Heavy D, a rapper who rose to stardom in the late-’80s and continued to be a force in hip-hop through the ’90s, passed away Tuesday at the age of 44, according to his management agency .
The Jamaican-American rapper, born Dwight Arrington Myers, who called himself “the overweight lover” but could still bust out plenty of dance moves, found success with his 1987 debut album, “Living Large” and even more with the 1989 followup “Big Tyme,” which spawned hits such as “We Got Our Own Thang”and “Gyrlz, They Love Me.” Another of his best-known songs was a 1991 cover of “Now That We Found Love.” He also performed the theme song for sketch comedy show “In Living Color.”Heavy D had just recently released a new album, “Love Opus,” earlier this year. A recent performance at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awardswas his first in 15 years.
The rapper’s last tweet, “BE INSPIRED” was sent just hours before he collapsed outside his home. As AP explained :
It was as if Heavy D knew that it would be his last tweet.