Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. '' Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)
Heavy D, the C.E.O.
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was the leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a group that included dancers/hype men G-Whiz (Glen Parrish) and "Trouble" T. Roy (Troy Dixon), as well as DJ and producer Eddie F (Edward Ferrell). The group maintained a sizeable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. The five albums the group released included production mainly by

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American record producer, singer, and songwriter credited with the creation of the R&B and hip-hop fusion genre, new jack swing. Musical artists who utilized Riley's production and songwri ...

Marley Marl Marlon Lu'Ree Williams (born September 30, 1962), better known by his stage name Marley Marl, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip hop music. Marlon grew up in Queensbridge Houses, Queen ...

, DJ Premier, Myers's cousin

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned along ...

, and "in-house" beatmaker Eddie F. Myers also released four solo albums and discovered Soul for Real and Monifah.

allmusic Biography AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

/ref>

Early life

Dwight Arrington Myers was born on May 24, 1967, in Mandeville, Manchester,

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, the son of nurse Eulahlee Lee and machine technician Clifford Vincent Myers. In the early 1970s, his family moved to

Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Moun ...

, where he was raised. In an interview, his mother stated that he spent most of his childhood hanging out with his brother, Floyd, and his friend, Mo.

Career

Heavy D & the Boyz were the first group signed to

Uptown Records Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by old school rapper ‘Dr Jekyll’ - Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip-hop. Beginnings and success In ...

, 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. " Trouble T. Roy" died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Dixon's death led to a tribute on the follow-up

platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

, '' 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. In 1989, Heavy D performed a guest rap on

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

's hit single " Alright", an early example of rap appearances on pop songs. It was also the highest peaking song which he had performed on in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 1992 he appeared on

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's single " Jam", and also gained a higher profile by singing the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the television program '' In Living Color'' and also ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

''. 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 An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

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 Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

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 & The Boyz were also referred to by American rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

in his single Rap God. 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 An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

. He became the president of Uptown Records. During this time, Myers also developed the

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Soul for Real, and was the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

and principal writer of several songs on the group's breakout album, ''Candy Rain''. He later became senior vice president at

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. As an actor, Heavy D is perhaps best known for his role in the 1999 drama film '' The Cider House Rules'', where he plays a

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

. He fathered a daughter in 2000 with Antonia Lofaso, an American Celebrity Chef and restauranteur.

Death

Heavy D's final live performance was with Eddie F at the BET Hip Hop Awards on October 11, 2011, their first live televised performance together in 15 years. Myers died less than a month later on November 8, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 44. He collapsed outside his home in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

, and was taken to

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

. His death was initially thought to be connected to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. An autopsy report, released on December 27, 2011, stated that the cause of death was a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

(PE) caused by a blood clot in a leg. He had also suffered from

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

. Craig Harvey, chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, said that the blood clot that resulted in the PE was "most likely formed during an extended airplane ride". Heavy D had recently returned from a trip to

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales, United Kingdom, where he performed at a

tribute concert. Shortly after his death,

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

and others paid tribute to Heavy D on Twitter. Hammer tweeted that, "We had a lot of great times touring together. He had a heart of gold. He was a part of what's good about the world." His funeral was held at Grace Baptist Church in his hometown of

. He was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in

Hartsdale, New York Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City. History Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Gre ...

Discography

;With Heavy D and The Boyz * '' Living Large'' (1987) * '' Big Tyme'' (1989) * '' Peaceful Journey'' (1991) * '' Blue Funk'' (1993) * '' Nuttin' but Love'' (1994) ;Solo albums * '' Waterbed Hev'' (1997) * '' Heavy'' (1999) * '' Vibes'' (2008) * '' Love Opus'' (2011)

Filmography

Film

Television

Sampling

*"We Got Our Own Thang" –

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

"Funky President", James Brown "My Thang", CJ & Co "We Got Our Own Thing" *"You A'int Heard Nuttin' Yet" – James Brown "It's a Man's Man's World", Lyn Collins "Think", Grover Washington, Jr. "Mr. Magic" *"More Bounce" – Parliament, "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (We Want the Funk)", Zapp "More Bounce to the Ounce" *"Somebody for Me" – Big Daddy Kane, "Word to the Motherland" *"Here We Go Again Y'all" – JB's, "Pass the Peas" *"A Better Land" – Main Ingredient, "Everybody Plays the Fool"

References

External links

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Heavy D
at Find A Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Heavy D 1967 births 2011 deaths Pete Rock American rappers of Jamaican descent American male film actors American hip-hop record producers American music industry executives Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery Businesspeople from New York (state) Deaths from pulmonary embolism East Coast hip-hop musicians Jamaican emigrants to the United States MCA Records artists People from Mandeville, Jamaica Musicians from Manchester Parish Musicians from Mount Vernon, New York Rappers from New York City American male television actors Male actors from Mount Vernon, New York Record producers from New York (state) Mount Vernon High School (New York) alumni