Though Gerald had the inside track to success in the music industry because
of his father, Eddie Levert of the O’Jays, Gerald immediately established
himself as a legitimate Soul singer in his own rite from the moment he, his
brother Sean, and Marc Gordon formed the group Levert in 1984.
Most impressively, Gerald's distinct voice and genuine
soulfulness enabled him to pull of the hat trick of not
only appealing to his contemporaries, but also to older and younger
generations. Unlike the one-hit wonders of
today, Gerald’s work will stand the test of time and will be played for
generations alongside other deceased legends like Marvin Gaye, Donny
Hathaway, and Luther Vandross.
Most disturbing is the fact that Gerald passed away at such an early age.
Remember back in the day when we thought that our forty year old parents
were damn near senior citizens? We at Urban Archives, as well as the vast majority
of you all reading this article, are over thirty years old and are now well
aware that we can succumb to heart disease during what we consider to be the
prime years of our lives. All things being equal, we could
conceivably live well into our eighties if we treat our bodies with a
healthy diet and a regular schedule of exercise. Unfortunately, half of us
haven’t exercised since earning our Presidential Physical Fitness patch back
in grade school. Many others are still bragging about their high school
years when they dropped thirty points on Kenny Anderson or beat Vanessa
Williams in a beauty pageant, but are now so out of shape that no one would
believe them unless they had actually been there to witness the feats.
Heart disease is one of the number one killers of
Americans. African Americans are particularly at risk because of our high
fat/ high cholesterol diets. We know that many of you are saying that your
grandparents are still rippin’ and runnin’ after a strict diet of pork and
other fried foods over the past eighty or so years. However, most of their
eating habits were adopted because they had no alternatives. Fried and fatty foods clog up our
arteries and puts more stress on our hearts. Couple that with the fact that
many of us are nearly two times the size we were back in our twenties, our
hearts are working overtime.
Lets face it fellas, for many of us, that six-pack of
abs is a distant memory, and that chiseled chest has turned into man
breasts. Ladies, that booty that every guy could not help but take a second look
at back in the day now looks like a waterbed mattress. Those of you who are
constantly fatigued, sleep well over eight hours a day if you could, snore
excessively, constantly drink Mylanta, Pepto, and energy drinks,
and are huffing and puffing after walking up a few flights of stairs may be
at risk to developing heart problems if your eating habits and exercise
regimen are not adjusted.
Aside from reducing our fat intake, there is a very
simple and old solution to our weight problems: R-U-N. We are not
talking about our boy DJ/ Reverend RUN, we are talking about all of us
getting on that treadmill or track and burning off that extra weight. For
some of us, the results may take a while, but it took ten to twenty years to
put on all of that extra fat, so a bit of patience may be necessary. If you
can read a book, talk to your girlfriend in detail about the last episode of
“Girlfriends,” or barely break a sweat, then you are not working hard
enough. Set aside 30 minutes to an hour three days a week for intense exercise, then
all of that dozing off and energy drinking will soon be a thing of the past.
Without knowing his medical history, we wonder if Gerald
would be with us today if he had followed a diet and exercise program. We
still have his music, but we missed out on string on classic songs and
concerts that could have entertained us for decades to come. Gerald Levert’s
music will live on through us, but let’s just make sure that we are around
to pass his music on to our children and grandchildren.