Entertainment

With the death of DJ Mister Cee, hip-hop mourns the loss of an irreplaceable titan

Published

7 months ago

April 12, 2024

IAM

DJ, Mr. Ceea legendary New York DJ who played an integral role in the careers of rap luminaries resembling Big Daddy Kane and Notorious B.I.G. He died on Wednesday. He was 57 years old.

Condolences on social media from fans and friendssuch Kane50 Cent, Chuck D, Lil’ Cease, DJ Premier and author Cheo Hodari Coker. Many of the tributes focused on the same theme: Mr. Cee’s love for hip-hop culture knew no bounds. Cee, a hip-hop pioneer par excellence, was a strolling, secure space. Not just for the rappers and executives he has met and worked with over the years. He was like this with many he met.

“(Cee) was one of my favorite music encyclopedias. Learning from him was an absolute blessing. He handled hip-hop with such care and such deep love,” he said Scottie Beamformer Hot 97 digital producer who worked closely with Cee when he unleashed his legendary southern mixes. “He always wanted to meet the right people in his hip-hop domain. The impact, passion and work (Cee) put into this culture will never, ever be forgotten and I will miss him greatly.”

It’s inconceivable to inform the history of hip-hop without mentioning Mr. Cee’s name. Cee, born Calvin Lebrun in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, was the first person I interviewed about the book. Shortly after the quarantine began, I felt anxious. Here I used to be writing a book about one of Cee’s closest friends, and he may very well be skeptical or cautious. Considering where the world was at the time, it might have been comprehensible. I expected the interview to last half-hour. We talked for 3 hours.

During our conversation, Mr. Cee recalled his life. He grew up in the Lafayette Gardens projects in Brooklyn in the Nineteen Seventies, at a time when the city was awash with drugs. Some selected street life. Cee selected music. He laughed as he remembered the freestyle rap battles that took place in the Sarah J. Hale High School cafeteria in the early Nineteen Eighties. He cracked up much more, remembering how he jumped into cyphers, but using the lines of his then-group, the Magnum Force Crew. Cee’s laughter turned to tears of joy as he talked about his last ever opponent, MC Kane.

“When my lunch break ended, I went out and a guy in a leather jacket that looked like Kurtis Blow came up to me. The guy walks up to me, reaches into the inside pocket of his leather jacket – remember, we’re in high school now – and pulls out a microphone. He said, “Hey, I heard you wanted to fight me.” I’m MC Kane,” Cee told me, struggling to get through the story because he couldn’t stop laughing. “I thought the guy was crazy! I say, “No, I was using my rhymes for the crew.” I started to back away! I thought: I don’t want any problems. I thought this guy was crazy for wearing a microphone at school.”

He continued: “A week or two later, I come back to the dining room and there is a large crowd around the table. It was that MC Kane again, dude.” After lunch, Cee asked Kane to listen to him DJ and join his crew. Kane initially refused, claiming he was a solo actor. “So I said, listen, just come to me, hearken to me DJ, and perhaps perhaps you may reconsider. Sure enough, Kane got here to my projects in Bed-Stuy. He heard me DJing and said, “Hey, I’m depressed.” Whatever you ought to do, I’ll meet the crew. “

From that moment on, an unbreakable bond was formed as MC Kane became Big Daddy Kane. Cee and Kane met later Biz Markie, who helped get the two signed to Cold Chillin’ Records. Mr. Cee spoke with great pride and respect to people like DJ 50 Grand, Notorious BIG and Matteo “Matty C” Capoluongowhose “Unsigned Noise” column. caught the attention of Sean “Puffy” Combs. Cee remembered introducing Biggie to Puffy as if it had happened five minutes before we began talking relatively than thirty years earlier. And the same confidence Kane had in Cee, Biggie had in Cee too.

“Whatever Cee says, man,” Biggie told Combs when the then aspiring music executive mentioned a take care of Uptown Records. – Whatever Cee says.

Cee laughed as he recalled helping Biggie record songs like “Juicy” and “Big Poppa” for the album, which he executive produced. He cried as he recalled how Biggie lent him money to repay a deep debt to his landlord. He was still frustrated that Biggie threw his wife Faith Evans under the bus on the classic rap duet “Brooklyn’s Finest” with Jay-Z. And he fell silent for a couple of minutes, recalling the days, weeks and months after Biggie’s murder in March 1997.

The conversation was extensive, but what I took away most was Mr. Cee’s gratitude. He understood his place in hip-hop, but he also at all times wondered about the culture’s place in his life. Cee is accountable for some of street rap’s most significant lyrics, starting with Biggie’s demo tape, which Cee polished and placed in the right hands, to AND tapes for his own mixtapes, which have since change into part of the city’s cultural identity, no different from graffiti on the subway or block parties on warm summer nights.

