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Dwight Myers, notably known as Heavy D,

was one of Hip Hop's most popular and charismatic figures.

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

Self-proclaimed as the overweight lover,

Heavy was a nimble character on the dance floor,

creating signature moves that seduced people of all ages

to fall for his music, style, and lovable persona.

* Hey, everybody shake your body *

* We don't ill, we chill at a party *

* Keep a groove that's sensual *

* Three-dimensional, unquestionable *

* The lover is professional *

* Got a category, my own and I'm the President *

* Don't be alarmed but I'm sewing up the resident *

* With my particular style *

* style particular, extracurricular *

(soft music)

- I don't know too many people

who have touched so many people's lives,

in such a consistent way, for so long.

Heav had a heart this big, you know

and it was always love whenever you saw him.

It was like a big hug and you felt the love in the hug.

And even guys had to give up the hug

'cause Heav was just lovable like that,

but he was also smart, and he was also strong,

and he was also super capable,

and you know, he was a pioneer,

and he set a great example for me in my life,

and

God bless him.

You know, I still can't believe he's not here.

- You know what Heavy D did in the world,

and the legacy, and what people saw,

and what people know

is no comparison to what

he would do in a room with you.

Push you to wanna be the best version of yourself.

The idea of like, his thing was always

about helping somebody.

That was the thing that he left me with,

that necessity and that demand

to always be able to help somebody.

- Even with his last tweet was, "Be inspired," you know,

and that says it all right there.

It's like, "Be inspired."

(upbeat music)

* This one goes out to all the lovers in the house *

* Know what I'm sayin' *

* I'm gonna express my feelings right about now *

* On the way I like to do things *

* Good to you *

* T.R., bring it in *

* Is it good to you *

* I like it *

* Is it good to you *

* Oh, I like it *

* Is it good to you *

* I like it *

* Is it good to you *

* Woo, oh boy *

* How would you feel if I worked you down *

* Made your head spin like a merry-go-round *

* Take control like "Charles In Charge" *

* I really can't wait, let's stay in the garage *

* Oops, let me run as I get the whipped cream *

* Can't have ice cream without whipped cream *

* Plus an ice cube, to make you swing *

* My main man did it in "Do the Right Thing" *

* C'mon let me tickle you in all the right places *

* Keep my eyes open while I watch ya make faces *

* Feelin' quite dandy, comfortable and cozy *

* Let me draw the curtains 'cause my neighbors are nosy *

* So make a little room, here comes big daddy *

* Big like a truck, satisfyin' like a Caddy *

* Many will call but the chosen are few *

* And all I wanna know, is it good to you? *

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Heavy D was born to Dwight Arrington Myers

on May 24th, 1967 in Mandeville, Jamaica,

and grew up largely in Mount Vernon, New York.

His mother worked as a nurse,

and his father as a movie equipment repair man.

- Every time I think of him I see his smile.

- He gave all of himself, you know,

for those smiles and the music.

- Heav would always have open arms

to everybody in the neighborhood

and across the whole community.

- When he would walk into the studio,

he'll walk into the room, it was like,

you enjoyed him being there.

- He was a jokester, definitely.

He could be serious at times, but he was,

pretty much a big kid.

(upbeat music)

* Picture the set, girlies wet with sweat *

* In the corner people sitting down they've had as much *

* As they could possibly get; *

* Meanwhile I'm lampin', feeling like a champ and *

* Push up on a cutie, phone digits I'm stampin' *

- Everything about Heavy D was fun all the time.

(upbeat music)

- Big dude, you know, but just like extended,

living his professional life.

That was his college. His college was the stage

and entertaining, his great music for many people.

(dance music)

- These cats were all 17, 18 and 19,

just out of high school.

So they had a lot of that energy in them.

Heavy D a big, jovial dude with a lot of energy in him.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] He was the front man of the group,

Heavy D and The Boyz

which became the first act signed to Uptown Records.

- Heav, would be inspired by artists

like Sting and, you know, like Maxi Priest.

And it would never be really a rapper.

You know what I'm saying?

Because every rapper was damn near competing

with each other, talking about, you know

come to my hood and the bridge is over.

So, Heav was never really into that.

So his creative process actually was simple

because all he did was ride around

and he took in his surroundings and he just wrote about it.

- One of the things that was most interesting

to me about him was that we'd always be in a group of kids

hanging out on the block.

And if Dwight saw that you weren't super involved

or super engaged, he'd reach out to you and pull you in.

And so when you look at kind of where he ended up,

he brought everybody in Mount Vernon along with him.

He wanted everybody to be part of the fun.

- The thing A lot of people don't know is that Mount Vernon

even though, it was Westchester is not technically

the five boroughs.

It is bordered on two sides by the Bronx

and hip-hop actually started in the Bronx.

* One two, tell me what you got *

*Let me slip my quarters inside your slot *

* to hit the jackpot *

* Rev me up rev me up, My little buttercup *

* We can tug sheets snuggle up and get stuck *

* Believe it or not *

* Here comes the brother with glow *

* A snugglin', bubblin' overweight lover huggin' pro *

* So what's it gonna be? Me or the TV? *

* Now let me take time to set your mind and your body free *

* So why don't you just stretch. *

* Stretch for a sec *

* Lay down your problems so I can cop a quick wreck *

* Shake me, Shake me *

* Baby, Baby, Bake me *

No need to fake, here I am come on and take me.

