“Don’t clock anybody, let them all clock you
Don’t be down with anybody, let them all be down with you
Stay self-managed, self-kept, self-taught
Be your own man, don’t be borrowed, don’t be bought
Started with a pow and I’m going to end it with a bang
We’ve got our own thang”
—“We Got Our Own Thang” by Heavy D and the Boyz
Dwight Myers…The Overweight lover…Heavy D! If you grew up listening to rap music in the late 80s and 90s Heavy D. and the Boyz should have received some play in your tape deck or CD player. Promoting positive and fun-loving messages, this group was a breath of fresh air, and Heavy D. proved that overweight brothers had something to offer and could get down and dance with the best of them.
Upon hearing about Heavy D’s untimely death, in pensive mood, I thought about what made him and his lyrics so special. Then it came to me. The title of one of his very songs sums up what it was: “We Got Out Own Thang.” During the early 90s gangsta rap started to become more prevalent and devastated the market of fun, light-hearted raps with uplifting messages. Despite the shrinking fan base or potential promotion from record labels, artists such as Heavy D and the Boyz, Fresh Prince and Kid and Play kept going strong. In “We Got Our Own Thang” Heavy emphatically wants listeners to be themselves and not succumb to others or fall victim to peer pressure. “Don’t clock anybody; let them all clock you. Don’t be down with anybody, let them all be down with you.”
Furthermore, Heavy addresses those who want to be nothing more than carbon copies of the originators as well as those who are willing to perpetuate false personae if the price is write. Perhaps some present day entertainers who call themselves “rappers” should take heed to this advice. “Stay self-managed, self-kept, self taught. Be your own man, don’t be borrowed, don’t be bought.”
Heavy D indeed did “start with a pow and end with a bang” and went on to be a quite successful record executive and actor. It truly saddens me that Heavy D. and the Boyz have yet to receive praise during one of the Hip Hop Honors award shows. Let’s not allow those other artists who have paid the way to go unacknowledged and then receive homage posthumously.
Please feel free to share your thoughts.
~Anonomz aka Tanya H. Franklin
Bonus English Lesson:
Heavy D uses slang to drive his point homethe word “clock” In this instance, it is similar to “jocking” or fawning over a person.
Journey of Anonomz 