Heavy D. maintained his high visibility in both the R&B and rap markets with his third album,
Peaceful Journey. The title says a lot about Heavy's outlook -- he was never an inflammatory, confrontational rapper, and generally sought to entertain rather than challenge. While most of this melodic, very R&B-ish album (which includes his remake of the
Gamble &
Huff classic "Now That We've Found Love") is fun and escapist in nature, the self-proclaimed Overweight Lover shows himself to be a noteworthy and effective social commentator on the title song, "Letter to the Future" (which urges a teenage criminal to change his ways) and "Sister Sister" -- a salute to Black women clearly written in response to misogyny in rap. Whether being socio-political or simply aiming to entertain, Heavy still makes it clear that he has a lot of technique. ~ Alex Henderson