DJ Clue Professional CD

DJ Clue has never been much of DJ. He's never worked with turntables, cut, scratched, mixed or blended beats, let alone pulled off any of the body tricks tricks that regularly make jaws drop. He has, however, risen to the top of the mixtape game, amassing an impressive collection of top-selling tapes and CDs famous for their exclusives from some of the industry's hottest artists and for Clue's own signature high-volume shouts. On THE PROFESSIONAL 3, Clue brings more of the same with exclusive cuts from hip-hop giants like Nas, Young Jeezy, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Mobb Deep, M.O.P., Jadakiss, Fat Joe, and Fabolous, among others.

And then DJ Clue rocked the roof off of your car. Clue and crew swoop down and make mincemeat of the joint with a fireball of raw ghetto rhyming, authentically old-school style loops and size-XL beats.

The feel here is often spooky--from the mournful trumpet line and ominous harpsichord on "Exclusive-New Shit" to the plaintive piano fragments on "Thugged Out Shit," the samples give Clue's production the aural equivalent of a long, black cape. The guest list impresses as well: Big Pun, Noreaga, Nature, EPMD and Missy Elliott are just some of the hip-hop luminaries that make this thing burn. Flipmode Squad and the "Clue-minati" form an alliance on the hard-riffing "Whatever You Want," with the Flipmode kids' angular rhyming style enlivening this greenback anthem. DJ Clue has all the stylistic integrity of a real East Coast original.

Parental Advisory

Engineers include: Steve Sounder, Patrick Viala, Vaughn Session.

Personnel: Ja Rule (vocals, rap vocals); Mase, Method Man, Big Punisher, Cam'ron, Canibus (rap vocals); David Anthony Matos (guitar).

Audio Mixers: DJ Clue?; Paul Arnold.

Recording information: Alien Flyers, New York, NY; Desert Storm Studios, New York, NY; Platinum Island Studios, New York, NY; Right Track Studios; Soundboy.

Unknown Contributor Roles: DMX; Jay-Z; Jermaine Dupri; Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz; Mobb Deep; Nas; Noreaga; The LOX; Wu-Tang Clan; Busta Rhymes.

Personnel: DJ Clue, Puff Daddy, DMX, Jadakiss, Styles, Drag-On, Eve, Cam-Ron, Big Pun, Noreaga, Canibus, Nas, Nature, Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Memphis Bleek, EPMD, Redman, Keith Murray, Flipmode Squad, Mase, Foxy Brown, Fabulous Sport, Mobb Deep, Noyd, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Mocha, Nicole Wray, Jermaine Dupri, R.O.C., Raekwon, Lord Tariq, Muggs, Made Men, MOP, Baby Sham, Boot Camp Clik (rap vocals); Mariah Carey (vocals); David Matos (guitar); Martha Mook (strings); Lil' Rob (keyboards, bass); DURO (keyboards).

Producers include: Swizz Beatz, Clue, DURO, Self, D.J. Scratch.

Rolling Stone (2/18/99, p.58) - "...Less a scratchmaster...than a pure party mover....With its seamless club-style mixes, THE PROFESSIONAL comes off like a greatest-hits collection, except that these 'hits' haven't been released before."
The Source (3/99, p.210) - "...THE PROFESSIONAL is another phat-ass Clue tape, more polished and with less shouts....And as a DJ, Clue's goals are unmistakable..."