The Overweight Lover Is No More

Over the years I've seen my parent's reactions after a music icon from their generation passes away. Other than the passing of Michael Jackson, I haven't had to experience too much of that.

But today I got off a plane in Philadelphia and discovered that one of the icons of my generation, Heavy D, was gone at the age of 44. One of the things I always appreciated about Heavy D was that he truly lived up to his moniker, "The Overweight Lover".

What always came through his music was something that too much of the rest of hip hop has lacked--he seemed to truly love women, respect them, and believe in relationships instead of booty calls. Like in this song:

Clearly, he also could get the party started, too! I mean, who else is gonna say "You're a chicken mcnugget and I'm a big mac" and have you dancing along to it?

I'm sure there are younger people out there who are probably like, "Heavy Who?" and don't take him seriously because he's not Lil Wayne or Drake. But I always think about how in Janet Jackson's song "Alright", she chose Heavy D to rap on the track and appear in the stunning video. In it, he appears alongside greats like Cab Calloway, Cyd Charisse, and the Nicholas Brothers. All of them are legends--class acts, who were both positive and masters of their craft.

Now they're joined in the next world by a hip hop legend who was absolutely a class act, too. RIP, Heavy D. We'll miss you.

Comments

1969 said…
I loved Heavy D! What a loss. He made great music and was always a role model in his community. So sad.
Tonia said…
Such a loss but what a great legacy he left.
Aisha said…
He's one of my hometown's celebrities. I will miss him.
Jennifer Kley said…
SIGH. Just makes me sad to think (like you said) such a positive one had to go and go so early. DAG! I'm near his age and it makes me think TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH more and more. I love the way someone (another music artist) described Heavy's relationship w/ his 13 year old daughter--that he had a breakfast with her EVERY DAY and had only missed probably a few times. He said she would need prayer and would be taking this pretty hard.

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