Mister Cee, a disc jockey who was an integral figure in New York City’s booming 1990s hip-hop scene and an early champion of the Notorious B.I.G., has died. He was 57.
His death was confirmed on Wednesday by Skip Dillard, the brand manager at WXBK 94.7 The Block NYC, where Mister Cee had a show. No other details were provided.
Mister Cee, whose head-bopping mixes reverberated on New York radio for decades, was a hit on New York City’s Hot 97 for more than 20 years before leaving the station in 2014. He was the executive producer of the Notorious B.I.G.’s debut album, “Ready to Die.”
Born Calvin Lebrun in August 1966 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Mister Cee grew up in his grandparents’ home and took to the turntables under the mentorship of an uncle who was a D.J., he told Rock the Bells, a hip-hop website, in November.
He added that his early influences came from listening to hip-hop acts like World Famous Supreme Team and Awesome Two on the radio.
“This turned into my passion for deejaying and having that dream that one day I wanted to be on the radio,” he said.
Mister Cee lived out the dream on Hot 97 before leaving the station, citing its new musical direction. “I might be the answer for now, but I don’t think I’ll be the answer five or 10 years from now,” he told The New York Times in 2014.
Chris Green, a promoter at Capitol Music Group who had known Mister Cee since the mid-90s, said in an interview with The Times that year that he “was the glue between the old and the new” on Hot 97.
Mister Cee first resigned from the station for a brief period in 2013 after it was revealed that he had solicited the services of transgender prostitutes.
Questions about his sexuality rankled the hip-hop community, which has long struggled with homophobia. He briefly returned to the station before ultimately leaving in 2014.
Mister Cee, still a highly respected figure, continued spinning records in clubs and on other radio programs. Before he died, he had his own show playing throwbacks on 94.7 The Block NYC, and he was the host of “The Set It Off Show” on Rock the Bells Radio, a SiriusXM channel.
After his death was announced on Wednesday, 94.7 The Block honored him by playing a recording of his 2022 mix that paid tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. for what would have been that rapper’s 50th birthday. (The Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, was murdered in 1997 at 24.)
Before the Notorious B.I.G., Mister Cee had worked with Big Daddy Kane. He was also credited with helping to promote the careers of 50 Cent and other rap stars.
There was no immediate word on his survivors.
In an interview on the “Kitchen Talk” podcast in 2021, Mister Cee showed the hosts a picture of himself at 3 years old, in which he was holding a 45 r.p.m. record. He noted that his father had given him the photo before he died in 1993, the same year Mr. Cee joined Hot 97.
“And,” he added, “he said to me, ‘I knew this is what you was going to do.’”