Rest In Peace, Heavy D

[Luke]

Well this is a bummer. Heavy D, dead at 44. For those not in the know, Heavy D is to rap what Sinbad is to comedy. Big, cheesy, popular, and despite what some people say, sooner or later you're going to be laughing and liking the guy.

Also like Sinbad, he also has some really awful material, but the good stuff is memorable, catchy, and simply put, fun. He never promoted violence, or even foul language for that. He was a rapper that wanted kids to look up to him, and he did a great job at that even knowing he could have been way more profitable if he went "gangster".

So if you want to take 5 minutes to study Heavy D 101, watch "don't curse" which features some of the biggest rap stars from the 90's including Big Daddy Kane, Q-Tip, Grand Puba, and more. The song's sample spread like wildfire and other artists such as Ice Cube also used the sample in subsequent albums.

[alexis524]

RIP heavy D. we'll miss you

[Evildeadmanwalking77]

I'm not into that genre of music but I know who the guy is and I'm very sorry to hear this. Condolences to his family, friends, and fans.

[stickem]

i only cared for the one hit he had. he came out when nwa, public enemy, and the ghetto boys and the whole gangsta rap hit and i was more into that. but hearing that name takes me back to high school.

[noiseredux]

Well this is a bummer. Heavy D, dead at 44. For those not in the know, Heavy D is to rap what Sinbad is to comedy. Big, cheesy, popular, and despite what some people say, sooner or later you're going to be laughing and liking the guy.

Also like Sinbad, he also has some really awful material, but the good stuff is memorable, catchy, and simply put, fun. He never promoted violence, or even foul language for that. He was a rapper that wanted kids to look up to him, and he did a great job at that even knowing he could have been way more profitable if he went "gangster".

So if you want to take 5 minutes to study Heavy D 101, watch "don't curse" which features some of the biggest rap stars from the 90's including Big Daddy Kane, Q-Tip, Grand Puba, and more. The song's sample spread like wildfire and other artists such as Ice Cube also used the sample in subsequent albums.

damn Luke, this is such a perfect little post. I came in here to kind of say pretty much everything you said. I was never a fan of his by any means, but certainly could appreciate and respect what he did.

RIP.

[Luke]

damn Luke, this is such a perfect little post. I came in here to kind of say pretty much everything you said. I was never a fan of his by any means, but certainly could appreciate and respect what he did.

RIP.

Thanks buddy. I wasn't really a fan of him except for "Don't Curse" and "Now that we have Love" (where the dancers look like they are wrapped in Starburst labels), but he certainly had other chart toppers.

What I respect about Heavy D (which sounds like "Hefty" if you say it fast enough) is that he never sold out. For us geezers, we will remember when MC Hammer went from Gospel rap to "Humps in the Bump", or "Bumps in the Hump", or whatever the hell that song was. Many rappers just sold out. Heavy D maintained his integrity and that is something I thought worthy of creating a thread for.

It is laughable that Kane and Q-Tip (among others) would appear in "Don't Curse", but that just shows how likeable and endearing Heavy was. Everyone, even Grand Puba took shots for their cameos, as let's face it, the 90's embodied gangster rap. Says a lot on how much seasoned rap veterans liked D. It's almost the equivalent to Gaga doing a cameo in a Hillary Duff video saying "Let's not bring too much attention to ourselves".

I'm awful with analogies.

[noiseredux]

LOL, actually that was a great analogy.

BTW, I hate to get off topic, but since you brought up Q-Tip -- Midnight Marauders is hands down my favorite hip hop album of all time. And what's strange is when it came out I vividly remember thinking "wow, this is the greatest hip hop album ever recorded," and no matter how much I binged on the genre I've never found another record that I've loved as much. Hell, I can even admit that Low End Theory is the far more forward-thinking album, but it doesn't do as much for me personally as MM. Just saying.

[Luke]

LOL, actually that was a great analogy.

