Mister Cee, a disc jockey who was an integral determine in New York Metropolis’s booming Nineties hip-hop scene and was an early champion of the Infamous B.I.G., has died. He was 57.
His loss of life was confirmed on Wednesday by Skip Dillard, the model supervisor at WXBK 94.7 The Block NYC, the place Mister Cee had a present. No trigger was given.
Mister Cee, whose head-bopping mixes reverberated on New York radio for many years, was successful D.J. on New York Metropolis’s Sizzling 97 for greater than 20 years earlier than leaving the station in 2014. He was the manager producer of the Infamous B.I.G.’s debut album, “Able to Die.”
Born Calvin Lebrun in August 1966 in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Mister Cee grew up at his grandparents’ dwelling and took to the turntables underneath the mentorship of an uncle who was a D.J., he informed Rock The Bells, a satellite tv for pc radio present, in November.
He added that his early influences got here from the radio, listening to the likes of the hip-hop acts World Well-known Supreme Staff and Superior Two.
“This was my ardour for deejaying and having that dream that in the future I needed to be on the radio,” he said.
Mister Cee lived out the dream on Sizzling 97 earlier than leaving the station, citing the station’s new musical route.
“I could be the reply for now, however I don’t suppose I’ll be the reply 5 or 10 years from now,” he informed The Instances in 2014.
Chris Inexperienced, a promoter at Capitol Musical Group who had identified the D.J. because the mid-90s, mentioned in an interview with The New York Instances that 12 months that Mister Cee “was the glue between the previous and the brand new” on Sizzling 97.
Mister Cee first resigned from the station for a short interval in 2013 after it was revealed that he had solicited the companies of transgender prostitutes.
Questions on his sexuality rankled the hip-hop group, which has lengthy struggled with homophobia. He briefly returned to the station earlier than in the end leaving in 2014.
Mister Cee, nonetheless a highly-respected determine, continued spinning data in golf equipment and on different radio applications. Earlier than he died, he had his personal present enjoying throwbacks on 94.7 The Block NYC.
After his loss of life was introduced Wednesday, the station honored Mister Cee by enjoying a recording of his 2022 combine paying tribute to the Infamous B.I.G. for what would have been late rapper’s fiftieth birthday.
Earlier than the Infamous B.I.G., the D.J. had labored with Massive Daddy Kane. Mister Cee can be credited with serving to promote the careers of fifty Cent and different rap stars.
A full listing of Mister Cee’s survivors was not instantly out there.
In an interview on the Kitchen Talk podcast revealed in 2021, Mister Cee confirmed the hosts an image of himself at 3 years previous wherein he’s holding a forty five r.p.m. file. He famous that his father had given him the picture earlier than he died in 1993, the identical 12 months Mr. Cee joined Sizzling 97.
He added: “And he mentioned to me, ‘I knew that is what you was going to do.’”