IT was cool to be a big man in the rap game during the 1990s. Remember Biggie Smalls and the Fat Boys? Heavy D, born and bred in Jamaica, fit into that scene just fine.

On Monday evening, Heavy D joined Biggie (who also had Jamaican heritage) in hip-hop heaven. He died in Los Angeles at age 44. The Los Angles Times reported yesterday he may have died of complications related to pneumonia .

The tributes came in from all quarters of the entertainment industry for Heavy D, who was born Dwight Arrington Myers in Mandeville in 1967. That’s fitting as he was not only a rapper, but served as president of Uptown Records and became a more than competent actor, appearing in the Oscar-winning movie, The Cider House Rules and the critically-acclaimed television drama, Boston Legal.

Writer Jamilah Lemieux gave an apt tribute.

“Few rappers have been so loving in their references to women as Heavy D. Maybe even less so today than ever. That made me love him.”

In terms of music, Heavy D never left his roots. He was best known as leader of Heavy D and the Boys, one of the many acts who defined the New Jack Swing era of the early 1990s.

It was a period that also saw him working with dancehall acts which were emerging in American urban music. Two of the artistes he teamed up with were deejay Super Cat and singer Frankie Paul on the songs Dem Nuh Worry We and Big And Ready which were both dancehall hits in Jamaica.

The collaborations helped introduce Super Cat especially to the hip-hop nation. He went on to have mega hits alongside teen hip-hoppers Kriss Kross on Jump and punk band Sugar Ray on Fly.

Heavy D grew up in New York City at a time when Jamaican culture was moving out of the underground. Music from ‘yard’ made it into the tri-state area through distribution stores like Brad’s, Moodies and VP Records, the revamped Randys Records.

Then in 1981, a little-known singer from Clarendon named Denroy Morgan hit it big with the song I’ll Do Anything For You. A decade later, it was time for a new generation of Jamaican artistes led by Heavy D, Super Cat, Shabba Ranks, Shaggy and Mad Cobra to take dancehall/reggae to the next level.

Heavy D also made his mark as an impresario. Along with Andre Harrell, he developed fresh talent at Uptown, very much in the mould of Russell Simmons at Def Jam and Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs at Bad Boys.

A member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, he pledged to get reggae the exposure it deserved at the annual Grammy Awards. He even cut a reggae-influenced album, Vibes, which was released in 2008.

In recent years, Heavy D underwent a dramatic, physical transformation due to a rigid diet but reportedly weighed over 300 pounds at the time of his death.