Heavy-D was great MC. He never had to curse to get his point across. He never had beef with anybody nor took shots at anyone. He blessed many remixes with his trademark voice and delivery (Janet Jackon “Alright”, Musiq Soulchild “Buddy”, Ne-Yo “Because of You”, Soul 4 Real “Candy Rain”/”Love You So”/”Every Little Thing I…

Heavy-D was great MC. He never had to curse to get his point across. He never had beef with anybody nor took shots at anyone. He blessed many remixes with his trademark voice and delivery (Janet Jackon “Alright”, Musiq Soulchild “Buddy”, Ne-Yo “Because of You”, Soul 4 Real “Candy Rain”/”Love You So”/”Every Little Thing I Do”, Carl Thomas “2 Pieces”, Robin Thicke “Lost Without You” — just to name a few. He also represented his reggae roots with collaborations with Ziggy Marley and Supercat. His latest reggae track “Long Distance Girlfriend” is on current rotation on my mixshows.

As a DJ, Heavy-D introduced me to hip-house. His records allowed me to hit the 120bpm range (“We Got Our Own Thang” and “Now That We Found Love”). This made for a good transition from hiphop to house. Hev also represented for the new jack movement which as around the 104-110bpm (“Is It Good to You” with Teddy Riley and “Nuthin But Love”).

Hev was signed to Uptown MCA which was the home for many Hiphop/R&B greats such as Mary J Blige, Father MC, Jodeci, etc. So I knew that whenever a new Heavy D record is out, especially when it’s on the Uptown MCA label, it was going to be a heater.

I admired Waterbed Hev’s influence on TV with his theme song for MADTV and In Living Color. I also remember seeing him on a few episodes of “New York Undercover.”

Rest in peace, Hev. You’ll be missed and your music will live in my crates until I retire.