Mister Cee, the longtime New York DJ at Hot 97 who is often credited with discovering The Notorious B.I.G., died of diabetes-related coronary artery and kidney disease, his family confirmed in a statement provided to AllHipHop. The Medical Examiner of New York City confirmed the cause of death after he passed at the age of 57, last week.
“On behalf of the Lebrun, Wilson, Calixte families we want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support for our brother, uncle, nephew Calvin ‘DJ Mister Cee’ Lebrun in the wake of his untimely passing. It’s a huge loss for our entire family, the borough of Brooklyn, and the entire Hip-Hop Community,” the family said. “The Medical Examiner of NYC determined that his cause of death was Diabetes related coronary artery/kidney disease. Details about the public funeral service will be announced shortly. We ask that you please respect the family’s privacy during this extremely difficult time. Thank you.”
Mister Cee Poses With Big Daddy Kane
As for his relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., Cee served as a producer on his 1994 debut studio album, Ready to Die. He reflected on their relationship during an interview with Rock the Bells, last November. "The first time I met him was when his DJ, 50 Grand, rest in peace, brought Big to my house. The plan was we were going to redo the basement demo that he and 50 Grand put together," Mister Cee recalled at the time. "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. 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."
Upon news of Cee's death, many noteworthy names in hip-hop shared condolences on social media including DJ Premier, 50 Cent, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Peter Rosenberg, Queen Latifah, and more. Be on the lookout for further updates on Mister Cee on HotNewHipHop.
[Via]