Big Tyme might have been his commercial break, but Peaceful Journey finds Heavy D dialing in his sound, doubling down on the elements that worked & refining what didn't. The craft is at a consistently high level, & while the subject matter might be limited, Hev shows development as a lyricist where it counts--particularly his expanded sociopolitical consciousness.
DJ Eddie F. still contributes some nice turntablism but is no longer the default producer. Pete Rock emerges from his shadow to dominate the sound on this album, producing a plurality of its beats. Teddy Riley is back, once again producing a single track that also happens to be the album's lead single, "Is It Good To You." Marley Marl has an expanded role here, producing 3 tracks that have the most commercial polish of anything except the dancefloor opener "Now That We Found Love." Howie Tee laces 1 track, "I Can Make You Go Oooh," with a swanky horn break in the middle accompanying what is probably the best of Hev's sex rhymes. But the beatmaking heavyweight Pete Rock is really coming into his own here: the funky Booker T. & the MG's organ loop that drives "Don't Curse"; the escalating sax snatches & guitar strums of "Cuz He'z Alwayz Around"; the friendly Prince Paul-esque whistle that livens up the chorus of "Let It Rain" are all touches of a creative producer sharpening his craft & having a lot of fun doing so.
After you realize the opening 3 tracks are all about sex, you might worry that Hev is leaning a bit too hard into his Overweight Lover persona. Thankfully the middle of the album switches up the subject matter, starting with an ode to Black womanhood in "Sister, Sister," whose lyrics are thankfully more sophisticated than the genial respectability politics of the last album's "A Better Land." Sentiments like "I've grown up watching you struggle/While others work singles, you work doubles" or his observation about Black mothers worrying about their sons "on the street that society left us" are sharper & more cutting than anything Hev had written before. The same goes for the title track, that opens with a verse honoring Trouble T-Roy before zooming out to some harrowing descriptions of child abuse & trafficking. Compared to these 2 songs, the scolding "Letter To the Future," with its shortsighted condemnation of "black on black crime," feels like a letdown, but by then the point has been made.
Don't let the dancing & pop videos fool you: Heavy D was a rapper's rapper. Breath control, enunciation, vocal presence, flow versatility--his emceeing is technically flawless. Lyrically, he was one of the masters of the rhyme dismount. Too many rappers just stop their verses when their 16 bars run out & don't give too much thought to how they end. Hev's verses always have a satisfying feel of completion; often his last bar will contain a version of the chorus phrase or will otherwise lead into it. Examples are all over the album, but "Is It Good To You" has a few great ones.
Then of course there's "Don't Curse," a response to censorship efforts like the work of the PMRC in the early '90s. For the huge posse cut Hev recruits a who's who of NYC lyricism at the time: Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, CL Smooth & Q-Tip (not to mention producer Pete Rock trying his hand at rapping for only the 2nd time on record). More than just an emcee clinic, it's an implicit critique of a culture more invested in the letter of the law than its spirit, especially when that enables condemning Black people--the "Free Slick Rick" chant at the end of the song drives that point home.
The Jamaican-born Heavy D always included a reggae track on every album, & this one leaves behind the crooning of "Mood For Love" in favor of a Barrington Levy-style toasting on "Body and Mind," The song has everything: quicktongue call & response, dubstyle deejaying from Daddy Freddy, & even a Sister Nancy sample! Despite being a bit overstuffed, the song is a fine showcase for Hev's reggae chops & a late-album highlight.
Hev might not have reached his peak yet (for me that would be 1993's Blue Funk), & I have to admit the urge to listen to Heavy D doesn't strike me very often, but there's no denying the craftsmanship on display here. At 66 minutes, it's long by 1991 standards, & maybe a track or 2 could disappear & I wouldn't miss them, but overall it's a smooth, pleasant listen that manages not to fall into the pop-rap trap of lightweight irrelevancy.
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