Heavy D - Heavy D Lightens Up

Rapper HEAVY D is now failing to live up to his name - after shedding an incredible amount of weight.

The Jamaican-born rapper-turned-actor, real name DWIGHT MYERS, says he dropped a whopping 135 pounds in the past year - prompted not by health concerns but because he was losing movie roles.

He explains, 'I went on a couple auditions and one director was kind enough to say, 'Look, you would've had this part but you're not fitting, you're stifling yourself.'

"He was right. I kind of always knew it in the back of my mind, and I just woke up on Tuesday and I just kept going."

And despite the weight loss, Heavy D refuses to change his name.

He says, "There's a lot of checks involved with Heavy D, so that name stays."