“(Mister) Cee’s influence reached far beyond the airwaves, shaping the very fabric of DJ culture in New York” – Hot 97 shared in an announcement. Cee worked at the station for 21 years before his departure in 2014. “Our hearts are heavy as we send our love and condolences to his family and the fans whose lives he touched with his music.”

Perhaps the mostly used word to explain him is “friend.” In addition to all the good he delivered to the music world over five many years, Cee found immortality in his character, whether he realized it or not. He was at all times willing to share his knowledge and at all times willing to inform his stories because he knew that specific acts of kindness meant something to people. He listened as much as he spoke – and gave much more love than was given to him. It’s inconceivable to reflect on his life and never do not forget that in his later years, certain points of the culture weren’t so kind to Cee, especially when his sexuality has change into a hot topic of discussion.

Proverbial bullets that Cee took as a consequence of his personal lifeespecially after he has been arrested for recruiting transgender staff, was a teachable moment for a culture that was not behaving honorably at the time. J. Cole referenced this case in 2013’s “Forbidden Fruit,” rapping: “The ugliest venom got here from a Power 105 radio host Charlamagne Tha God, who repeatedly mocked Mr. Cee, calling him a “serial penis purchaser” on air. Cee watched as his character was examined under a microscope and pressure was put on him to explain his sexuality. (In 2021, Mr. Cee said he considered himself “trying sex.”) Despite this, despite the culture hidden homophobiapeople like Funkmaster Flex and 50 Cent he rushed to Cee’s defense.

The controversy over Mr. Cee’s sexuality could have ended his profession, however it didn’t. The culture eventually adapted to its needs or moved on to the next goal. But Mister Cee was greater than only a hip-hop expert. He was a hip-hop survivor. After his death, the species must once more ask itself why it’s mandatory to make anyone a survivor, especially individuals who offered a lot life in culture?

Mister Cee was a tour de force that is never seen on this genre. One who combined God-given talent with Heaven-ordained altruism. One who, when the culture lost a titan, was at all times there to send it to the pearly gates in style. No one praised his peers like Mr. Cee.

Cee told me a story about the day Biggie died. He’d gotten the call a couple of hours earlier and was sitting in the fog in a taxi to the Hot 97 studios. Five years earlier, Cee had convinced Biggie to take rap seriously and leave the hustle alone. Now he was the reality of life without the young man who had modified his life. When he walked into the Hot 97 office, Angie Martinez was already crying. His tears immediately began appearing. Somehow, they survived that day – one of the darkest in New York’s musical history – because they felt they owed a lot to the city. As news of Cee’s death spread, Martinez re-posted to Instagram with a heavy heart.

“Oh Cee, I’m having a hard time finding words. You were so good at it…NO ONE will ever do it better.” – she wrote on Instagram. “I have so many memories of (you) showing up for me all these years. So much healthy debate. So many brainstorming sessions and meaningful conversations. So much love. So much history. I am grateful for all this and for (you). I pray that you will be at peace, my friend.”

Fifty-seven continues to be a painfully young age in the grand scheme of life, and Cee is one more member of the hip-hop community who has never achieved senior status. But Mr. Cee has by some means packaged moments, relationships, and art that may last more than his physical frame ever could. Perhaps there may be joy on this sadness. DJ Mister Cee lived a hip-hop life price telling for future generations.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com

Entertainment

“The Honorable Shyne” is a hit. This is why I wanted to tell this story. — Andlandscape

Published

21 mins ago

November 22, 2024

IAM

One of the primary reasons Andscape culture author Justin Tinsley and I were tapped to co-executive produce was our backgrounds as music journalists. The documentary chronicling Moses “Shyne” Barrow’s rise to fame, imprisonment, and re-emergence as a political leader suits firmly into our wheelhouse, as his best rap years got here within the early 2000s – right at the center of our hip-hop fandom. I donated my time helping with the documentary, which was a top ten show in its debut week on Huluas a likelihood to help tell the story of hip-hop. I got here away from the project with an understanding of a man in conflict, at odds with himself and his past, and wanting to forge a path forward.

Shyne’s story illustrates the American dream: a poor black immigrant comes to America and from nowhere becomes one in all the largest rap stars. It is also a story about how the American criminal justice system and music industry chew up and spit out so many young Black people. To carelessly follow Shyne’s story is to consider him as just one other young black man who fell into a bad situation and never recovered. After all, his rap profession was effectively derailed when in 2001 he was sentenced to ten years in prison for the 1999 shooting at Club New York in Manhattan. But what inspired me about Shyne’s story was his refusal to let this devastation define him.

