Black Music Month UB Features UrbanBridgez.com

UB Celebrates Heavy D & The Boyz: 30th Anniversary of ‘Big Tyme’

UrbanBridgez.com June 16, 2019

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A rap fan since the age of 8, Heavy D (who was born Dwight Errington Myers in Jamaica and raised in Mount Vernon, NY) started making crude demos by the time he hit junior high, and emerged as a hip-hop hero in his neighborhood. He chiseled a slick combination of toasting (a form of rap that extends back to club music in Jamaica), East Coast hip-hop and classic American soul.

Working with his childhood friends the late Trouble T-Roy, G-Wiz and Eddie F, Heavy D & The Boyz came to the attention of then Def Jam Records executive Andre Harrell. In 1986, when Harrell formed Uptown Records, the first act he signed was Heavy D & The Boyz. The group’s 1987 debut Livin’ Large went gold.

The album included the R&B Top 20 “Don’t You Know” as well as “The Overweight Lover’s In The House” and a cover of “Mr. Big Stuff.”

“The first album, Living Large brought Heavy D to the mainstream, but Big Tyme really solidified him as a major act and gave the group confirmation that mainstream is where they should stay. From there, his career just blossomed. I’m just glad and blessed that I was a part of his journey to the top.” – Teddy Riley

They followed Livin’ Large in 1989 with their breakthrough platinum album “Big Tyme,” which was released 30 Years ago this month. The albums producers were Teddy Riley, Eddie F., Marley Marl and a young Peter “Pete Rock” Phillips.

The album featured the hits “We Got Our Own Thang” (#10), “Somebody For Me” (#8) featuring Al B. Sure! on the hook and “Gyrlz, They Love Me” (#12).

“Somebody for Me” came from wanting to do an R&B record like Teddy Riley. I wanted to make a musical record. I just made this hot track. I wasn’t trying to only make hip-hop records, but also singing records. I think Heavy heard the track and came up with a hook immediately. He said, “Man, we should put that on the album.” It became one of our biggest songs. – Eddie F

The album went platinum and hit #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.

In early 1990, Heavy D & The Boyz teamed up with Sprite to shoot one of the first Hip Hop soda ads.

Trouble T. Roy died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, in Indianapolis. His death led to the follow-up platinum album, Peaceful Journey being dedicated in his honor. 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.

CL Smooth told XXL Magazine in 2010: “Troy’s death signified what special people mean to the people when they just all of a sudden, at the prime of the lives, are just gone. So many people of the world are affected by that one move, it’s so similar to everybody at that time. It just wasn’t Troy dying it was a lot of our friends dying but Troy was like a public figure that died; someone who was [from] the ’hood but was doing something positive and in the height of what he was doing to get cut short was like he was cheated. I felt that despite me being closer to him or not closer to him than the next person, I felt like I was in a position to do something special [to remember him].”

That album featured “Is It Good To You” (#13 R&B and Top 40 pop) and Heavy’s remake of Gamble and Huff’s “Now That We Found Love” (#4 Rap, #5 R&B and #11 pop). And “Don’t Curse” (#8 Rap) feat. Big Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, Kool G. Rap, Q-Tip & Pete Rock & CL Smooth.

Heavy D & the Boyz gained even more fame by singing the theme song for the television program In Living Color and also MADtv. Heavy D performed the rap on Michael Jackson‘s hit single “Jam” as well as sister Janet Jackson‘s hit single “Alright“.

In 1992, the group released the gold album Blue Funk. Which featured the stand out cut “Truthfully” featuring vocals from Terri & Monica.

That album was followed by 1994’s platinum-certified Nuttin’ But Love. Nuttin’ But Love scored with the title track (#18 R&B, Top 40 pop), “Got Me Waiting” (#3 R&B, #20 pop) and “Black Coffee” (#15 R&B).

In between albums, Heavy, as VP of A&R of Uptown Records, had a hand in discovering and cultivating the talents of Sean “Puffy” Combs and the multi-platinum group Joceci. In 1996, Heavy, now working as a solo act released Waterbed Hev, his first album to be released during his brief, but successful tenure as President Of Uptown Records. While at Uptown, (Heavy resigned the position to concentrate on his music and acting) he signed chart-topping artists Soul For Real and Monifah. “I enjoy having that hand in someone’s career,” Heavy admitted, “but the corporate life just wasn’t for me.”

In total, Heavy D & the Boyz have sold upwards of four million albums, and worked with Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Supercat, Naughty By Nature and a host of others. Heavy D & the Boyz are famous for their energetic, rambunctious stage shows and toured with Keith Sweat, Public Enemy, Hammer, Boogie Down Productions, The O’Jays, Digital Underground, and Big Daddy Kane, among others.

In 1997, Heavy D collaborated with B.B. King 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 appears in his music video for “One More Chance“.

Heavy D performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards in October 2011. It was his first live performance in 15 years. He died on November 8th, 2011 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 44. He collapsed outside of his Beverly Hills home and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Heavy D died of pulmonary embolism.

Heavy D & The Boyz career spans from 1987 to 1997, with six Top 10 R&B smashes, including the gold singles “Now That We Found Love” (with Aaron Hall) and “Big Daddy,” and “Just Coolin’,” a #1 R&B hit in 1988 for LeVert featuring Heavy D.