I consider the late 80s and early 90s to be the golden era of rap, and he was a central piece of that.
Oh you can say that again. Heavy D made it fun. It was always a good time. My friend's grandmother's knew his lyrics. posted by Silo004 at 3:07 PM on November 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
When downloading 90's hiphop mixes, you can usually tell who was actually listening around that time vs. only knows it through compilations - whether they have Heavy D in their mix.
There's always Biggie, there's always Pac, and often either Puffy or Mase, and Craig Mack's 1 hit, some Wu-Tang (Pick: Method or ODB), maybe some Criss Cross or Naughty by Nature... but basically, only folks who really were around then remember how much Heavy D really dropped cuts.
When we hit the twin poisons of thug & jiggy music, nearly everyone tried to act like they didn't get down to some Heavy D back in the day. One of the few rappers who kept it positive, didn't get misogynistic on women, and stuck to making fun music. posted by yeloson at 3:08 PM on November 8, 2011 [21 favorites]
It's ok, I personally hate them. I'm named Chris, and hearing everyday at school, "Warm it up Chris!" made me personally rageful at them for all eternity. Misspelling their names keeps their evil at bay.
(Fucking 12 year olds claiming to be mack daddies, STFU Rarrr rarrr rarrr) posted by yeloson at 3:21 PM on November 8, 2011 [2 favorites]
12 year olds claiming to be mack daddies
They were so lame. Heavy D represented everything that was right with hip-hop. Not vulgar, respectful and fun. posted by Silo004 at 3:23 PM on November 8, 2011 [3 favorites]
Heavy D was pretty great. Some great danceable tracks, great smile, and pretty good dancer! Remember him as a strong presence when he would guest on tv back in the 1990s.
I LOVED Heavy D back in the late 80s and early 90s. I went to youtube to listen to his music and remembered every single lyric to Girls They Love Me after not hearing that song in probably 20 years. 44 is too soon. posted by Hop123 at 3:33 PM on November 8, 2011 [1 favorite]
Damn.
I'd like to think that him and Buff are busting a fresh joint together right now. Jam Master on the cut. Sadly, Hip Hop Heaven is overflowing with young, talented dudes.
Heavy D did a lot of great tracks back in the day, but most people never realized how accomplished of a lyricist he was. The guy could effortlessly flow through a bunch of different styles in one verse. It's a shame he's gone. posted by P.o.B. at 3:43 PM on November 8, 2011 [2 favorites]
Any word yet on cause of death? posted by Saxon Kane at 3:51 PM on November 8, 2011
yeloson: It's ok, I personally hate them. I'm named Chris, and hearing everyday at school, "Warm it up Chris!" made me personally rageful at them for all eternity. Misspelling their names keeps their evil at bay.
Too soon, brother. We used to full out SPRINT to the dancefloor when the DJ spun into the intro to "Now That We Found Love" 20 years ago. It still gets my blood going today. I wore through that album three times (back when we still bought music on cassette).
You know what else, watching all Heavy D videos is making me realize that back in the 90s when I wanted to dress slick I basically set out to look exactly like Heavy D. Subconsciously. But I went to a lot of school dances with a lot of band-collar silk shirts on.
The diddly diddly D!!! posted by Flex1970 at 5:40 PM on November 8, 2011
One of my happiest [recurring] childhood memories is of my very serious dad making me pancakes before school and singing "Now That We Found Love," while dancing with the pancake flipper thing. My dad's not much of a rapper [he did a couple of the rapping bits, but with different words, that made no sense] but he sang the chorus with such earnest gusto, I couldn't help but tap my angsty, ragey teenaged feet and join in.
Another little piece of my childhood trampled. It makes me want to unearth all the under-recognized, unappreciated artists of yesteryear to bombard them with love.
Rest In Power, overweight lover. posted by black rainbows at 5:58 PM on November 8, 2011
Damn. "Gyrlz, They Love Me" was one of the touchstones of my late adolescence. RIP, Dawg. posted by jonmc at 6:07 PM on November 8, 2011
I briefly worked at Tower Video on the upper west side in the early 90's. "Gyrlz They Love Me" along with Biz Markie's "Just A Friend" and 3rd Bass' "The Gasface" were all guaranteed crow-pleasers on the overhead video (staff-programmed) with the employees, if not the customers. But heavy always got all our fists pumping. posted by jonmc at 6:12 PM on November 8, 2011 [3 favorites]
damn. RIP, good sir. posted by sleepy pete at 7:02 PM on November 8, 2011
And this was the first I heard of the man, from the Uptown is Kickin' It album (I wonder where that tape went?). posted by sleepy pete at 7:07 PM on November 8, 2011
Aw, man, really, Heavy D? Damn. That was get out on the floor and dance music. posted by furiousthought at 7:45 PM on November 8, 2011
too. young. posted by sweetkid at 7:48 PM on November 8, 2011
I was in a studio with Heavy D about 20 years ago and he was talking to two friends about turning 25 next year. The friends couldn't believe he was going to be that old and they started talking about whether you can still be a rapper at that age. posted by bhnyc at 8:50 PM on November 8, 2011 [3 favorites]
I heard about this on the radio this morning. The DJs were derisively calling him a One Hit Wonder. They got a barrage of text messages and Facebook comments, so they apologized and played Now That We Found Love in contrition. posted by desjardins at 7:04 AM on November 9, 2011
An example: in the mid-90s I worked on the shipping desk of a company in Boston. We used a lot of bike couriers, mostly from a company with a basement office near the Public Garden. They had one guy, Bob, who looked like one of these guys when he wore a little biker hat, and he rode a crappy old ten-speed. One summer day we were outside and saw him ride up, clinging to this terrible bike, running with sweat. And my colleague The Freak Chick forever after called poor Bob "Heavy B." posted by wenestvedt at 9:13 AM on November 9, 2011
This makes me sadder than I ever thought was possible. I was not into hip hop at the time he was biggest, yet, I always listened to Heavy D and loved his stuff. I can still sing on the lyrics to his music all these years later.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:58 PM on November 8, 2011