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By Rickey Wright
Special to MSN Music
"This album was such a departure for me," says Heavy D. "At the same time as I'm making it, I'm going,
'Well, I know there's gonna be some people who aren't gonna be too pleased.' But
how do you reinvent yourself if you just keep making lateral moves? And I was
not interested in doing what I've done already."
The Overweight Lover is no more. For one thing, the guy's lost a lot of
weight. But Heavy D, who enjoyed a long hip-hop career in the '80s and '90s with
two gold and three platinum albums, is back. Now he's a purveyor of lovers rock,
the smooth sound that has not only seen him changing up his style, but has also
earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album. "Vibes" has been slowly
winning accolades from the likes of USA Today, Vibe and the Beat, not to mention
some dropped jaws.
It's an interesting twist for an artist who has been around long enough to
remember when the Recording Academy treated rap as something of a fad that it
had to recognize but not necessarily respect. "I remember that there was a year
when we all decided to boycott," says Heavy D. Grammy had relegated hip-hop to a
preshow award giveaway. It might as well have been polka. Now ...
"The culture forced their hand, if you will," he says. "What can you do? It's
the dominant -- hip-hop culture is the culture. There's no way around it. It's
involved in everything from rock to even country. So what can you do? You can't
be the guy standin' in the rain."
Heavy D has shed the label system and is making an end run for self-financed
glory with the release of "Vibes" on his own Stride Entertainment. He'll appear
at an acoustic Grammy showcase the day before the awards themselves, then do
three songs at the pre-telecast awards gala. His embrace of reggae after 12
years away from recording is a natural move, he points out. He grew up in a
Jamaican-American family in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on the edge of the Bronx. (Story Continues On Next Page...) |
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