- And I remember getting a phone call from him

I was in my dormitory.

And he said, I'm about to make a demo

but I don't have any money.

And I was like, wow.

I just got my student refund check.

That was $2,500.

I put it right in the bank and sent him the cash.

And him and Eddie F got together

And they made this incredible demo.

- So Eddie F of course, being the brains of the operation

took the initiative to kind of get us all together.

And I remember recording the first Heavy D demo

and I believe I still have a cassette copy of it.

It's called "It's a Party Y'all"

- His recording process wasn't actually hard.

I mean, Heav would get in the studio

and finish the song in 20 minutes, "Gyrlz, They Love Me".

We was in the red Cherokee. It was me, him and Pete.

We rode around the block six times.

The records was written.

"Overweight Lover in the House"

He said, "I'm in the house, I'm an overweight lover".

- Heavy D the biggest compliment to music is being in it.

Music is better because Heavy D did it.

- It's very interesting when you hear it now.

I mean it, Heav's skills were clearly elite and

above everyone else around the way.

His delivery was just so charismatic.

And he had something special to give, obviously.

We all figured that out later on, around the globe.

- "Mr. Big Stuff" came out

and I remember the day it happened

and they were all at Lorraine Park in Mount Vernon.

And I was down there and he was sitting on the railing.

And, you know, on the railing

and it was my brother Floyd and Troy

and a bunch of us were just sitting out there.

And we're waiting and we're waiting.

And all of a sudden,

it came on the radio.

And we would just like all like screaming out,

at Lorraine Park

and we couldn't believe it was on the radio.

We were so excited. He was excited.

- And then the phones start ringing

at home, and shows and, you know, taking this real serious.

My parents were so happy.

- I remember, jeez, back when Andre Harrell

first started Uptown,

and Heavy D and The Boyz came out

and he was just kicking off "Uptown's Kickin' It."

That was back when they had their Coca-Cola sweaters.

* I'm rough and tough and all that stuff. *

* I make you dance and prance 'til you huff and puff. *

* There's just no way you can get enough *

* of me, your Mister Big Stuff. *

* I'm the overweight-er, prince dominator MC *

* Heavy D, constant weight gainer. *

* And since I choose the weight not to lose *

* I will stay this way so that I can bruise. *

* MC's around who front and frown. *

* You go round for round. I go pound for pound. *

* At the end of the party when you're sayin' goodnight *

* Don't come to me and say, "Take it light." *

* I'm your Mister Big Stuff *

- [Narrator] "Big Stuff" and "Gyrlz, They Love Me"

were comic and fun, as Heavy D played up

the oversize personality with colorful style.

- He was that guy that really could

kind of tag all the areas.

You know, the streets, the females, the crossover

and you know, your grandmother.

- Heav and I became friends on tour.

Basically, because he took me out on my first national tour.

I pretty much just saw him every day.

Him and The Boyz, the whole crew, we would hang out.

We were all kind of very young.

I was probably 18 at the time.

- Well, I was 10 years older than everybody else.

So, I looked at everybody as young people coming up.

- So, I always seen him as a solid guy who was always

about representing something that was positive.

- First time I heard Heavy D was "Overweight Lover."

And it was dope to me because, you know

we had The Fat Boys, Disco 3 was in there

and they were dope, you know,

but they will make fun of the fact

that they were overweight.

You know, that was their thing, that was their shtick.

But, we'd had, it's like you believed them

when they say "all the overweight lovers in the house"

and you really believe like, yo, man, I got to

watch my girl around this dude, because it might be over.

* Now every day of your life you wanna be with me *

* When you got time to spend you spend time with Heavy D. *

*I notice that you hold me gentle as a rose. *

* I'm rough and tough baby, but then I suppose *

* that I had to be held in order to start holdin'. *

* I think I got you hittin', so let's start rollin' *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

- [Narrator] The group released five albums

between 1987 and 1994.

Three of which went platinum.

Heavy D and The Boyz became key figures

in softening hip-hop hard edges.

- He's a lover not a fighter, right?

He say it all the time overweight lover, right?

He was no a gangster.

He spoke right to the heart of most of the core consumers.

- My father was a preacher.

And on the way to church, my dad would put on Heav.

Just to be, you know, cool.

Cause, you know, driving to church with his son,

he wanted to kind of relate.

He'll put on my Heavy D record.

I'm like, I'm thinking like my dad is, man, he's cool.

- Summer 86.

It was us,

Jazzy Jeff, Fresh Prince, Heav, EPMD,

Salt-N-Pepa, Eric B. and Rakim

We all had singles that summer.

We met Heav on the New York leg

at a place called the Rooftop.

And it was sort of the Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince

introduction into the world of New York hip-hop.

And we was from Philly.

So, that wasn't an easy, it wasn't an easy run

but Heav was one of the first people

that really embraced Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

was a great supporter, really really early.

And just, he got it.

- His music, made my mother smile,

made my grandmother smile.

Like, they weren't offended by anything.

You can let the kids listen to it.

Like it was the music for all ages, all races, all sexes.

- His music always was up and loving

and fun and made me want to dance.

- [Narrator] His music made the public dance

but more importantly made them smile.

A sentiment that was genuinely embedded in the heart

of Dwight Myers and always displayed through Heavy D.

