Sometime during the late eighties, hip-hop music started to transform from being a good-spirited, fun, party-fueled genre to more of a thugged-out gangsta art form. With the emergence of artists like Ice-T and groups like N.W.A. finding commercial success and bringing the record labels tons of money, the floodgates were opening for labels to continue to cash in on the new-found subgenre. The next decade would produce a slew of rappers building on the drug-dealing-violent themes started by the O.G.s. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed some of it. But much of it consisted of copycats with no artistic value or individuality. Thankfully, there have always been those who go against the status quo. Heavy D was one of them.

Since 1987, Heavy D & The Boyz have been known for their radio-friendly bops and positive image. No talk of guns, murder, and drugs in their music, just light-hearted content with sprinkles of consciousness and a strong focus on lovin’ the ladies. By 1997, Heavy D & The Boyz had five albums under their belts. Together, the four-man team (Heavy D, DJ Eddie F, and dancers Trouble T. Roy and G-Whiz) experienced success and loss. In 1990, Trouble T Roy passed away after falling from a parking ramp (he would be the muse for the group’s 1991 album, Peaceful Journey, and the inspiration behind Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s classic record, “They Reminisce Over You”). After T Roy’s passing, the group released three more albums, with Nuttin But Love being the last in 1994. Eddie F would continue to produce and A&R for others, G-Whiz would…continue to dance, and Heavy would continue to make music.

Waterbed Hev is the official solo debut album by Heavy D. With Eddie F out of the picture, Hev would co-produce most of the album under the overseeing of Tony Dofat. Fueled by two singles, Waterbed Hev was not as successful as Nuttin’ But Love, but it would still earn Hev a gold plaque, adding to his understated, impressive commercial resume.

Waterbed Hev is another first listen for me. I’ve always loved the Blue Funk album, Nuttin’ But Love was a pleasant surprise, and hopefully, Waterbed Hev goes well.

Continue to rest easy, Hev.

Big Daddy – Things jump off with a twenty-second conga drum solo that our host declares as “just an interlude.” Then warm and luscious R&B chords consume the atmosphere and set the mood for the overweight lover to overweight love (or lust). Hev spits three verses filled with run-of-the-mill lines of female flattery (apparently, Hev thought the “the genuine and you fine, vision you like dollar signs” line was dope enough to say twice in the same verse, and his “Creepin’ through your room late at night” line sounded more predatory than sexy) and Keanna Henson adds her silky vocals to the hook, enticing Hev to continue with his lover man antics. With all its contrived energy, this is still an enjoyable record and a great choice for the lead single.

Keep It Comin – Over a sample of The Gap Band’s “Yearning For Your Love,” Hev does the same thing that he did on “Big Daddy.” He just switches out Keanna Henson for Nicole Johnson on the hook.

You Can Get It – Mr. Cheeks is an early candidate for cameo whore of ‘97, as he makes yet another one on this track (I wonder if I should include Freaky Tah in the equation since he adds his signature adlibs to all of Cheeks’ cameos. Tandem whores). He joins Hev and Hev’s singing mentees, Soul For Real, for this polished lady lovin’ rap/R&B groove, built around a flip of one of the most amazing basslines, Keni Burke’s “Risin’ To The Top.” I didn’t care much for this one, but the woman Hev describes during his first verse with the “body all lumped up and milkshake thick” sounds like quite the eye candy.

Waterbed Hev – This is a fly love song. The title track samples a sexy Patrice Rushen guitar riff, and the lovely Ms. Vinia Mojica (who I first heard on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Verses From The Abstract” (Tribes Degrees of Separation: check. It’s been a long time since I typed those words)) adds her soothing vocals to the hook. Hev continues with his waterbed stunts, sounding more convincing on this one than on other tracks.

Shake It – The congas we heard during the intro briefly return. Then Tony Dofat and ‘em (’em, being Heavy, Quell, and Med) put together a futuristic-electro instrumental created strictly to get freakazoid robots and human asses on the dance floor. It sounds like something will.i.am would have made ten years later. I wouldn’t have liked this back in ‘97, and I don’t know if I necessarily like it in 2024, but at the very least, it’s intriguing.

I’ll Do Anything – James Brown is undisputedly the most sampled artist in hip-hop, and I’m sure Issac Hayes and Barry White aren’t far behind him, but Hall and Oates might be the most sampled white artists in hip-hop history. Dofat borrows from the duo’s classic “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” while April and Sheree of ASK ME spread their lovely vocals over the pristine track like peanut butter and jelly. Meanwhile, Hev continues to Hev.

