marionbreen7: Heavy D 'Brought So Much Light,' Mary J. Blige Says

Friday, March 30, 2012

Heavy D 'Brought So Much Light,' Mary J. Blige Says

'Every song Heavy D ever put out was something to uplift us,' former labelmate tells MTV News about her fallen friend.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Vanessa White Wolf

<a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/blige_mary_j/artist.jhtml">Mary J. Bilge</a> famously sang "Not Gon' Cry" on her 1996 single, but when the topic of her fallen friend and former Uptown Records labelmate <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/heavy_d/artist.jhtml">Heavy D</a> came up, the emotion was just too much to hold back. <div class="player-placeholder right" title="Mary J. Blige Remembers Heavy D" id="vid:712374.id:1674565" width="240" height="211"></div> "<a href="/news/articles/1674003/heavy-d-dead.jhtml">Heavy D was so beloved</a> because the impact he made on music was that we could have fun: We can do hip-hop without murdering and killing everybody," a tearful MJB told MTV News on Tuesday in Beverly Hills. "And he just brought so much light." Mary, like Heavy, hailed from the outskirts of New York City — him from Mount Vernon, her from Yonkers. It was 1987 when Heavy D & the Boyz released their first album, Living Large, on Uptown Records. Mary was signed years later, and in 1992, dropped her debut album, What's the 411? — but her earliest memories of Heavy pre-date her days in the music industry. "I just remember being a child and him coming to King school, where they used to have all the performers come, and they came and did 'The Overweight Lover,' " Mary recalled with tears in her eyes. "We always needed something to uplift us, and he brought us so much joy because we were always in a place where we didn't have enough, we couldn't get enough money, but the King school show was free, and every song Heavy D ever put out was something to uplift us." The exact <a href="/news/articles/1674389/heavy-d-autopsy.jhtml">cause of Heavy D's death</a> November 8 is still unclear, as initial autopsy results came up inconclusive. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills after a 911 call was placed from his home. Heavy had difficulty breathing and was pronounced dead after he reached the hospital. There will be a public viewing for the fallen rapper Thursday (November 17) at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York, and a private funeral service for family and close friends Friday. BET is planning a special tribute to Heavy D during the <a href="/news/articles/1672938/soul-train-awards-nominations.jhtml">Soul Train Awards</a> on November 27. Rappers Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, Kurtis Blow, Naughty by Nature, Whodini and Stetsasonic's Daddy-O are all expected to take part. Share your fondest memory of Heavy D in the comments.

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