- We would always incorporate like R&B with Rap.

And that's why our first album

was like a struggle for us because it was like,

nobody was really accepting it at the time.

You know, it was just, like you said, beats and rhymes.

So, when we came out with like

Eddie F was like the first brother

to come out with a Rap record with arrangement,

a chorus, a break, a bridge.

And it was like, everybody was like,

Wait. Should we like this?

Maybe not. Maybe so. Maybe not. Maybe so.

Heav, like,

he really didn't

care what other people said.

Like he kind of had his own reality going on,

like the the overweight lovers in the house.

Like nobody was really checking for overweight lovers.

He made hip-hop sexy.

He was dancing, you know, back in the day.

When cats wasn't really getting down like that.

- When that boy starts dancing,

that arena would just go crazy.

- I got a license from Heavy D to do a lot of what I do.

Big fly brother light on his feet, agile.

You know what I'm saying, still looking attractive.

And I'm saying, you know, I seen the blueprint from him.

- I think I was greatly influenced by Heav's music

because Heav was part of that New Jack Swing kind of era.

Like he helped usher in New Jack Swing.

His music wasn't just beats and rhymes.

It wasn't just hardcore like

a lot of peoples' music at the time.

He wasn't thugged out.

I mean, he could hang with thugs.

He could be around thugs, but he wasn't

like a thug and he would be respected by thugs.

- Heavy. Heavy's music

made hip-hop popular

to grandkids and grandmothers.

It was so across the board without selling out

because the hardest cats in Harlem and Brooklyn was

going all the way in on a Heavy D joint.

When the Heav joint came on,

everybody got up on the dance floor.

But then also, when you ride in the car

and it's playing on a New York radio station.

You didn't have to turn the station,

if your grandmother was in the car with you.

Or the kids were in the car.

- Because he was able to walk a fine line

that not everyone can walk and he did it superbly.

He was a great statesman, as far as hip-hop is concerned.

- Of course, being a part of the group when we first started

and singing all the backgrounds

and from "Money Earning Mount Vernon"

and "Don't You Know", 'Somebody For Me"

* I want somebody to love me for me *

* Happy happy is the way that I wanna be *

* I want somebody to love me for me *

* Happy happy is the way that I wanna be *

* I'll search low and I'll search high. *

* Trying to find myself a cutie pie. *

* My destination leads me to a dead end, *

* Over and over and over again. *

* They told me to wait, so I waited. *

* Anticipated, debating and delayed it. *

* But still came up with the same ol' thing, *

* Nothing. *

- And Heav was, you know, he was in everyone's home.

You know what I'm saying?

And for me to kind of step into a room

and know that I was about to get on a record with Heavy D,

was like, you know I felt a real sense of accomplishment.

You know what I'm saying? Because that's how I viewed him.

I really respected this man.

* I want somebody to love me for me *

* Happy happy is the way that I wanna be *

* I want somebody to love me for me *

* Happy happy is the way that I wanna be *

- I just remember Heavy D being again, like a heavy-weight

rapper who was confident about who he was.

But, I remember him more so, being just a dope MC.

And before people like a JZ,

or those rappers who could ride that fine line between

crossing over and staying with their core audience.

I remember Heavy D being one of those first people

that could do that first.

* a commitment, something to live for *

* Maybe if you take, your time *

* Time has been taken and time has been spent *

* Now, it's time for the lover to score *

- Heavy D wasn't a common music industry person.

Heavy D gave my production company a deal on Uptown

when he was running Uptown Records.

And that the thing that was special

about Heavy D is he wasn't a typical music industry.

He wasn't all about money and in his pursuit of money.

Like, forget about the personal relationship with people.

He was one of the most personable people that I knew in the

in the music industry, kindhearted.

And you couldn't run into someone

that had something negative to say about Heav

and that's not common in the music business.

- We did a record together called Summer Rain.

And like I said, Heav was always trying to get me

to do something that I didn't want to do

or felt like I felt like I couldn't do.

And so he was on this whole thing for like weeks and weeks,

that yo, "why don't you play the guitar?"

I was like, "I don't know how to play the guitar."

He said, "Yes, you can. If you can play the keyboard.

You can play the piano. You can play the bass.

You can play the drums. You can play the guitar."

I was like, "No, I cannot play the guitar."

So he bought a guitar, right.

I come to the studio and it's sitting there.

I was like, he was like, "man, just try it."

I'm telling this is all, this was his catch phrase.

"Just try it. I'm telling you, just try it."

I was like, "all right, I'll try it."

And the first thing I played was the the lick

from the Summer Rain record,

he was like "that's it! Go in the booth lets record that."

And that's how we came up with that record.

I was like, man, he knew,

I don't know how he knew that, but he knew.

And I've been playing the guitar ever since.

- First time I met this gentlemen, there was a party

I did up in a club up in Mount Vernon.

The man at that time was this guy

by the name of the Everloving Kid Dust,

which is now known as Brother Arthur

they used to work along with Karl Kani.

The Everloving Kid Dust

was a member of the Almighty Universal Zulu Nation.

He was the man, as far as the MC

is concerned up in Mount Vernon, at the time.

He hired me to do a party up in Mount Vernon.

I think the name of the club was called The Bank,

I could be wrong.

The opening act for him was this gentlemen.

and I got to hear this gentlemen for the first time.

