Heavy D performs at the October 2011 BET Music Awards. (AP)

Several news sources, including ABCNews.com and TMZ, are reporting that rapper Heavy D has died after being rushed to a Los Angeles hospital.

Heavy D was 44 years old.

Born Dwight Arrington Meyers in Jamaica, then moving to New York at a young age, Heavy D gained fame in the late 1980s with his combination of hip-hop, danceable pop and New Jack Swing, which was just starting to come into vogue. He formed Heavy D & The Boyz and had a slew of hits across the dance, R&B and pop charts, including the group’s biggest song, “Now That We Found Love”, which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991. The group also sang the theme song to the Fox comedy show In Living Color.

When the musical success began to dry up, Heavy D turned to acting, appearing on such shows as A Different World and Living Single. A recent appearance of the song “Now That We Found Love” in the Will Smith movie Hitch introduced Heavy D to a new generation, and in October 2011, he made his first live appearance in 15 years, performing on the BET Hip Hop Awards.

TMZ reports that a 911 call was received from Heavy D’s Beverly Hills home, reporting an unconscious man on the walkway. When he was taken to the hospital, TMZ reported, he was conscious and speaking, but died a short time later.