Mister Cee, Legendary New York DJ, Dies at 57

Calvin LeBrun, better known as the legendary DJ Mister Cee has passed, according longtime employers Hot 97 and WLBS.

Known as “The Finisher,” Mister Cee has been a fixture on New York City radio waves for over 25 years, helming the “Throwback at Noon” block on Hot 97 where he played classic old school hip-hop records. Most recently, he took over the same noon time slot on NYC’s 94.7 The Block, where he would also play classic hip-hop and R&B songs.

LeBrun got his start when he met Big Daddy Kane at Brooklyn’s Sarah J. Hale High School and eventually started DJ’ing for the rap legend. He was featured on Kane’s debut album Long Live the Kane on the track “Mister Cee’s Master Plan” where he can be heard scratching on the record.

However, Mister Cee’s claim to fame wasn’t being Kane’s DJ or even being a member of the legendary Juice Crew, it was for helping discover arguably the greatest rapper of all time in the Notorious B.I.G. The Finisher was introduced to Biggie by his friend DJ 50 Grand and passed along Big’s demo tape to Matty C over at The Source magazine which eventually got the Brooklyn MC into the magazine’s influential Unsigned Hype column. It was his inclusion in that column that led to a meeting with with Bad Boy Records’s Puff Daddy. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Younger generations may remember Mister Cee from his appearance in Grand Theft Auto IV where he played the co-host of The Beat 102.7 along with DJ Green Lantern.

LeBrun’s cause of death has not been revealed. He was 57 years old.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.