And I listened to his style I was like, Whoa.

Where'd he come from?

Not knowing that within the next year

he will be signed as an artist.

- You know, he used to always come to the House of Hits,

up to my house, we used to record a lot.

Me, Heavy D and Pete Rock,

we used to have a chicken wing eating contest

up at the House of Hits.

You know, there's a place called Rib Cage.

That used to be up in Rockland.

And you know, we used to order ribs

and we used to see who could eat the most ribs

or the most chicken wings in the least amount of time.

And you know, Pete Rock always won,

but you know those are some of my fondest moments

of being with Heavy D other than creating

some of the songs that touch the world.

But, you know, Heavy D was,

he's like one in a million, you know.

The best guy you would ever want to know

in your life was Heav, for real.

- Our last conversation was about how good we both looked

and how good we were doing.

You know what I'm saying? Real talk.

It was like, you know, of course

Heav always been good on his feet, you know what I'm saying?

But, he seemed like he was getting his health in order.

I was getting mine in order.

It was one of those those conversations.

You keep doing what you're doing, I'm keep what I'm doing

and it was all fair, it was just, you know what I'm saying?

Just, just standing there and just talking.

It wasn't about radio.

It was just us. We're like catching up.

Like, man, you look good.

Keep doing what you're doing.

And, and it was it was a longer conversation,

but it wasn't radio.

It was just, you know, the time that I had a chance

to speak to him not knowing

that that'll be our last real conversation, you know?

- And I remember when I lost my brother when I was 22.

You know, I really became disillusioned about the business

because people would say,

"Yeah, I heard about your brother, Latifa.

Can I get an autograph the autograph"

or "I heard about your brother, can I get a picture?"

Like in the same sentence.

And I felt like people really didn't care

and Heavy D and Patti LaBelle were two of the people

that really from the business really reached out.

And I think Heav, because he had lost a brother, as well.

He knew the pain that I was feeling.

He knew what I was going through.

And he just encouraged me and to let me know

it'd be all right, that I would make it through it.

- I think he inspired the entire hip-hop nation, honestly.

Like I can just keep going on with names and names and names

but Heav is just a big ball of inspiration.

Like, I mean, when you see Heavy,

he lights up a room, I mean,

If anyone that's been privileged

to be in his presence,

Heav is just inspiration.

- When you look in the dictionary under the word loyal

you should see Heavy's face there,

hands down, without a doubt.

- I saw one day he was very, very cold

some guy on the street and he said,

"Dad, look at that guy over there."

He's like, cold.

And he got out of that car,

he took his coat off and gave it to him.

And I said, "that is something else.

You are something else."

He said, " Dad, that guy was cold, we're not cold."

This gentle giant, who was

always willing to help,

anyone who was in his path.

- He did a lot of good for a lot of people

and people would be surprised, how many people

he's helped in this industry, so many.

- It seemed like every time I would get ready to

do something stupid or I was about to go

and drink myself on the table, I would run into Heavy.

And he'd be like, "where are you going? What you doing?"

And it's like, he always knew

that I was about to do something

ridiculous and he was saying, "you're better than that.

You know, you're better than that, Mary."

- I'm just watching him night after night go out

and give it everything, no matter what,

was inspiring to me, artistic and just as a man,

you know, that that concept of one person,

one life at a time, leaving your mark

and creating your legacy.

- He would just say one thing that would really

like make my stomach hurt,

like how a brother is with a sister.

But, what I realized now is,

that was his way of making me tough.

That was his way of poking me

to make sure I was still being inspired.

- Heavy was more like a mentor, a big brother,

a guy with a real big heart.

- He and I had just recently gotten together

and going to Vegas and like he got,

he got up and got on stage with me

and did another, we found love.

We talked all night and we laughed.

And like, you know, he gave me so much wisdom.

So much advice.

- Heav played a very significant role in a lot of our lives.

- He's touched so many people's lives

that every time someone would call me

or our say and they would say things like,

he's done this for me, he's done that for me.

And everybody has the same thing to say.

He was my best friend.

- Now, let's welcome of the hottest rap crews

in the business, this is their latest single

on the MCA label

entitled "The Overweight Lover in the House."

And they are Heavy D and The Boyz.

- [Narrator] Heavy D and The Boyz took a ride

on the soul train in 1988.

His collaboration with Teddy Riley's New Jack sound

had the dancers grooving and mimicking

his signature footwork.

Even Don Cornelius, who was slow to embrace hip-hop

had to recognize and respect that the overweight lover

was definitely in the house.

* In the House *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

* The Overweight Lover's in the House *

- You fellows have sold a tremendous amount of records,

and most of it happened without a great deal of radio play.

- We started from like playing in front of like 150 people

all the way up to 15,000 and 20,000.

You know, it's just a stage that we had to take.

Radio wasn't, you know, they was very particular

about what records they were playing,

as far as rap was concerned.

You know? And at the time we, you know, we was out

with like major artists,

like LL Cool J. was out at the time.

Other artists was out at the time.

So, it was harder for us.

So, we had to work all the clubs.

We had to do all the work that we could do

to sell our records.

And it's paying off now.

Cause here we are on Soul Train.

- [Cornelius] Heavy D and The Boyz.

- He came across, like, you knew him all the time.

- He was honest.

If he didn't like something,

he would tell you, "Hey man, that ain't cool."

