Heavy d
Dwight Errington Myers (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer, singer, actor, and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a hip hop group which included dancers/background vocalists G-Whiz (Glen Parrish), "Trouble" T. Roy (Troy Dixon), and Eddie F (born Edward Ferrell).
The group maintained a sizable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. The five albums the group released were produced by Teddy Riley, Marley Marl, DJ Premier, his cousin Pete Rock and Eddie F.
Myers was born on May 24, 1967 in Mandeville, Jamaica, the son of Eulahlee Lee, a nurse, and Clifford Vincent Myers, a machine technician. In the early 1970s his family moved to Mount Vernon, New York, where he was raised.
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, 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; Big Tyme was a breakthrough that included four hits.
While still an artist at Uptown Records, Myers was instrumental in convincing Andre Harrell to originally hire Sean “Diddy” Combs for his first music business gig as an intern. Then, also to his credit, in the mid-1990s, Myers became the first rapper to head a major music label when he became the president of Uptown Records.
During this time, Myers also developed the Rhythm and Blues boy band Soul for Real, and was the executive producer and principal writer of several songs on the group's breakout album, Candy Rain. He later became senior vice president at Universal Music
As an actor he was in countless sitcoms like Living Single, dramas like Boston Public, plays like Medal of Honor Rag (he lost 160 pounds for this role but reports state that he apparently weighed 344 pds) and movies like the new flick “Tower Heist” starring Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller. Sunrise May 24, 1967, Sunset November 8, 2011.
He was an original Emcee in his own right with a unique look. He didn’t have the gritty crime street look that is excepted and popularized in the industry today and to some extent back then. He stood out because of his lyrics which were not always aggressive and derogatory towards women.
He was able to create hits without succumbing to the industry standards. He also helped birth acts like Soul for Real, AR signed Herb Mcgruff, Monifah, Soul For Real. He was a positive role model because of songs like Don’t Curse and “Self Destruction,” (Heavy once said, “We strongly believe that violence is nonsense, and that we’ve got to get together as one.
which he was a part of the classic posse cut that spoke out and raised money to help curtail Black on Black crime. He still showed that he could flow with the best on his “Blue Funk” with lyrics that could swing with the best and had the perfect amount of street edge with songs like “Your Blind Baby.”
Additionally, He bridged the gap between R&B and Rap, which was important because Hip-Hop stands on the back of classic soul and R&B music, so it was like bringing back home to the foundation by creating something new based on classics. Like the track “Is it Good to You” and “Big Daddy” great music for all moods that make you want to dance.
Heavy D performed a guest rap on Janet Jackson's hit single "Alright". It was notably the first pop single to feature a rapper, setting the trend for future hip-hop and pop collaborations.[8] It was also his highest peaking song on the Billboard Hot 100. A year later, he appeared on Michael Jackson's single "Jam".
He gained even more fame by singing the theme song for the television program In Living Color and also MADtv. Heavy D then began focusing on his acting, appearing in various television shows before returning to the music charts with Nuttin' But Love.
After appearing in the off-Broadway play Riff Raff at Circle Repertory Company, Heavy D returned to recording with the hit Waterbed Hev.
In 1997, Heavy D collaborated with B.B. King on his duets album Deuces Wild, rapping in the song "Keep It Coming." Heavy D was referred to in the song "Juicy" by the Notorious B.I.G., and appeared in his music video for "One More Chance."
Heavy D’s last performance was on BET’s Hip-Hop Awards where he performed a melody of his hits and a usual he danced and rapped with the same bombastic, gregarious energetic style that made him a legend.
Early reports state that Heavy D collapsed due to a respiratory ailment, but the exact cause of his transition has not been confirmed at this time.
He had just released a new Album “Love Opus” digitally and was planning a major relaunch of his music career. He is survived by siblings and his 13 year old daughter who he poured all his energy into raising. Rest in peace brother you shall surly be missed.
What was interesting about his delivery and style was that he never seemed to be motivated by anger but rather happiness and spirituality seemed to guide him through his raps even with songs that had the hardest beats like “you can’t see what I can see your blind baby your blind from the fact.”
Ironically, he made a reggae album called Vibes that was very good, and I used to listen to it as I rode the train to work. My favorite tracks on the album are “Long Distance Girlfreind,” “Private Dancer” and “Queen Majesty.
We have to remember what Hev showed us “you can do what you want to do in living color” in that theme song for the comedy series in Living Color, he wished for a day when “prejudice was obsolete all mankind would dance to the exact beat and at night it would be safe to walk down the street.” “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours in mine.”
In the mid nineties he made monumental smash hits like “You Got Me Waiting” with words like, “anticipating bout your love I want to show you and really really want to know you.” These were the songs that had you kept in your head when you were trying to think of something nice to say to a girl you really liked. Another hit “Nuttin But Love For Your Baby” helped the album become the number one album in the country at the time and propelled it to platinum status the third time heavy D had achieved such a feat in his career.
He had away with expressing his feelings, and I guess this is what led to him writing and producing songs for acts he founded while he was A&R for Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records like Monifah and Soul For Real known for the hit song candy rain penned by the Heavster.
During the early 90s he did work with Michael Jackson on the song “Jam” and Janet Jackson for the single “Alright.” He also showed his versatility by going back to his roots and doing Reggae a genre of music that has contributed to the foundation of hip hop music with tracks like the hit “Dem No Worry We” off the hit Don Dada album of Super Cat, “Big Broad” also with Super Cat and Frankie Paul, and the song hotness with dancehall reggae great Buju Banton from the movie soundtrack Whose the Man.
On a number of occasions, I often tell my brother that I am sorry for young folks like him because the so called Hip – Hop that they are exposed to in the mainstream today, does not offer the type of diversity and fun that the previous generation growing up in the golden age of Hip-Hop (particularly the period from 1987 to 91) were fortunate to experience.
This time period marked the emergence of the late great six foot three inch, self proclaimed, overweight lover Heavy D. Who along with the Boyz that included DJ/producer Eddie F (Edward Ferrell), dancers, G-Whiz (Glen Parish), and the late Trouble T-Roy (Troy Dixon) in 1987 with the songs “The Overweight Lover is in the House” and “Mister Big Stuff.”
Dwight Arrington Myers from the parish of Mandeville, Jamaica grew up in the same Yonkers as the L.O.X, DMX and Swizz Beatz and rose to prominence and commercial success with the Boyz making smash hits like “We Got Our Own Thang,” where he would say “Diddle Diddle D,” and the hit “Somebody For Me, which he perfumed on “A Different World” when Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert, rushed the stage to dance with him and the Boyz and say “Word to the Mother.”
This song describe a man who was an originator and pioneer in hip op music. He rapped and he danced with the dexterity and agility of people half his size. He did not grimace and present mean mugs, or spew needless profanity like many of the mainstream artists do today. He was fun loving, graceful and fly. His songs stole your heart away because they were real and he did it his way as implied by the song “We Got Our Own Thang.”
Like when he did the track “I want somebody to love me for me.” This track resonated with my peers and I because he spoke to something very deep in the heart of many who want someone to love them for who they are and not for what you have are can do for them and most of all for who we are internally and not externally. He showed us that no matter your size their are no limitations on life except those you allow others to place upon you.
He fathered a daughter in 2000 during a relationship with chef Antonia Lofaso, a contestant on Top Chef
With that in mind, the song “Girlz, They Love Me” they love me because I am the over weight lover Heavy D saw him flaunting the appeal of his size to the ladies. He along with Chubb Rock surely inspired the career of another great the Notorious Big as evidenced by the notorious one uttering in his breakout smash “Juicy,” “It was all a dream I used to read Word Up magazine Salt n’ Pepa and Heavy D up on the TV screen.” Heavy D made an appearance in the video for Biggy’s hit “One More Chance.”
Even the late great Big Pun another supreme lyricist who did the song “On Point” on Heavy D’s album along with down south heavy weight EightBall had to be influenced by Heavy D. This is why the message he left on his twitter account is so telling which read, “Be inspired!”
This is what he did after the passing of his dancer trouble T-Roy which led to the monumental breakthrough album peaceful journey with production by new jack swing era Teddy Riley, DJ Eddie F, Pete Rock and Marley Marl a tribute to the late Trouble T-Roy. Where the single “Now that We Found Love” shows Heavy D and the Boyz using their love of the fallen trouble T-Roy to inspire their album that became a major success.
Also at this time, the other “money earnin” Mount Vernon duo of Pete Rock and CL Smooth paid tribute with the song, “Reminisce T.R.O.Y” a tribute to their falling friend, and they also made an appearance along with legends Big Daddy Kane, Q-Tip and Kool G Rap on the posse cut “Don’t Curse” off the Peaceful Journey album.
Dwight Errington Myers (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer, singer, actor, and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a hip hop group which included dancers/background vocalists G-Whiz (Glen Parrish), "Trouble" T. Roy (Troy Dixon), and Eddie F (born Edward Ferrell).
The group maintained a sizable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. The five albums the group released were produced by Teddy Riley, Marley Marl, DJ Premier, his cousin Pete Rock and Eddie F.
Myers was born on May 24, 1967 in Mandeville, Jamaica, the son of Eulahlee Lee, a nurse, and Clifford Vincent Myers, a machine technician. In the early 1970s his family moved to Mount Vernon, New York, where he was raised.
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, 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; Big Tyme was a breakthrough that included four hits.
While still an artist at Uptown Records, Myers was instrumental in convincing Andre Harrell to originally hire Sean “Diddy” Combs for his first music business gig as an intern. Then, also to his credit, in the mid-1990s, Myers became the first rapper to head a major music label when he became the president of Uptown Records.
During this time, Myers also developed the Rhythm and Blues boy band Soul for Real, and was the executive producer and principal writer of several songs on the group's breakout album, Candy Rain. He later became senior vice president at Universal Music
As an actor he was in countless sitcoms like Living Single, dramas like Boston Public, plays like Medal of Honor Rag (he lost 160 pounds for this role but reports state that he apparently weighed 344 pds) and movies like the new flick “Tower Heist” starring Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller. Sunrise May 24, 1967, Sunset November 8, 2011.
He was an original Emcee in his own right with a unique look. He didn’t have the gritty crime street look that is excepted and popularized in the industry today and to some extent back then. He stood out because of his lyrics which were not always aggressive and derogatory towards women.
He was able to create hits without succumbing to the industry standards. He also helped birth acts like Soul for Real, AR signed Herb Mcgruff, Monifah, Soul For Real. He was a positive role model because of songs like Don’t Curse and “Self Destruction,” (Heavy once said, “We strongly believe that violence is nonsense, and that we’ve got to get together as one.
which he was a part of the classic posse cut that spoke out and raised money to help curtail Black on Black crime. He still showed that he could flow with the best on his “Blue Funk” with lyrics that could swing with the best and had the perfect amount of street edge with songs like “Your Blind Baby.”
Additionally, He bridged the gap between R&B and Rap, which was important because Hip-Hop stands on the back of classic soul and R&B music, so it was like bringing back home to the foundation by creating something new based on classics. Like the track “Is it Good to You” and “Big Daddy” great music for all moods that make you want to dance.
Heavy D performed a guest rap on Janet Jackson's hit single "Alright". It was notably the first pop single to feature a rapper, setting the trend for future hip-hop and pop collaborations.[8] It was also his highest peaking song on the Billboard Hot 100. A year later, he appeared on Michael Jackson's single "Jam".
He gained even more fame by singing the theme song for the television program In Living Color and also MADtv. Heavy D then began focusing on his acting, appearing in various television shows before returning to the music charts with Nuttin' But Love.
After appearing in the off-Broadway play Riff Raff at Circle Repertory Company, Heavy D returned to recording with the hit Waterbed Hev.
In 1997, Heavy D collaborated with B.B. King on his duets album Deuces Wild, rapping in the song "Keep It Coming." Heavy D was referred to in the song "Juicy" by the Notorious B.I.G., and appeared in his music video for "One More Chance."
Heavy D’s last performance was on BET’s Hip-Hop Awards where he performed a melody of his hits and a usual he danced and rapped with the same bombastic, gregarious energetic style that made him a legend.
Early reports state that Heavy D collapsed due to a respiratory ailment, but the exact cause of his transition has not been confirmed at this time.
He had just released a new Album “Love Opus” digitally and was planning a major relaunch of his music career. He is survived by siblings and his 13 year old daughter who he poured all his energy into raising. Rest in peace brother you shall surly be missed.
What was interesting about his delivery and style was that he never seemed to be motivated by anger but rather happiness and spirituality seemed to guide him through his raps even with songs that had the hardest beats like “you can’t see what I can see your blind baby your blind from the fact.”
Ironically, he made a reggae album called Vibes that was very good, and I used to listen to it as I rode the train to work. My favorite tracks on the album are “Long Distance Girlfreind,” “Private Dancer” and “Queen Majesty.
