Heavy D Honored With Mount Vernon Sculpture

Heavy D has been immortalized with a new statue in Mount Vernon, where he grew up.

The legacy of Heavy D lives on in the Mount Vernon section of New York. Last Thursday (April 27), the late rapper, legal name Dwight Arrington Myers, was honored with a sculpture made by local New York artist Eto Otitigbe in partnership with ArtsWestchester.

Otitigbe titled the sculpture "Peaceful Journey" after Heavy D & the Boyz’s 1991 album of the same name, saying that it "offers a thoughtful and complex picture of the lives of Black and Brown people [living] in places like Mount Vernon, the Bronx or Los Angeles.”

"I wanted to pay homage to the Mount Vernon community that had such an important place in hip-hop with this work of art," Otitigbe told ABC7.

During the unveiling ceremony, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard presented the sculpture in front of the new residential building at 42 Broad.

“Mount Vernon has a rich history of arts and culture. With this being the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, nothing could be more appropriate than to honor this beautiful, beautiful sculpture of Heavy D,” Patterson-Howard told LoHud.

Also in attendance during the ceremony was Myers’ mother, Euhlalee Myers.

"My son loved the arts and this sculpture and this sculpture depicts the love that he have especially for the city of Mount Vernon," she said, per ABC7.

Myers died on December 27, 2011 at 44 years old after suffering from pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism found in his lung. Myers, who also had occasional television roles and starred in films like New Jersey Drive, B*A*P*S, and Life, released his ninth and final album Love Opus in September 2011.