Or, you know, you never heard him say a bad word

about anyone.

It was always that he was that guy that

that was trying to make every situation all right.

Almost give you a hug without even touching you, you know?

- And I performed on one of his albums.

We did a song together, you know, he sought me out-

He saw something in me.

That's the old G, you know, like I'm cut from this cloth.

- Being in the business.

As long as he was in the business,

you never felt that way.

You know, he just felt like your buddy

that you went to school with,

or you know, that you grew up with round away

and they made it, but they didn't become it.

- "Gyrlz, They Love Me" mean

that they love Heav for who he was, man.

And how he stayed clean is because

he never really slept around like that.

You know, "if I find somebody and we vibe, cool.

Other than that, I ain't running around like that."

So, that was just a clean cut guy.

* It feels really good to be Heavy D *

* because the girls, the girls, they love me. *

* Gyrlz they, gyrlz they love me. *

* Cause he's The Overweight Lover Heavy D! *

* Gyrlz they, gyrlz they love me. *

* Cause he's The Overweight Lover Heavy D! *

- Here's explosion from the time that Mr. Big stuff erupted,

you know, through the early nineties

that brought more people into our circle

and around us like, again, that might've taught us

life experiences, professional experiences, you know,

had things to offer that we might not have ordinarily

have been exposed to, but it never changed him.

Heav stayed at home.

He didn't, he didn't run out and buy a mansion.

He didn't run out and buy a thousand cars.

He stayed at home.

- Heavy D was very lower middle-class neighborhood.

He was like every black kid, honest.

And that honesty made him real.

- Heavy D was the mayor of Mount Vernon and it showed.

- Well, Mount Vernon is a city that is four square miles.

We have Denzel Washington who comes from Mount Vernon.

So the music explosion happened, of course,

Heavy D and The Boyz,

myself- Jeff Redd, Al B. Sure, Pete Rock, C.L. Smooth,

but Mount Vernon was always rich in culture.

And it still is.

- It's amazing what folks from Mount Vernon

have accomplished.

You go into studios and kids from Mount Vernon

or now grown men and women from Mount Vernon are

behind the cameras, are behind the records,

are managing people.

All because we've been able to reflect the values

that we grew up with.

- I just remember us being on tour with half a Mount Vernon

from the barbershop on the road with us, you know,

one's the wardrobe guy and one's helping the catering.

And the other ones with luggage

because he gave everybody a job,

take them out of the hood, put them to work

let them see the world.

And that was the kind of dude that Heav was.

- Now, where we about to enter is the famous park

that everybody know Heav from, Lorraine Park.

With the loss of Heavy D,

this park is now named Heavy D and The BoyZ playground,

which is going to go through a lot of renovations.

A big mural of Heav will be placed on the wall.

We gonna fix it back up, man.

We going to make it the real Lorraine Park, but

it's going to be Heavy D and The Boyz playground.

Whatever you think where Heav started for, man,

with the lumberjack jacket,

with the corduroy with the old Timbs.

This is where it began.

- When I think about Heavy's music,

he was the one who brought in melody

and brought in that aspect of R&B

that nobody else had thought to use and he did it so well

* I'm steady, picking my brain *

* Trying to figure your game *

* What's your angle, tell me *

* Where you're coming from *

* The whole picture is strange *

* So I'm digging the frame *

* Because I like what I see *

* And I want some *

* So tell me what's your plot *

* What's your plan *

* You're looking for A brother to get got *

* I'm not your man *

* But believe in me *

* You want to be with me *

* But you won't even talk to me *

* To tell me what it is you see in me *

- I was on tour with Heav,

when Trouble "T" Roy was killed and

I just in such shock at how he was even able

to make it through that tour.

- Heavy D was, was my family. He was my cousin.

And it meant a lot to not only us, as family

but the world out there.

He's very ambitious with doing things even off the record,

not talking about music, but talking about musically.

He always put his best foot forward

and always looked up to him.

Even,

for anything, you know what I'm saying?

So, when we started doing music

he just kind of put me under his wing.

I just kind of took it day by day, step by step.

We did it as a hobby.

You know, we listened to it for so long.

As younger kids, got a chance to be involved in it.

Once we got involved in it then he made his first record

and we enjoyed listening to it for the first time

on the radio.

The whole neighborhood was so happy

and we felt we had a niche going.

And I was only like doing

baby things at the time

like co-producing and lending my ideas.

And then I got involved with learning the equipment.

And once I learned how to work the equipment, you know

we started having fun, then.

It was just like a family venture.

(soft music)

- He was really strong about just be who you are.

And you can get out in, in this world.

And with entertainment, you can get lost

and Heav never really got lost.

- I look at Heavy as a protector for me,

an angel, a friend.

- he really, truly, honestly had nothing,

but love for everybody.

- I think it was always a shock

for people to see such a big guy

get out there and shake and move the way he did.

- He has such a great personality.

When I first met him, it was like, I knew him forever.

Even though I had just met him.

- I hear it is I'm a big dude.

And he was a big dude, but he was just out there moving.

Like he was well, 40.

- There was one thing I remember

about Heavy that nobody could ever duplicate.

Everybody's always trying to do to.

(rhythmic singing)

See, I can't do it.

- Whether it was a blood family

or community family, or friends family,

just people in general.

He, he just had a love for people.

