One of the handful of DJs to make the jump from mix tapes to the major labels, DJ Clue? hooked up with
Jay-Z's Roc-a-Fella Records camp for a bit in the late '90s, then moved on to his own camp, Desert Storm Records. The Queens native built his reputation with street-level mix tapes, as most DJs tend to do in New York, and he quickly became one of the city's leading DJs, graced with the latest tracks by the biggest names. Popular New York hip-hop station Hot 97 brought him aboard for a while in the...
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One of the handful of DJs to make the jump from mix tapes to the major labels, DJ Clue? hooked up with
Jay-Z's Roc-a-Fella Records camp for a bit in the late '90s, then moved on to his own camp, Desert Storm Records. The Queens native built his reputation with street-level mix tapes, as most DJs tend to do in New York, and he quickly became one of the city's leading DJs, graced with the latest tracks by the biggest names. Popular New York hip-hop station Hot 97 brought him aboard for a while in the late '90s alongside fellow DJ heavyweight
Funkmaster Flex. The air time furthered his reputation, and
Jay-Z in turn invited him to join forces with Roc-a-Fella, who released Clue?'s major-label debut, The Professional (1997). The album featured primarily exclusive tracks, each boasting one of New York's top rappers, everyone from
Nas and
Mobb Deep to
DMX and
Ja Rule. A second volume followed in 2000, and in the meantime Clue? toured with Roc-a-Fella in support of
Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life album as documented on Backstage (2000). He then parted ways with Roc-a-Fella and embarked on his own path, establishing Desert Storm Records and debuting
Fabolous in 2001.
by Jason Birchmeier
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