Heavy D & The Boyz – Now That We Found Love (Official Music Video) ft. Aaron Hall

Now That We Found Love

Now That We Found Love (Club Version)

Heavy D & The Boyz – Now That We Found Love (Extended Remix)

Now, anybody who follows me knows how much I love R&B.
But don’t get it twisted.
I’ve loved rap and hip-hop since the ’80s. 🎧

Every rapper isn’t for me.
But across all these years, I’d say I like about 85 percent of them.
That’s a pretty good batting average. 😂

And Heavy D?
Man, I LOVED me some Heavy D.

I still think he’s one of the most underrated rappers of his generation.
People remember the smile, the dancing, the videos, and the hits.
But that man had BARS.
He could flow.
He could be funny, smooth, and completely in control of a record without acting like he had something to prove.
He kept hip-hop cool.
And he kept it FUN.

Now That We Found Love is one of my favorites from him.
And in 1991, this was a serious dance floor record. 🔥
I was already DJing by then.
I remember what happened when I played this one.
People got on the floor.

And I had the extended versions and everything, because you know me.
If there’s a longer mix, I’m probably going to find it. 💿
The regular version was already a monster.
But those longer versions gave a DJ more room to work.
More groove.
More time to keep everybody moving.

And can we talk about Teddy Riley?
This was Teddy at his best.
Those drums, that bounce, the way the whole track pushes forward.
He knew how to blend R&B, hip-hop, and dance music without losing the character of any of them.

Then you bring in Aaron Hall on the hook/chorus?
The same Aaron Hall whose voice I loved with Guy.
Come on now. 🎤
Listen to how he attacks that chorus.
That voice has enough power to cut right through everything happening underneath it.

Then Heavy comes back in, playful and quick with his delivery, riding that beat like he’s having the time of his life.
They sound good together.
And neither one gets lost in the production.

But this song had already lived a couple of lives before it reached them.

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote Now That We Found Love, and The O’Jays recorded it for Ship Ahoy in 1973.
Third World gave it a reggae and disco life in 1978.
Then Heavy D and Teddy Riley brought it into 1991 and made it feel like it belonged to that moment. 🎶

Heavy brought his own verses, his humor, and that confidence.
You could recognize the chorus and still get something different from the record.

It appeared on Peaceful Journey, an album that paid tribute to the group’s Trouble T-Roy after his death in 1990.
Knowing that gives the album’s title more weight.
There was loss behind this project, alongside all that energy.

Now That We Found Love reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 in the UK.
Not bad for a record that also knew exactly what to do in a club.

And the VIDEO!
The street party.
The dancers.
The raincoats.
Heavy moving like a man who knew the whole block was watching. 😂
I still love watching it.

Hip-hop has had a lot of different faces through the years.
I love plenty of them.
But Heavy D had his own lane.

He could rap.
He could dance.
He could make you smile.
And he could fill a dance floor.

That counts for a whole lot in my book.

I loved him then.
I still love him now.
And this record is still getting played over here. 💜

djz7

Direct Listening Links 🎧

#TheSoundtrackOfWhoIBecame, #HeavyD, #HeavyDAndTheBoyz, #NowThatWeFoundLove, #AaronHall, #TeddyRiley, #PeacefulJourney, #90sHipHop, #HipHopClassics, #NewJackSwing, #DJCulture, #MusicHistory