Don’t Be Afraid – Dofat builds this instrumental around the infectious and very familiar bassline from Le Pamplemousse’s “Gimmie What You Got,” which is a great choice if you’re looking to make a banger with bounce. For the first time this evening, Hev invites a male vocalist to sing on the hook. Big Bub (now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Much respect to Today) does the honors, while Hev finds the perfect pocket with his flow and attacks the track with swag and personality that outshines the instrumental.

Justa’ Interlude – The conga solo that has already cameoed a few times on Waterbed Hev pops up again. But this time, the production team puts claps underneath it, and Hev uses it to get off a quick sixteen, and for the first time, he doesn’t tailor it to please the ladies.

Can You Handle It – Now, this is a collaboration I never saw coming. Clean image, Heavy D links up with the West Coast gangstas, Daz and Kurupt, aka Tha Dogg Pound. Hev also invites McGruff to the cipher, introducing him to a mainstream audience (McGruff (formerly Herb McGruff) was a part of the Harlem-based group Children Of The Corn, which included Big L, Cam’ron, and Mase). The foursome takes turns rhyming over a reinterpretation of EPMD’s “You’re A Customer” instrumental while Big Bub borrows Tony! Toni! Tone!’s “Anniversary” harmony for the hook. Daz and Kurupt’s influence must have rubbed off on Hev as he talks about “peelin’ caps” at one point during the song, which has to be the most gangsta thing he has said in his entire rap career. Overall, this was a decent record.

Wanna Be A Player – McGruff meanders over from the previous track to jump on this one and joins Hev in spittin’ generic game at the dames. The hook is embarrassingly bad, and the stripped-down backdrop (that desecrates the legendary drums from “Sucker MCs”) sounds incredibly dry and empty.

Get Fresh Hev – Sticking with the stripped-down production sound, Heavy relies solely on a beatbox to impress the ladies on this one. He also spits what may be the corniest sex line in the history of rap: “Here’s what I like, 138, that’s 69 twice in one night, who’s jiggy? Hev Diggy, no question.” Nothing to see here, folks.

Big Daddy (Remix) – Heavy closes Waterbed Hev with a remix of the lead single. Gone are the lush R&B chord progressions from the O.G. mix. Dofat strips the backing music down to a rumbling bassline and borrows the lively drum claps from Soul II Soul’s “Back To Life” (Keanna Henson also borrows some of Caron Wheeler’s lyrics and harmony from the same song for the hook). Our always-confident host corrals the beat and places it in submission while McGruff spits a decent verse that doesn’t add much value to the song. Nevertheless, it’s a fire remix and a great way to end the album.

Long before Biggie would lean into his Big Poppa persona, or Prince Markie Dee would assume the role of Love Daddy, Heavy D had established his place as the Overweight Lover. Except for Drake, no other rapper has been as consistent and successful at making radio-accessible records to appeal to the female fanbase as Heavy D. On Waterbed Hev the O.L. continues to focus on the ladies. However, he fails to make any new waves.

Heavy D has never been a lyrical miracle emcee. Still, the mixture of his baritone voice and undeniable flow, along with his unbreakable confidence and charisma, has not only made women adore his music but has earned him the respect of the hip-hop male population, even when his music doesn’t have them in mind. Those attributes continue to shine through on Waterbed Hev, but Hev’s standard musical formula seems disrupted by the production.

That’s not to say that the production on Waterbed Hev is horrible. On the first half of the album, Tony Dofat and Hev string together squeaky-clean instrumentals lined with alluring harmonies, but all the samples are rehashed material that has been way overused or flipped and put to better use by other artists (with the title track being the exception). The last half of the album finds Hev rhyming over experimental and more stripped-down instrumentals that use uncreative reworks of overly familiar elements that might pass when heard on a dance floor but not so much when you’re listening in the comfort of your home. And as much as I appreciate and respect Hev’s emcee ability, halfway through the album, I was hoping he’d move away from the cliche pick-up lines to something more intriguing. He never does.

Even with its issues, Waterbed Hev isn’t a bad project; it’s just not as entertaining as his previous few albums. But I’m not the target demo that Hev intended to enjoy his waterbed, so who cares what I think?

-Deedub

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