HEAVY D, ONE OF A KIND

It had been a pretty long day for me last Tuesday, a day that started at 4am due to a really early call at the Civic Theater and ended on a darkened soccer field at a South Bay YMCA. It seemed that everybody around me was doing their best to be annoying, with my family in particular being the worst. As I was finally heading home, I turned on the radio only to get a little more salt rubbed into my wounds: Heavy D had passed away.

I've never really been all that into rap music, but I liked Heavy D. To put it simply, his music was fun to listen to and even more fun to dance to. If any one of my relatives could have afforded a video camera back then, they could have made ten grand off a tape of me, my brother Dante and our cousins Ivan, Vanessa, Stevie and Brian trying to dance to Now That We Found Love!

It was good times back then, and Heavy D was a obviously a part of that.

When Michael Jackson premiered his video for Jam, I remember my brother and me going nuts when Heavy D did his rap towards the end. Back in the day, when Michael Jackson premiered a music video, it was an event, especially for his Dangerous album. So when it came time to premiere Jam, it aired not only on MTV, but VH1, BET and Fox as well!

The big hype was Michael Jordan appearing in the video while rap group Kris Kross also have a cameo. But it was Heavy D, who wasn't even announced, that steals the song. It was a big surprise when he popped up and it's still one of my favorite music videos.

Heavy D also did all three version of the theme song for the hilarious sketch comedy show In Living Color, even performing on several episodes and would later do the theme song for MAD TV.

This was the second theme from the show, which was always my favorite. In Living Color was very much ahead of it's time but that a story for another day.

I'm still sad over Heavy D's passing. Beyond being a talented performer he was also a good person. I think what I liked most about him was that he was a big dude who did big things, which I found inspiring. I wasn't the fat kid, but I definitely wasn't skinny either. To see Heavy D do the things he did, well, it kind've gave me hope. He made me feel that regular folks can be extraordinary if they try hard enough. I also loved his nickname, the "Overweight Lover." That always cracked me up!

So long Heavy D. The world is a much better place for your having been here. Make Heaven dance.

-Jon