Rapper
Lil' Cease was born and raised in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant area, at age 15 becoming a protégé of
the Notorious B.I.G. With his distinctive lisping style, he made his recorded debut in 1994 as a member of the
Junior M.A.F.I.A., issuing the single "Players Anthem"; the full-length Conspiracy followed in 1995, and that same year
Lil' Cease scored a hit with the
Lil' Kim duet "Crush on You." On March 9, 1997, he and
the Notorious B.I.G. were driving away from a party in Los Angeles when
Biggie was shot and killed;
Lil' Cease continued as a solo artist, signing to
Lil' Kim's Queen Bee label and issuing
The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo in mid-1999. ~ Jason Ankeny