''The Professional'' is the debut studio album by American record producer

DJ Clue? Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive. Early life DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Panamanian and Jamaicans, Jamaica ...

. It was released on December 15, 1998 via

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. History 1994–2000: Formation ...

. Recording sessions took place at Alien Flyers, at Platinum Island Studios, at Desert Storm Studios, at Soundtrack Studios, at

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, at Sound On Sound Studios and at

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, at Krosswire Studios in

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, and at Source Sound Labs in Canton.

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

was handled by Ken "Duro" Ifill, Buckwild,

DJ Scratch George Spivey (born June 21, 1968), known professionally as DJ Scratch, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn, New York. DJ Scratch is the 1988 New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy DJ champion, the 2010 Master of the M ...

Hangmen 3 Raymond Leon Scott (born July 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Ray Benzino, is an American urban media proprietor, television personality, rapper, and record producer. He produced records (as part of the production team Hangmen 3) and c ...

, Laze-E-Laze,

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, Self, V.I.C.,

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and Clue himself. It features guest appearances from DMX,

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

Big Noyd TaJuan Akeem Perry (born May 7, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Noyd, is an American rapper from Queensbridge, Queens, New York. He is closely affiliated with Mobb Deep and is featured on all of their albums except ''Blood Money''. C ...

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Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

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, Foxy Brown,

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Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with Bad ...

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Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

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, Mocha,

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, Redman, R.O.C. and

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of hip hop group the Lox, alongside childhood friends Sheek Louch and Jadakiss. ...

. The album peaked at number twenty-six on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and number three on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. It has been certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on January 27, 1999, and then went platinum on August 20, 2001, indicating US sales of over one million units. Its sequels, ''

The Professional 2 ''The Professional 2'' is the second studio album by American record producer DJ Clue. It was released on February 27, 2001 via Roc-A-Fella Records, a division of UMG's Def Jam Recordings. It serves as a sequel to his 1998 debut studio album '' T ...

'' and ''

The Professional 3 ''The Professional 3'' is the third studio album by American record producer DJ Clue. It was released on December 19, 2006 via Roc-A-Fella Records, serving as a sequel to his 2001 '' The Professional 2''. Production was handled by Ken "Duro" Ifi ...

'', were released in 2001 and 2006, respectively.

Track listing

# "Intro" (featuring

Sean "Puffy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

) 1:02 # "

Ruff Ryders' Anthem "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" is a song by American rapper DMX, released on May 5, 1998, as the third single from his debut studio album ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' (1998). In 2008, the song was ranked at number 79 on ''VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of H ...

" (Remix) (featuring DMX,

and

) (produced by

, remixed by DURO) 3:52 # "It's On" (featuring DMX) 3:25 # "Fantastic 4" (featuring

and

) 5:09 # "Queensfinest" (featuring

) (produced by Self) 3:26 # "Exclusive New Shit" (featuring

) 3:08 # "Gangsta Shit" (featuring

and

) 4:38 # "Thugged Out Shit" (featuring

) 3:54 # "It's My Thang '99" (featuring

and Redman) 3:00 # "Mariah Carey" (Skit) 0:21 # "Whatever You Want" (featuring

) (produced by

) 4:06 # "That's The Way" (featuring

, Foxy Brown and

) 4:31 # "

I Like Control "I Like Control" is a song by DJ Clue? featuring Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She em ...

" (featuring

, Mocha and

) 3:48 # "Bitch Be a Ho" (featuring

and R.O.C.) 3:23 # "If They Want It" (featuring

) 4:02 # "Pain in da Ass" (Skit) 0:28 # "The Professional" (featuring

and

) (produced by V.I.C.) 3:39 # "Brown Paper Bag Thoughts" (featuring

) 3:15 # "Cops & Robbers" (featuring Paul Cain and

) 3:26 # "Made Men" (featuring

) 2:41 # "No Love" (featuring

) 4:12 # "Come On" (featuring

) 4:31

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* DJ Clue? albums 1998 debut albums Roc-A-Fella Records albums Albums produced by Buckwild Albums produced by DJ Clue? Albums produced by DJ Scratch Albums produced by Swizz Beatz {{1990s-hiphop-album-stub