Dwight Arrington Myers better known by his rap name Heavy D has been reported dead.

Jamaican American actor, rapper, record producer, singer Dwight Arrington Myers better known by his rap name Heavy D has been reported dead. The rapper passed away a few hours ago on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at a Los Angeles hospital.

A 911 emergency call had been placed from rapper’s Beverly Hills home to report that he had collapsed on the walkway near his house.

We learnt he gained consciousness and started speaking when help arrived and was immediately rushed to the L.A hospital to receive treatment but gave up the ghost a short time later.

As at the time of this report, the cause of his death has not been announced.

Veteran Queensbridge rapper Nas tweeted ‘RIP TO A REAL HIP HOP LEGEND HEAVY D!’, via his @Nas handle. Nick Cannon tweeted ‘This is crazy. @heavyd such a beautiful person. He did and will continue to inspire me’.

Heavy D’s last tweet which was tweeted from his @heavyd account, 16 hours ago simply reads ‘BE INSPIRED!‘.

Heavy D, who remains one of the most influential rappers of the ’90s was just 44 years old. In his career, the rapper had released nine solo studio albums. He was the former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a hip hop group which included G-Whiz, ‘Trouble‘ T. Roy and Eddie F.

Heavy D is well known for his smash hits like ‘Now that we’ve found love‘, ‘Black coffee‘ and ‘Don’t be afraid.

UPDATE
Celebrity news web site TMZ has reported that law enforcement say Heavy D who was just returning from shopping began to experience trouble breathing as he walked up the stairs which leads to his apartment. A certain Adam Mills, a designer who was in the building and knew Heavy D, found the rapper leaning against the railing looking in pain.

Adam says he Heavy D complained to about him not being able to breath, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’, Heavy D told Mills. As reported earlier, the paramedics arrived as rushed the rapper to the hospital.

Other people in the building say Heavy D died of a heart attack although the cause of his death has been far from confirmed. So far Law enforcement sources say the cause of death was ‘medical’.

Watch his last interview