The legendary DJ Mister Cee has passed away.
Born Calvin LeBrun, he was known for his iconic career, and made a name for himself as one of NYC’s most prominent DJ’s. Mister Cee got his big break by becoming the official DJ for Big Daddy Kane, and by discovering the late The Notorious B.I.G. He was also a part of our sister station Hot 97 family for years.
Mister Cee, who would later become known as The Finisher, became the DJ behind Kane’s 1988 debut album, Long Live The Kane after forming a friendship with the rapper in high school.
He also played an integral role in The Notorious B.I.G.’s career. He was an associate producer on the rapper’s debut album Ready To Die.
“The first time I met him was when his DJ 50 Grand, rest in peace, brought Big to my house,” Cee recalled. “The plan was we were going to redo the basement demo that he and 50 Grand put together. Big was very shy. He would always talk with his head down and say, ‘Yo man, don’t be promising me nothing, man. If you say you’re going to do something, do it.’ And I’m like, nah, we’re going to redo the demo,” he said.
“I started going through and picking the beats that were hot at the time, and the beat that Biggie picked was the Casual “I Didn’t Mean To” beat to do the infamous “Biggie Smalls is the wickedest/n*ggas say I’m p***y I dare you to stick your d**k in it.” We did that one if not two takes, and if you listen to the freestyle, at the end of it, you’ll hear a fire truck going by. We weren’t in a studio, we were at my house. I did it with two turntables, just cutting the record back and forth. We had a little cheesy mic that was better than the mic 50 Grand had at his house.”
As a DJ on Hot 97, he hosted the “Throwback at Noon” and played a part in launching the careers of many artists including Alicia Keys, Jay-Z and 50 Cent.
DJ Mister Cee will be missed by everyone who considered him family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones.