These shits right here, nicka? These shits right here, nicka? These were WAY strong.
Even before I’d started DJing myself, I always listened to mixtapes during the early-’90s. Whether it was New York’s favorites of the time such as Kid Capri or B-More’s own Scottie B, I was more than willing to drop my $10 on one of those 90-minute Maxells. More often than not, whenever I’d cop one, it’d be MONTHS before it got old to me. Mixtapes definitely played a part in my wanting to become a DJ, as I listened not only from a fan perspective, but as a student that was trying to learn the ins and outs.
After getting my first turntable set in ’94, I still copped mixtapes from Patapsco Flea Market regularly. One weekend in ’95, I caught one from a DJ named “DJ Clue”. It was called “Spring Pt. 2″, and I still own the cassette to this day. Clue wasn’t the best DJ in the world from a “technical” standpoint, but his tapes were always enjoyable because his blends were usually dead-on and he often had at least three mega-exclusive tracks every time. In fact, his penchant for exclusive music was what blew him up in the first place: Biggie went on Hot 97 and called him out for leaking tracks from Ready To Die a full two months before its release date.
Maybe it was due to brand loyalty or maybe I was just a Stan, but by the time ’97 rolled around, I was less into buying mixtapes as I was into buying CLUE tapes. At the same time, he had gradually moved away from blends altogether. In place of the blends was an increased emphasis on super-exclusive songs and freestyles from popular and upcoming artists. Again, they were in no way great skill-wise, but Clue had figured out that the casual listener didn’t care for the fancy shit as they did for which songs were on the tapes. Even as someone who was a more traditional mixtape fan, I still became a faithful listener of Clue’s brand.
I can’t even name off all the songs I heard for the very first time on a Clue tape, but I’ll mention a few: Biggie’s “Hypnotize” and “Mo Money, