Why HEAVY D was one of the all time GREATS – A final farewell by R.A. the RUGGED MAN

I didn’t have the honor of knowing HEAVY D personally and can’t say he was a friend of mine – but what I did have the honor of being to Heavy – was one of his biggest fans. I know a lot of people go out of their way to speak on how great an artist was after they die but I don’t do that shit – Heavy D and the Boyz was honestly one of my all time favorite groups and anyone who listens to my lyrics knows that I reference their music often – and I was honored to see it was recognized in this Daily News article about Heavy D.
He was an entertainer, a song writer, a hit maker – with an incredible flow and a strong quality in his vocals that’s lacking from this new school age of thin-voiced midget sounding bitch rappers. He had a true rappers voice and not a computer programmed, EQ’d to death, poorly annunicaited delivery. He wasn’t one of these unmusical, no-soul having rappers who learned how to rhyme a few Multi’s and wrote some half ass metephors and now thinks he’s a MC. Heavy D was the epitome of a dude you hand the mic to who could unquestionably rock any party. He was HipHop.

I especially loved HipHop that wasn’t all about being “gangsta” and “Keepin it Real in the streets” but was more about entertaining the crowd, grabbing the mic, and putting on an incredible show. Artists like Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Biz Markie – they knew how to have fun and rock the house without having to thug it out. And they were as “REAL” as HipHop gets. Heavy D was part of that era.
I remember being on tour and having an argument with a fellow rapper who thought he was too “hardcore” for Heavy D, he said Heavy D was corny and didn’t make “Real” HipHop. he was one of these cats who thought if it wasn’t BootCamp Click, Gang Starr or Wu-Tang Clan then it wasn’t “Real”. I love all that 90′s hiphop. I lived through that era and was part of it – but HipHop is more than just that one era or sound.
I aggressively, almost violently explained to this “Keep it Real” rapper on the tour that everyone of his favorite artists and producers fucked with Heavy D and respected his work. I couldn’t understand, him being such a die hard Gang Starr fan, why he didnt know the history Heavy had with Premo – and that they worked together on many occasions. Guru had even appeared on Heavy D’s album Blue Funk. OR, if he had loved that 90′s sound so much, how he didn’t know that Heavy D was the one who put Pete Rock on the map. Isn’t Pete Rock one of the most influential producers from the 90s?
It wasn’t just Premo and Pete Rock that The Heavster worked with, he made classic after classic with some of the greatest producers in history – Marley Marl, Teddy Riley and Erik Sermon to name a few and his right hand man Eddie F was an incredible producer too.

After Heavy sold millions of records – outselling the best rappers on the planet – rather than shrugging them off he actually reached out to do records with them. How many multi-Platinum artists reach out to Kool G Rap? or C.L. Smooth? or Grand Puba? His resume is a who’s who of legendary MC’s that he’s recorded with.. KRS-1, Guru, Notorious B.I.G, Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Doug E Fresh, Kool Moe Dee, Busta Rhymes, Biz Markie, Q-Tip, … the list goes on and on. Infact I challenge any one to find a more stacked resume than Heavy D’s.

 

 After conquering the rap game he actually took over the R&B charts too by working with the best of his era – Aaron Hall in the height of his career, Al B. Sure, and both Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.
There is No other rapper in history that had the capability of combining legitimate rapping skills with the soulful sound of R&B music. Some say he was the first to mix the two but that isn’t true. Most notably – Melle Mel made the classic “I feel for you” with Chaka Khan in 84 – but it   
                                                                                        wasn’t untill 89 when Heavy D hopped on ‘Just Coolin’ with Levert that every R&B song started needing a rapper on their shit. Even Jody watley ran out and got Rakim on her joint ‘Friends’ the next year. Musicians would base their entire career on the style that Heavy D did first – Rappers like Father MC and, in my opinion, R&B legend Mary J Blige – would mesh HipHop and R&B elements in the same format Heavy D made popular; and think of how many Mary influenced. He influenced music so much more than fans even realize.

I remember being maybe 11 or 12 years old and hearing Mr. Big Stuff for the first time – It was that moment that I became a lifelong fan.
When I got the call that Heavy D was dead I was actually fucking speechless – even though I didn’t know him personally because he was such an important part of my childhood I felt horrible like I lost somebody in my family. I grew up idolizing Rappers like Heavy D, I dedicated and worked my entire life crafting my skills to be like what he was. And I’m gonna reveal to you all how fuckin corny and how much a fanboy I am. Earlier this year I saw Dwight Myers a.k.a. Heavy D was on Facebook the first thing I did was hit his inbox with this fanboy message.

 

 
R.I.P. HEAVY D.