Rapper Heavy D Dies Suddenly at Age 44

Rapper and actor Heavy D has died suddenly at the age of 44, shocking many in the music industry who saw him or talked to him recently. The L.A. Times reports that the rapper collapsed outside his home in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, November 8th and was taken to he Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He died in the emergency room.

Born Dwight Errington Myers on May 24, 1967, in Jamaica, Heavy D’s family moved to Mount Vernon, N.Y., when he was young. Rap music proved to be a way for him to succeed in the world, despite dropping out of school early. He did not use profanity in his raps and said that he liked to use rap music to make statement. “Making those statements and being heard — that’s one of the best things about being a rapper,” he said in an 1991 interview.

Friends and fans tweeted their shock, love and respect on Twitter:

UncleRUSH – Created the whole genre of soulful hip hop. Rip My man #HeavyD
UsherRaymondIV Usher Raymond IV
This is too heavy, I can’t believe it. HEAVY D was just here. Truly gone too soon. My heart and support goes out to his family. R.I.P HEAVY

Nelly_Mo – IRONIC HE WAS THE CLOSING ACT AT THIS YRS BET HIPHOP AWARDS! ONLY FITTING THAT THE LAST MEMORY SOME OF US HAVE OF HIM IS ON STAGE! #RIPHEAVYD

iamdiddy – My Heart is Broken. Pls pray for my man Heavy D and his Family. PLS #RipHeavyD love you Boy. 4ever!, and later tweeted that Heavy D was the person who gave him his first chance in the music industry and believed in him when no one else did.

Heavy D was also recently seen in “Tower Heist” and in a “Law & Order SVU” episode that aired on September 28, 2011. He also released his ninth album, called “Love Opus,” in September.