In 2021, I hung out in New Orleans with former No Limit rapper McKinley “Mac” Phipps, who had just been released from prison after spending 21 years in prison for a murder he denied committing. As I listened to Shyne’s story, I considered Mac. Both were avatars of a system that tested rap as much because it tested individual men. Mac’s story was about how hip-hop lyrics may be used to accuse someone within the face of overwhelming evidence of their innocence. Similarly, Shyne’s trial created a sensation about hip-hop’s relationship to violence in a city hungry for head on a plate.

Both Shyne and Mac emerged from prison as completely different people than once they entered. In Mac’s case, it was the period of time he spent at home, during which he transformed from a teenage rapper into a man after 20 years spent in confinement. For Shyne, his transformation got here from faith when he converted to Orthodox Judaism in prison. When I have a look at people like Shyne and Mac, I wonder how they’ll survive being locked in a cage, and their answers are inspiring.

While Shyne’s rap stories are what drew me to this project, it’s his journey as a man that makes me proud to help tell his story. And we actually get to see that journey after he raps the ultimate bars of his rap profession.

Shyne got here to the film wanting to discuss his lowest moments – the time after his release from prison in 2009, when he lashed out, frustrated at seeing a latest crop of rap stars emerge within the void left by his absence. He was rudderless. As rudderless as anyone may be who has lost a decade to a prison system that wanted to destroy him. And much more, since it was closed when the superstar’s fame was on the tip of his fingers.

The raspy-voiced rapper could have let these mishaps define him, but that is where Shyne’s story resonates with everyone, whether or not they’re a rap fan or not. Shyne’s second act, the one through which he finds purpose in community and family, where he uses his innate charisma and true genius to turn out to be a political leader and motivational speaker.

I cannot discuss Shyne’s reappearance without mentioning Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs, the disgraced hip-hop mogul who signed Shyne to his label Bad Boy Records and helped launch his profession, is the elephant within the room throughout the documentary and in Shyne’s life. So lots of the artists who emerged under Diddy – from G Depp and Mase to The Notorious BIG – suffered terrible consequences. Shyne’s name was all the time on the list because he spent ten years in prison. And yet, Shyne’s approach to healing and moving forward is as inspiring as his ability to overcome what he sees because the sabotage of his life and profession.

These are lessons I didn’t expect to learn from the stories in regards to the hip-hop star from my childhood. These are inspiring moments that can be of interest to those that haven’t yet turn out to be inquisitive about the Brooklyn, or somewhat Belizean, rapper featured within the documentary. These are the points that make me proud to be a a part of telling Shyne’s story.

DavidDennis Jr. is a senior author at Andscape and the creator of the award-winning book “The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride.” David is a graduate of Davidson College.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com

Entertainment

Kendrick Lamar Releases Surprise Album ‘GNX’; group chats are going crazy

Published

3 hours ago

November 22, 2024

IAM

Kendrick Lamar, Kendrick Lamar GNX, GNX, GNX album, K-Dot, K-Dot GNX, theGrio.com

There are few things more exciting than receiving an infinite barrage of text messages at the very same time in numerous group chats. This normally implies that something vital has happened in popular culture. Well, the exact same thing happened about noon on November 22, within the yr of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, higher often called Kendrick Lamar, released the album “GNX”, nod towards Buick Grand National Regal GNXa rare muscle automobile released in 1987 – which also happens to be the yr Kendrick was born.

“GNX” is coming to the tip of what has been a banner yr for Kendrick Lamar. From epic diss records geared toward Drake, to creating the largest song of his profession (and a Drake diss track) on “Not Like Us”, to the “Pop Out” concert streaming live to tell the tale Amazon Prime, Kendrick won this yr. He even received seven Grammy nominations, mostly for “Not Like Us.” And this victory will proceed in the brand new yr. In September, it was announced that Kendrick would stay Super Bowl 2025 headliner will happen in New Orleans. This announcement sparked some controversy and comments from several New Orleans legends similar to Juvenile and most notably Lil Wayne, who felt disrespected; Kendrick immediately refers to this topic within the opening song of the album (all stylized in lower case), “wacced out murals”.

The thing is, Kendrick didn’t sleep for many of 2024. And then, while the remaining of us were minding our own business, listening to other albums that had just dropped, like Ice Cube’s “Man Down,” I began receiving text after text… and I knew that would only mean that something vital happened.

At this point in my life (and possibly even yours), Kendrick Lamar releases are a drop-everything-and-listen event. I immediately went to the streaming service, launched “GNX” and pressed “Play”.