(soft music)

- [Narrator] The icon's success like most,

had its turbulent times in 1990 when one of the group's

dancers, Trouble "T" Roy, died

from an accident fall backstage

the group's career took a dramatic change

and sent Heavy into an emotional whirl-wind.

- When Troy passed, it was actually like the centerpiece

of the group kind of was missing.

And that's how the group started

to drift apart, at that time.

It was because Troy was the person

that really held the whole thing together.

- Knowing he had to go out on stage every night

and fulfill his commitment to this tour.

Having lost one of his best friends

and yet still going out on that stage

and showing up for 20,000 people every night.

It just was, you know, amazing to me how strong he was.

And I know he was broken.

You know, watching the poise at which he handled it.

I thought was just unbelievable.

- This is hard. It was real hard.

It's like, you lose everything at once.

You know, you don't have no, self-esteem, no motivation.

I'd just like to thank all the fans out there

who support us because they're the main reasons

why we are able to come back and come back stronger.

- These guys are on the 1990 tour,

all the way, even up to the Trouble "T" Roy incident.

I remember I had to kind of like be the

indirect bad-guy

by saying things like, look, nobody play around behind stage

and keep your clowning and your playing around to a minimum.

I think I was somewhere else, you know,

doing some work interviews or whatever.

They come off the stage.

We came on the stage, played to the Indianapolis crowd,

did our show, came off the stage

and first thing I'm looking at faces

and I'm like, what the hell happened?

And they point to areas and they said this would happen.

They were playing backstage.

Troy fell over onto the street.

And everybody was at the hospital.

I couldn't have perceived that.

Something like that would happen.

We all go to the hospital,

the whole tour, the whole damn tour.

And the minute we walked through the door,

of course, I see, you know, I mean

the same guys I always used to see happy, fun loving,

jovial, clowning, playing

Everybody had that look on their face.

They're crying.

And I seen seriously that in that 24-hours span

Heavy D go from boy to man in the worst way.

- [Narrator] In the mid 1990s,

he became the president of Uptown Records.

And in many ways, his influence extended beyond his albums,

as he discovered and mentored new talent

and collaborated on hits such as "Jam" with Michael Jackson.

and "Alright," with Janet.

- I'm introduced to Janet

I got an advanced copy of your album.

I heard your album.

And I wrote a rap for one of your records.

Oh, well, I'd love to do it.

And I, you know, get with you and we'd do it.

And we exchanged numbers and she never called me.

Two months later, I was in California in my hotel room

and I get a phone call from someone saying,

"Jackson would like to meet with you about the rap

that you wrote for her record,"

I'm like, Ooh, what?

Cause I'm forgetting all about this now.

It's like, what record?

What, which Jackson, who? They're like "Janet Jackson?"

I was like, I said, "I gotta call you back."

So, I send my man down to the store and he get the album.

And like I wrote the rap and I called back.

I said, "yeah, I have the rap, now.

I had it, you know, but I was on the interview,

so I couldn't do it."

And then like three weeks later

I was in Minneapolis with Jimmy Jam

and Terry Lewis and cut the track.

- Well, I think we all, personally, we're a Heavy D fans.

I know myself and Terry got a chance to work

with him with "Alright" with Janet

and he added so much magic and so much energy to the song.

* Now be it thick as a milkshake *

* Or thin as a cornflake *

* I love you to death but I ain't pressed for the heartbreak *

* And anyway, who cares about what other people talk about? *

* I'd rather hear it from the horse's mouth *

* See, I believe in, being believed in *

* No love lives, no low tides, it's all paper thin *

* But watch for the trickery, some people are slippery *

* They appear making history, disappear like a mystery *

- Certainly one of the pioneers in rap music

but also one of the people that moved it forward as

as hip-hop and rap came together

and soul music all came together as one.

He was one of the leaders in doing that

and putting melody on it.

And, but he, but beyond that he was just a great,

just a great person.

* The overweight lover MC, the cap *

* The rap, the hand clap, foot tap *

* Heavy D, dee, dee, dee. *

- I think it was 1990

Where the Fresh Prince of Bel Air came around.

And so, you know, we went West, we started looking in the

in the TV world and Queen Latifa and LL,

we started seeing the, you know, the possibilities of moving

from the hip-hop and being able to parlay hip-hop

into something else and Heav called.

He was like, "yo man, I'm moving to LA."

He was like, "I think I can do that.

I wanna, I wanna act, man"

- I moved to Los Angeles to do "Living Single" as an actor

and Will was already there.

We were all friends, like we'd all toured together.

So, we're all good friends from just being on the road.

And growing up in hip-hop.

- Heav's acting career could have been

even larger than his music career.

Heav was a real actor.

- And then the key to acting is not to act.

He would tell me all these things that he learned.

He said, "man, I had lunch with Bobby the other day."

I'm like, "Bobby, who?"

"Oh, Robert de Niro."

- I admired him for taking the craft very seriously,

And he did.

He started training and he was studying in LA.

I know he was taking a bunch of workshops

and he started doing a bunch of plays.

- I've seen, Heav act.

I've, you know, I've seen the movies,

but I seen Heav come on stage.

And I watched him get into this character.

I literally say, "yo man, you're a real actor"

- The first time we met was on the set of "Living Single."