BTW, I hate to get off topic, but since you brought up Q-Tip -- Midnight Marauders is hands down my favorite hip hop album of all time. And what's strange is when it came out I vividly remember thinking "wow, this is the greatest hip hop album ever recorded," and no matter how much I binged on the genre I've never found another record that I've loved as much. Hell, I can even admit that Low End Theory is the far more forward-thinking album, but it doesn't do as much for me personally as MM. Just saying.

I love all of Tribe's albums, even the Love Movement. One thing great about tribe (well, until the album I just cited) is you know what you were going to get. For me, I can't pick a favorite between MM and LET.

MM has more appealing tracks, but holy shit Ron Carter (I hope I spelled that right) on the bass blended with Tip and Fife is extraordinary, if not classic. I think the defining piece of work will always be either "World World Tour" or "Scenario", but both records are astounding and define what Hip Hop was in the 90's. I think it was KRS One who stated "Rap is something that you do. Hip Hop is something that you live".

Heavy D and Tribe lived Hip Hop. Not to be a pessimist, and I love new artists such as Tyler the Creator, but in the mainstream (which is all a lot of us have time for unfortunately) there's not much hip hop left.

But hey, please, I'm open to suggestions. I feel that Die Antword and Keyshawn (or is it kreyshawn?) bring some hip hop flavor, and the BBoys are always on the tip, but who else is pushing that sound of pure hip hop? Do hip hop bands like the Pharcyde even exist? Call me Silverstone, cause I'm clueless.

[noiseredux]

you mean "Award Tour"

yeah Tyler / Odd Future is certainly interesting. But I don't know... they were really exciting last year when there was all this energy and like "woah we're watching underground go overground," but I really found Goblin to be a very uneven record. The tracks that were good were amazing. The tracks that were bad made me cringe. On the contrary his Bastard and Earl's s/t album were both incredibly solid. Dont' get me wrong, I'm happy for Tyler to have accomplished so much in just a year, but I'm just not as interested already.

I would assume you're a fan of MF Doom already? (KMD, Monsta Island Czars, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Madvillain, Dangerdoom, etc) If not, fix that.

And I'd be astounded if you weren't a fan of The Roots. One of my favorite groups of all time.

Reminds me, do you know if the ATCQ documentary has hit DVD yet? I'm dying to see it.

[Luke]

you mean "Award Tour"

yeah Tyler / Odd Future is certainly interesting. But I don't know... they were really exciting last year when there was all this energy and like "woah we're watching underground go overground," but I really found Goblin to be a very uneven record. The tracks that were good were amazing. The tracks that were bad made me cringe. On the contrary his Bastard and Earl's s/t album were both incredibly solid. Dont' get me wrong, I'm happy for Tyler to have accomplished so much in just a year, but I'm just not as interested already.

I would assume you're a fan of MF Doom already? (KMD, Monsta Island Czars, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Madvillain, Dangerdoom, etc) If not, fix that.

And I'd be astounded if you weren't a fan of The Roots. One of my favorite groups of all time.

Reminds me, do you know if the ATCQ documentary has hit DVD yet? I'm dying to see it.

Yeah, "Award Tour". I'm awful with record titles; almost as bad as I am with remembering names. Ask me the square root of a number, I'm on spot, ask me what you just asked me and I'm clueless.

I agree with you on Goblin. Without the visuals from the videos (the illusion of "The Thinker" to the "death of an artist" was extremely brilliant and amazing in my eyes and something tells me no one will duplicate that in decades), a lot falls flat on me. That, and ya know, calling out bruno mars doesn't do much for cred. That said, a lot of lyrics fall deaf on those who don't actually listen to them, the same as videos fall flat on those who don't recognize obvious symbolism. Oh well, now I'm waxing philosophical.

And thanks, I have no clue who MF Doom is, who I'll check out. But yep, love the Roots.

Not sure about the doc. If you watch it, please let me know how it is. Most music docs I avoid unless it's based on a show, but I will always make an exception for Tribe.