Today in Hip-Hop — October 27: Heavy D & the Boyz’ Living Large Turns 39, and the Family Tree Behind T.R.O.Y.

October 27, 1987. A big kid from Mount Vernon who calls himself the Overweight Lover drops his debut. Heavy D & the Boyz’ Living Large turns 39 today. Here’s the jewel: the Boyz were the first group Andre Harrell signed to Uptown Records. The label that went on to lead R&B and hip-hop into the early ’90s was built on a dancing heavyweight rapping over Teddy Riley drums.

The Overweight Lover in the House

Look at the credits. Marley Marl produced the opener, “The Overweight Lovers in the House.” Teddy Riley’s name is on most of the other tracks, and Harrell, DJ Eddie F and Heavy himself are all over the boards. So Juice Crew boom bap and the swing that became new jack sit side by side on one tracklist. Heavy was born in Mandeville, Jamaica, and moved to Mount Vernon as a kid, so “Moneyearnin’ Mount Vernon” is a hometown flag planted on wax. The album reached No. 10 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and The Source put it on its 100 Best Rap Albums list in 1998.

The Boyz were Heavy, Eddie F on the decks, and two dancers, G-Wiz and Trouble T-Roy. That last name opens up one of the most important family trees in rap. Heavy’s first cousin was a young Pete Rock, who learned to DJ from Heavy’s older brother Floyd and met Marley Marl through Heavy. When T-Roy died in July 1990 in a fall on tour in Indianapolis, Pete Rock & CL Smooth answered with “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.),” the eulogy that still turns up on just about every greatest-songs list. That song exists because of the crew on this album cover.

“T.R.O.Y.” was the lead single from Mecca and the Soul Brother, and we made a Pete Rock & CL Smooth Mecca and the Soul Brother tee for that 1992 masterpiece. The horns, the dedication and the Mount Vernon roots all run back to the Boyz. Heavy D passed in 2011 at 44, so rock it for him and for T-Roy.

Also Today in Hip-Hop

• 1998: Mia X’s Mama Drama (28 years). The New Orleans veteran released her third and final studio album, produced by Master P and Beats By the Pound. It landed in the Billboard 200 top 10 behind “What’cha Wanna Do,” at the peak of the tank’s run.
• 1998: Bushwick Bill’s No Surrender…No Retreat (28 years). The Geto Boys’ wildest voice went solo for the third time, this time through Wrap/Ichiban rather than the label we broke down in our Rap-A-Lot Records deep dive. For the group at full strength, start with the Geto Boys City Under Siege tee.
• 2013: Lou Reed passes (13 years). His “Walk on the Wild Side” bassline, played by session man Herbie Flowers, became the loop under A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” Phife later said Reed’s side kept all the money. The Tribe catalog is on our Midnight Marauders tee.

Stay creative — The Custom Creative Team

Jon Jones