We have to remember what Hev showed us “you can do what you want to do in living color” in that theme song for the comedy series in Living Color, he wished for a day when “prejudice was obsolete all mankind would dance to the exact beat and at night it would be safe to walk down the street.” “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours in mine.”
In the mid nineties he made monumental smash hits like “You Got Me Waiting” with words like, “anticipating bout your love I want to show you and really really want to know you.” These were the songs that had you kept in your head when you were trying to think of something nice to say to a girl you really liked. Another hit “Nuttin But Love For Your Baby” helped the album become the number one album in the country at the time and propelled it to platinum status the third time heavy D had achieved such a feat in his career.
He had away with expressing his feelings, and I guess this is what led to him writing and producing songs for acts he founded while he was A&R for Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records like Monifah and Soul For Real known for the hit song candy rain penned by the Heavster.
During the early 90s he did work with Michael Jackson on the song “Jam” and Janet Jackson for the single “Alright.” He also showed his versatility by going back to his roots and doing Reggae a genre of music that has contributed to the foundation of hip hop music with tracks like the hit “Dem No Worry We” off the hit Don Dada album of Super Cat, “Big Broad” also with Super Cat and Frankie Paul, and the song hotness with dancehall reggae great Buju Banton from the movie soundtrack Whose the Man.
On a number of occasions, I often tell my brother that I am sorry for young folks like him because the so called Hip – Hop that they are exposed to in the mainstream today, does not offer the type of diversity and fun that the previous generation growing up in the golden age of Hip-Hop (particularly the period from 1987 to 91) were fortunate to experience.
This time period marked the emergence of the late great six foot three inch, self proclaimed, overweight lover Heavy D. Who along with the Boyz that included DJ/producer Eddie F (Edward Ferrell), dancers, G-Whiz (Glen Parish), and the late Trouble T-Roy (Troy Dixon) in 1987 with the songs “The Overweight Lover is in the House” and “Mister Big Stuff.”
Dwight Arrington Myers from the parish of Mandeville, Jamaica grew up in the same Yonkers as the L.O.X, DMX and Swizz Beatz and rose to prominence and commercial success with the Boyz making smash hits like “We Got Our Own Thang,” where he would say “Diddle Diddle D,” and the hit “Somebody For Me, which he perfumed on “A Different World” when Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert, rushed the stage to dance with him and the Boyz and say “Word to the Mother.”
This song describe a man who was an originator and pioneer in hip op music. He rapped and he danced with the dexterity and agility of people half his size. He did not grimace and present mean mugs, or spew needless profanity like many of the mainstream artists do today. He was fun loving, graceful and fly. His songs stole your heart away because they were real and he did it his way as implied by the song “We Got Our Own Thang.”
Like when he did the track “I want somebody to love me for me.” This track resonated with my peers and I because he spoke to something very deep in the heart of many who want someone to love them for who they are and not for what you have are can do for them and most of all for who we are internally and not externally. He showed us that no matter your size their are no limitations on life except those you allow others to place upon you.
He fathered a daughter in 2000 during a relationship with chef Antonia Lofaso, a contestant on Top Chef
With that in mind, the song “Girlz, They Love Me” they love me because I am the over weight lover Heavy D saw him flaunting the appeal of his size to the ladies. He along with Chubb Rock surely inspired the career of another great the Notorious Big as evidenced by the notorious one uttering in his breakout smash “Juicy,” “It was all a dream I used to read Word Up magazine Salt n’ Pepa and Heavy D up on the TV screen.” Heavy D made an appearance in the video for Biggy’s hit “One More Chance.”
Even the late great Big Pun another supreme lyricist who did the song “On Point” on Heavy D’s album along with down south heavy weight EightBall had to be influenced by Heavy D. This is why the message he left on his twitter account is so telling which read, “Be inspired!”
This is what he did after the passing of his dancer trouble T-Roy which led to the monumental breakthrough album peaceful journey with production by new jack swing era Teddy Riley, DJ Eddie F, Pete Rock and Marley Marl a tribute to the late Trouble T-Roy. Where the single “Now that We Found Love” shows Heavy D and the Boyz using their love of the fallen trouble T-Roy to inspire their album that became a major success.
Also at this time, the other “money earnin” Mount Vernon duo of Pete Rock and CL Smooth paid tribute with the song, “Reminisce T.R.O.Y” a tribute to their falling friend, and they also made an appearance along with legends Big Daddy Kane, Q-Tip and Kool G Rap on the posse cut “Don’t Curse” off the Peaceful Journey album.