I need to admit that the primary time I heard the album I used to be a bit confused. Kendrick has probably never been more popular or famous; if there was ever a time to drag a Kanye West and release his own version of “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” – an album largely produced as Kanye’s best and most representative of Kanye’s greatness – now could be the time. “GNX” has a far more modern West Coast vibe and is certainly more for his die-hard fans than anyone who just began gaining attention due to his beef with Drake. Maybe that was the purpose; possibly not.

Either way, I can imagine that folks whose favorite lines are “OV-Ho” won’t be immediately thrilled. I wasn’t immediately blown away (though very amused by how sensitive Kendrick is to what people say about him on social media, well, everyone), but as is all the time the case with Kendrick albums, repeated listens are likely to correct any immediate monotony that I even have about his projects. For example, now that I’ve listened to it just a few times, I can not wait to listen to black college bands playing “tv off” style, which seems like a cousin of “Not Like Us.” The Shoot, Bayou Classic, which also takes place yearly in New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day, stands out as the first time we hear a band playing “TV off.”

Since the album didn’t come out long enough to be reviewed, group chats and social media were abuzz with immediate reactions. This is the a part of music releases I really like, where everyone seems to be listening to the identical thing, offering premature takes that will not even delay the following day. I’m not different; I’m sure I’ll say something about this album that can sound silly by Monday. Shoot, I can have already done it. But that is what happens when great artists release music. We spend time with others after which we refer to them, analyze them, criticize them, praise them, destroy them and let all our prejudices fly free. Love it.

It’s value noting that certainly one of Drake’s diss tracks that did not appear during last summer’s fracas was titled “The Heart Part 6,” and was an apparent try to usurp Kendrick’s pre-album practice of removing a non-album song titled “The Heart.” Well, Kendrick has a song on his recent album called, you guessed it, “The Heart, Pt. 6,” which I feel will probably be released soon Drake. Good job, Kenny.

Argue.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Entertainment

New music this week: Tyla, Lola Brooke, Coco Jones and more – Essence

Published

3 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Happy Friday, people! Whether you are drinking a warm beverage or preparing for a fun-filled weekend, this week’s latest music releases set the tone. From sensual R&B melodies to powerful hip-hop anthems, these songs have something for everybody.

Coco Jones leads the pack along with her seasonal album, and Tyla offers a heartfelt change of tone with “Tears.” Miguel’s smooth “Always Time” and Jorja Smith’s tender “Stay Another Day” showcase R&B at its finest, while Lola Brooke and Killer Mike turn up the warmth on “Go To Yo Head” and “Warryn’s Groove,” respectively. Today’s list also includes music from Eric Bellinger, Coi Leray, Blxst and more.

Below you possibly can read our list of latest products.

Coco Jones – “Coco by the Fireplace”

Coco Jones releases a warm, soulful album that evokes the comfy atmosphere of a night by the fireplace, showcasing her wealthy vocals and emotional storytelling. Listen to this HERE.

This week's best new music: Tyla, Lola Brooke, Coco Jones and more

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Tyla – “Tears”

In collaboration with COKE, South African sensation Tyla delivers “Tears,” a heartfelt ballad that highlights her vocal skills and emotional depth, marking a departure from her usual upbeat style. Check it out HERE.

Lola Brooke – “Go to Your Head”

Lola Brooke’s “Go To Yo Head” is an assertive anthem with strong beats and confident lyrics, solidifying her presence within the hip-hop scene. Check it out HERE.

Miguel – “It’s Always Time”

Miguel returns with “Always Time”, combining his signature smooth vocals with a up to date R&B beat, exploring themes of affection and patience. Hear this HERE.

Lila Iké ft. Joey Bada$$ – “Fry the Plantain”

Lila Iké teams up with Joey Bada$$ on “Fry Plantain,” fusing reggae beats with hip-hop elements for a must-see track. Check it out HERE.

Jorja Smith – “Stay One More Day”

Jorja Smith delivers “Stay Another Day,” a soulful performance that captures the longing and warmth of a brand new season. Listen to this HERE.

Eric Bellinger ft. Oxlade – “Shooting Star”

Fresh off the discharge of his latest one albumEric Bellinger teams up with Oxlade on “Shooting Star,” a seamless collaboration that blends R&B with Afrobeat influences to create a mesmerizing melody. Hear this HERE.

Killer Mike ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Warryn’s Groove”

In the digital version of Killer Mike Songs for sinners and saintsthe rapper collaborates with Ty Dolla $ign on the song “Warryn’s Groove.” Listen to the song HERE.