Real name Calvin LeBrun, Brooklyn-born Cee first gained serious attention via his contribution to the landmark debut album from New York rap icon Big Daddy Kane, ‘Long Live the Kane’ and is the subject of the track ‘Mister Cee’s Master Plan’.
The pair would work together on further four records, through to the 1993 outing ‘Looks Like a Job For…’ Around the same time, he also began working with another future hip-hop icon, Notorious B.I.G., with many crediting Cee with helping put the emerging rapper on the map.
“All I did at the time was try to get anybody and everybody to listen to him. Big Daddy Kane, Masta Ace, I would try to force Biggie down their throat, like, you gotta hear this guy,” Cee, who went on to executive produce Notorious B.I.G.’s first LP, ‘Ready To Die’, recalled in an interview last year.
Cee was also a firm fixture at Hot 97 for several decades, earning huge respect from the likes of Jay-Z and Funkmaster Flex in that time. After leaving the station in 2014, he continued to broadcast independently, releasing mix tapes and playing clubs.
You can still listen back to his sets here.
Tributes have been paid from across the hip-hop community and beyond to the influential figure.
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