Words by Jesse Serwer—
Heavy D’s death in November at age 44 was sudden and surprising, but BET’s Centric network has already sprung into action with a documentary celebrating the late MC’s life. Be Inspired: The Life of Heavy D, premiering this Sunday night (Feb. 26), contains interviews with Will Smith, Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige as well as childhood friends like Al B. Sure! and Eddie F, random associates like Malcolm Jamal-Warner, and Heavy’s parents, Clifford and Eulah Lee Myers, and is narrated by MC Lyte. Good to see that the bio makes some mention of the Mayor of Mount Vernon’s Jamaican roots and his role as a pioneer in blending hip-hop and dancehall (you can get the lowdown on all that and then some in our Heds and Dreds retrospective on the Big Belly Gorgon) as well as his more heralded role as, arguably, the first MC to successfully blend rap with R&B and pop without losing the streets’ love and respect.
Personally speaking here, a quarter century after I first heard “The Overweight Lover,”, I still play Heavy’s records all of the time, and they always put me in the right mood. So we’re glad to see him get a proper tribute touching on all of the bases that made him great—just wish we could’ve seen him celebrated like he should have been during his lifetime. Catch a 9-minute preview of the movie below. Watch the whole flick below, via/thanks to Mr. World Premiere.