A Peaceful Journey Too Soon - Chris "Preach" Smith

It's taken me this long to write about the passing of Heavy D. Partly
due to shock, of course, But partly because it takes a while to fully
recognize a giant's gentle impact.

Let me first begin with a story.

It's 1988. I'm in the sixth grade. Somewhat shy, introverted and a
bit heavyset. At the time, I was attending Catholic school. And like
other young dudes my age, I was girl crazy. Probably more so. Which
isn't a winning formula no matter how you slice it. Things came to a
head during a Christmas party held by my class. I had been dreading
this for a while until a couple of weeks beforehand. I had just gotten
home after school. And one thing that was a must before I hit the books
was to watch Video Music Box with Ralph McDaniels. This day, I caught
one video that made me laugh, but also got me energized. It was "The
Overweight Lover's in The House' by Heavy D and The Boyz. Heavy D
was WAY different from The Fat Boys, the only other rappers of size I
knew. He could MOVE. Just seeing him dance like he did made me go,
'Yeah, I can do that too!' And style? Heavy was snazzy. Once I found
out he was Jamaican just like my family is, it was a wrap. I went to
school and danced a lot at that Christmas party. Granted, not too well..
but I wasn't a wallflower anymore. And that's just part of what Heavy
D did for me.


Without Heavy D, you realize that hip-hop as it is would be drastically
different. In some ways, he was our Jackie Gleason. Without him, we
would not have been blessed with all of the musical talent representing
Money Earnin' Mount Vernon and Yonkers. He gave Sean 'Puffy' Combs
a job as an intern with Uptown Records. Hev helped Mary J. Blige when
she first started out. And in the midst of tragedy when Trouble T-Roy died,
he not only released a platinum album in 'Peaceful Journey' but that wound
up being a focal point to catapult Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth into stardom
with their iconic classic, 'T.R.O.Y. (They Reminisce Over You)". I mean, he
was even responsible for one of The Notorious B.I.G's first appearances
on the 'A Buncha Ni***s' track. Heavy D even enjoyed a notable acting
career, from movies like 'Life' to guest spots on TV favorites. And who can
forget his duet with the late Michael Jackson on 'Jam'?


Looking back, one sees how Heavy D was an innovator. And how in some ways,
we took that for granted a little bit. Heavy D's life should be summed up in one
word: positive. Because no matter if it was rapping or acting, he did it with so much
positive energy. And he did it right up until the end. Look at his last message on Twitter
as proof.

I know this much...there will always, ALWAYS be nuttin' but love for you big man.
Thank you for inspiring all of us.