Heavy D was ahead of the curve. He scored the theme song to the TV show In Living Color in 1990, embraced R&B hooks to coin hit singles long before it became the norm, and is even alleged to have inspired The Notorious B.I.G. to cater some of his releases to the ladies in the club. The Overweight Lover from Mount Vernon also clocked up a run of gold and platinum albums in the '90s as he rode to commercial success over uptempo production from Teddy Riley and Eddie F. Hev passed away in 2011, but he leaves behind a musical legacy that stylistically spans the late-'80s to the aughts.