Skip to main content
We lost a wonderful man yesterday. Heavy D was, is and always will be a part of who I am. That's where I got my
hip-pop- from Heavy and groups like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest.
They talked about where they came from, the realities of their
environment, they "kept it real" but they somehow did something that
rappers and hip-pop artists dont seem to do very often these days: they
were positive. They looked to a higher calling. All while making great
music. Funky music, soulful music. Its the norm today to quickly
canonize the famous that have past. We use the term hero loosely at
times, but I don't think its a stretch to call Heavy D a hero, when you
shine the light on the kind of man he was. I didn't know him very well. I
was lucky enough to spend a quick moment with him from time to time
over the years. The first time being in the basement/green room of the
great Apollo Theatre in Harlem. I was walking through a maze of hip-hop
giants- Chuck D, Flava FLav, Kool Moe Dee, and I was stopped by a big
guy in a beautifully tailored suit- probably his favorite yellow or
maybe purple. He pointed down at me (I was pobably 5'4" and he seemed
bigger than 6'2") and he said, 'now, this dude right hear can sing." And
I think he even sang a few bars of Please Dont Go Girl. My face lit up.
He was one of my idols. Just a year earlier I had changed the words to
his song "Mr. Big Stuff (Oh, yeah)" to "Eight Grade"- a song for our 8th
grade graduation. And here he was singing our song. To say "it was
different back then" makes one sound like an old fogie. But it was true.
The sense of community in the music scene back then was special. And it
was leaders like Heavy D that set the tone. So if we glorify fallen
hip-hop heroes like Tupac and Biggie, lets hold up Heavy in his own
special light. Yes, Tupac and Biggie were special. They changed the game
in their own way. They spoke their truth and it touched millions and
continues to, but they made their choices. Lets glorify the simple, yet
challenging, but still positive choices that Heavy made. He proved that
you can be a really good guy and still make bad ass music. In the last
year I had bumped into him a few times. He always gave me that big
beautiful smile and when I saw him for the first time in years last year
he gave me the best hug. He was sporting a big scruffy beard and I felt
it on my cheek. It felt like getting a hug from Santa Claus. I felt so
rosy after that I had to fight myself not to tweet about it- I was
afraid it would hurt my chances of getting another. After he hugged me
and I was walking away he said, "God bless you." And he meant it. Just
like everything else he did. He meant it. God bless you, Heav'. God bless you.
http://joeymcintyre.com/news.php?article=48
Comments
Post a Comment