They told me, Yvette who was the creator

and executive producer for "Living Single"

She first told me that Heavy D was going to be

a new love interest for Regine

and I was like, "really cool!"

There was this great role for this guy who

Regine would wind up dating.

And she, you know, her character was so, you know

kind of stuck up that, you know, when she winded up

when she wound up dating this guy sort of

and then he winds up brushing her off, it was hilarious.

- Hey, it was fun hanging out.

- Well, we're friends right? And friends hang out.

So, I'll call you.

- All right - Okay, take care.

- You, too.

- So? How did he take it? - Not well.

(studio audience laughs)

- I remember thinking that I was, I was kinda

disappointed that the storylines

or that arc of that romance

was so short lived, I guess.

Because, like I said, from a very selfish standpoint,

I liked where it took Regine.

- I don't know, in some small way, I kind of think, you know

Kim really liked Heav.

I think Heav had this like swagger.

He could kind of put it on you.

So, I think she sort of, I saw her blush in ways

that I've never seen her blush with other guys

who made guest appearances on the show.

So, I think Heav might've put that swag

on a little something.

- As a teenager, I was, I was involved

with death row records.

That's who I worked for.

And you know, the whole East Coast, West Coast,

Death Row, bad boy thing.

So, you know, I'm 18, you know, whatever.

And he calls me and says, "yo, has he ever met Puff?"

I was like, "nah, I ain't never met Puff, this is Death Row"

You know that whole thing.

He said, "man, quit being stubborn. You need to meet him

I'm telling him you got to meet him and see the opportunity

of a lifetime."

I was like, "what?"

And I'm just headstrong and stubborn like.

So he's, I didn't know.

He was actually sitting next to Puff,

While he is talking to me,

he's like, "man, you get down here to the studios"

And he did it like, and I hung up, we hung up.

He called me an hour later.

And again, he was like, "man, are you coming down here?"

I was like, "man, I'm not coming down there."

And finally he called me again.

I was like, "all right, I'm coming."

This time he cursed me out like for 20 minutes straight.

Like I'm like, "okay, I'll come down.

Came down there, he introduced me to Puff

and we got to talking and Puff asked me, weird,

He asked me a question about gospel music for some reason.

I don't know why.

Cause you know, he doesn't know me.

I don't know him.

And at this point I've never done any gospel music

not professionally like that.

At that point, I had done Death Row and some R&B stuff

you know, but I had just met and signed

to my production company two girls called Mary Mary.

And so, and Heav didn't even know this.

And I had two records in my pocket on them.

He said, "man, I'm working on this bad boy gospel record."

I said, "really? I just signed a gospel group."

So I played him the record and Heav was in the room.

He's watching me. He's looking at Puff

and watching me, you know, and I played a record.

And Puff goes nuts.

Like, "Oh, I want to sign them right now."

You know, Heav's, you should have saw his face.

He just beamed like, I did it again.

Like, I did it again and we never did sign

that deal with Puff, but it started a spark, an interest.

So everybody being interested in the group

because Puff was interested in the group, you know,

we had a whole bidding war thing go on

and that would've never happened.

You'd never heard or hear of Mary Mary,

if Heav didn't insist and curse me out into coming

to that studio, you know,

I'm not going to ever forget that.

- [Narrator] Consumed in the sounds of Freddie McGregor,

Beres Hammond and Bob Marley Heavy's 2008, Vibe CD

was heavily influenced by the reggae tones

of his Jamaican roots.

- You know, Ba-diddly-diddly Dee,

that part there, that's the Jamaican rift'

- Heavy was probably one of the first rappers

that was doing that diddly-diddly thing

and like kinda mixing reggae with hip hop.

- And when people heard it and was like,

wow this big light-skinned Teddy bear guy.

it was a fun time to see him bring that to life.

- One of the things that people love

about Heavy D was he was fly, number one,

his personality, number two

and then his stage show was consistently good.

- A lot of what you see in the music videos with Heavy

the laughing and the smiling

and the dancing is really who he is.

- Like I worked on "Black Coffee", no sugar, no cream.

That's the kind of girl down on my team.

* Black coffee, no sugar, no cream *

* That's the kind of girl I need down with my team *

* Black coffee, no sugar, no cream *

* That's the kind of girl I need down with my team *

* Black coffee, no sugar, no cream *

* That's the kind of girl I need down with my team *

*Black coffee, no sugar, no cream *

*It's just the way I like it *

- [Narrator] Heavy D's death shook the foundation

of the hip-hop community.

With one day of preparation, hip-hop legends

worked through the night to perfect

The tongue-twisted, syncopated-flow of Heavy D.

- I got a call from Paxton.

It just came out of the clear blue sky was, like

two AM in the morning. Three in the morning.

Paxton was calling me,

say, "yo, we going to do this for Heav"

The Heavy D tribute was a very interesting project

because I was so emotionally wrapped-up in it.

We were calling people trying to see who would participate.

And I was really trying to see

if I can get even more people to contribute

because I felt the bigger the better.

Time was of the essence.

I didn't sleep for a couple of days for that.

I know that what we did and the intentions

on what we did was really, really clean and was sincere.

You know, I feel we did good work.

I feel we did great work

and I feel Heavy D is very happy

cause he know the love was there.

- [Narrator] At the 2011 Soul Train Awards,

legends that came before and after Heavy performed a tribute

and had the entire country chanting.

