tales From The Crypt in 1992, a recurring role on Roc (1993), a recurring role on Living Single (1994-1996), Waynehead (1996), Martial Law (1999), For The Love (2000), a recurring role on Boston Public (2000-2003), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003-2004), Yes Dear (2005), a recurring role on Season 1 of Bones (2005), Are We There Yet (2011) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011).
He also appeared in movies such as Who’s The Man (1993), New Jersey Drive (1995), B*A*P*S (1997), The Deli (1997), Life (1999), The Cider House Rules (1999), a short called Next Afternoon in 2000, Big Trouble (2002), Black Listed (2003), Dallas 362 (2003), Larceny (2004), Step Up (2006), Tower Heist (2011), H4 (2012).
Everyone who ever met him has Nuthin But Luv for Heavy D, and he will always be Mount Vernon’s favorite son!
Above are a few excerpts of my book ‘We Got Our Own Thang—A Look At Hip-Hop From The 914.’ Cop a copy or two today on Amazon for $30.00, or you can order an autographed copy directly from me Via Venmo @AJ-Woodson-2 or PayPal, or CashApp $MrAJWoodson, add $5 for postage and make sure you email me your mailing address, MrAJWoodson@gmail.com.
I’m originally from Yonkers, I gotta say this was a good article. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone for 13 years. I still remember when he passed, I was in college. Shame on BET for not giving Hev his props. He opened doors for a lot of artists and to act as if he made no contributions is straight up disrespectful. Without Hev, there wouldn’t be a DMX.
Thank you
Okay, so real talk—this piece right here? Whew. It’s a full-body love letter to Heavy D, and I felt every bar of it. You didn’t just tell us about Hev—you showed us his legacy. The joy, the humility, the doors he kicked down with a smile and a bop.
And let’s be clear—we not talkin’ nostalgia here, we talkin’ blueprint. Heavy D is the reason a lot of folks even had the platform to shine. Uptown Records? Puff? That whole Hip-Hop Soul era? That was Hev, front and center. Smooth, fly, and unbothered—but make no mistake, he was the business.
And shout out to Pete Rock for shaking the table, because yes—you cannot talk about 50 years of Hip-Hop and leave out Heavy D. Period. This tribute you wrote? It’s giving flowers, it’s giving facts, it’s giving don’t play with my cousin’s name energy—and I’m here for it.
Mount Vernon, the 914, the whole culture—owe him. And with this piece, you made sure the debt isn’t forgotten. Now let’s get it seen. Let’s get it heard. Hev deserves that tribute on ten.
Thank you my sister, if we don’t celebrate our own, who will?