Remember Heavy D? He tried to lose weight but died from severe disease back in 2011

Rapper Heavy D’s work in the hip-hop community made him one of the pillar figures in the industry back in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Known as “the overweight lover M.C.” he was trying to lose some weight at the time of his death, but unfortunately, a disease took his life.

Heavy D, the charming, smooth-talker rapper whose real name was Dwight Arrington Myers, died seven years ago. His death left a hole in the hip-hop community, with many artists expressing their grief and pain for the loss of one of the most important figures in the industry.

He started his career back in the ‘80s, as part of a group called Heavy D & the Boyz, the first act signed to Uptown Records, the label that started to build the bridges between hip-hop and R&B. The group released five albums in a span of seven years, and were famous for singles like “Mr. Big Stuff,” “Gyrlz, They Love Me”, “Is It Good to You,” and the hit song “Now That We Found Love.”

In the mid-1990s, Heavy’s unstoppable work made him the president of Uptown Records, and he’s credited for giving Sean “Diddy” Combs his first job as an intern in the label, opening doors for the rapper that has become one of the biggest music moguls in the industry.

Diddy’s tweet grieving the rapper’s death revealed they had a special connection, as he wrote:

“Heavy D is the person who gave me my 1st chance in the music industry. He got me my internship at Uptown. He Believed when no one else did. My Heart is Broken..”

Heavy’s influence in Hollywood was no joke. He recorded the theme song for the series “In Living Color,” collaborated with Michael Jackson in the song “Jam,” with Janet Jackson on “Alright” and made appearances on series like “A Different World,” “Living Single,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and “The Tracy Morgan Show.”

At the time of his passing, Heavy D, who was 6”4 tall, weighed 344lbs. The rapper’s weight was never stable. He had lost 150lbs in 2008 in order to audition for film roles but later gained the weight back. He lived most of his life like that, with a fluctuant weight.

Three months before his sudden death, the rapper had reportedly decided to jump in on the health wagon and started a training program at L.A gym Ultra Body Fitness in West Hollywood. Heavy alternated his routine adding boxing and hiking, and he was allegedly determined to follow through the program with enthusiast.

However, after returning from a trip to London, where he performed alongside Latoya Jackson in the Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff, Wales, the rapper started to have difficulties breathing. He collapsed in the hallway of his residency on November 8, 2011, stating he couldn’t breathe, a neighbor called 911, but by the time he arrived at the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy report released a month later, revealed the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism caused by a deep vein thrombosis on his leg, in which a blood clot formed in the leg traveled to his lung and blocked the main artery.

Craig Harvey, chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, stated that the blood clot was "most likely formed during an extended airplane ride," which matched exactly with his flight from London.

Heavy D would have celebrated his 51st birthday last month. He’s still dearly missed by his daughter, Xea, his parents and the hip-hop community.