"We got nuttin' but love for you Heavy."

(crowd chanting)

(crowd chanting)

- We love you, We love you!

(soft music)

- If I wasn't doing this I'd be bagging groceries.

I was good at that

I was good at this.

And I was very clear about that.

I was always good with words.

I love reading from the very early age

I would just pick up anything and read.

I just love what we're still doing.

Still, always fascinated by words and people.

To me, those are the two most dynamic things,

in my structure

I was like, I could always look at people

and just words like this.

I think the American language has too many damn words

with 17 words to describe one thing is very unnecessary.

I got up there, I got a voice message.

- There's your picture? - [Heavy D] Handsome fellow

- When did you take that picture?

- [Heavy D] We'll not talk about that.

I got a voicemail from him

that I saved just before he passed away.

- [Interviewer] Scott La Rock?

- And on the flip side of that is a voice message from Troy.

My best friend, who passed away in the (indistinct).

I got a little cassette,

remember when we had cassette voicemail?

That's ironic.

- [Narrator] November 8th, 2011,

Mount Vernon lost one of their sons.

When Dwight Errington Myers died,

unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism

in Los Angeles, California.

Heavy D credits the streets of Mount Vernon

for his upbringing.

Thus, it was only fitting that Mount Vernon be the home

of his final farewell.

- I hold on to the good things

that people have to say about him.

There's no way I walk streets, anywhere in Mount Vernon,

it's "Mr. Myers, I'm sorry. You had a great son."

- In a lot of ways.

I think God sent me to him and God sent Heav to me.

You know what I mean?

Because I know I wouldn't be who I am

and doing what I'm doing.

If I'd never met him.

- His music, you know, touched everyone

in such a positive way.

- And it was so fitting to see,

at even the service, to see how many people

that showed up and that talked about their experiences

with Heavy, you know,

It's because that's just truly who Heavy was.

- I miss Heavy.

And if it wasn't for him, we probably, none of us, you know

from the Uptown movement would be here right now.

- God gave him to us for that period of time.

And he accomplished so much

in that time that he was with us.

And he's with God.

- The outpour of love from people all over the world.

It's beyond just New York and California, in the States.

I mean, I've gotten phone calls and emails and letters

from Australia, from Jamaica, from Ghana,

Nigeria, South Africa.

- I miss him a lot when I'm sick

because he would always be like, "Oh, it's okay, Xea"

And I would get that big bear hug.

So I guess I really miss his big bear hugs.

- You don't have a lot of friends in his life, man.

You may think so.

A lot of constituents,

but you don't have a lot of friends in this life.

So, one of my friends as well

- [Announcer] "Big Time" by Heavy D and The Boyz.

(audience cheers)

A HA!

- On behalf of me and my DJ at Eddie F.,

right here we would like to thank our parents

Mom and Dad, you in the audience, I love you.

There were two prior award shows before this one.

We all know what they were.

I won't mention the names.

Grammy's and American Music Awards.

(audience laughs)

The point that I'm trying to stress is this.

I felt real bad that they didn't even consider

us for a nomination.

And no, no, but it's cool because

I felt bad up until the time, I sat there,

walked up here, grabbed this.

(audience cheers)

Hold up, and it's nice to know.

It feels good to be black, even though I'm a yellow-black.

I'm Black

and it's nice to know American Music Awards

and Grammy's y'all alright, but I got Soul.

- I am going to make an effort to keep his memory alive.

His goodness on this Earth should never be forgotten.

(soft music)

* Uh huh, Uh huh *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Hey, Lady. *

* Uh huh *

* Hey, Lady. *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* All I want to do is pay my bills *

* Feed my chills, stack my mills. *

* House in the hills, this is real. *

* Don't care about what you drive *

* How you live, who you screw, who you did *

* I'm a focus on the good life, good wife. *

* That's it. Wrap it up then it's good night. *

* But, right now one more joint to bounce to *

* Thug-Cats one more joint to smoke an ounce to *

* One more joint to get my point across *

* Double shot of Henny, and then a malt. *

* Ya'll aint never gonna forget me *

* Ya'll always going to respect me. *

* To the death of me. I'm *

* Heavy *

* Who keeps you bouncing *

* Heavy *

* Who keeps you rockin' *

* Heavy *

* All night long *

* Heavy *

* All night long *

* Heavy *

* Girls, the girls they love. *

* Heavy *

* Who keeps it in the chain *

* Heavy *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Hey, Lady. Uh huh. Hey, Lady. *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* Who you talkin' about *

* All I want to do is pay my bills *

* Feed my chills, stack my mills. *

* House in the hills, this is real. *

* Don't care about what you drive *

* How you live, who you screw, who you did *

* I'm a focus on the good life, good wife. *

* That's it. Wrap it up then it's good night. *

* But, right now one more joint to bounce to *

* Thug-Cats one more joint to smoke an ounce to *

* One more joint to get my point across *

* Double shot of Henny, and then a malt *

* Ya'll aint never gonna forget me *

* Ya'll always going to respect me. *

* To the death of me. I'm *

* Heavy *

* Who keeps you bouncing *

* Heavy *

* Who keeps you rockin' *

* Heavy *

* All night long *

* Heavy *

* All night long *

* Heavy *

* Girls, the girls they love *

* Heavy *

* Who keeps it in the chain *

* Heavy *