RIP Heavy D

Hip Hop lost another luminary as Money Earnin Mt Vernon's Heavy D passed away at the age of 44. I was first introduced to Hev in 1987 when I peeped his "Overweight Lover" video on my local cable access channel. That first album was in rotation for a minute, as it seemingly embodied the mass releases post-Raising Hell of the mid 1980s. Like many true Hip Hoppers, Hev's subsequent releases didn't garner a lot of play with me. Too commercial, too dancy, too New Jack Swing. But every once in a while Hev would drop somethng like "Don't Curse" or "Who's The Man" or "You Can't See" to remind us that he wasn't all about the fancy suits and dance moves. Lyrically, he was pretty profound (he was doing the whole diggedy style way before Das Efx) and his album cameos were a Who's Who of Golden Age Hip Hop (Gangstarr, CL Smooth, Biggie, Kane, Busta, Grand Puba, Kool G Rap.) He will be missed but his music will live on. Diddly diddly diddly deee....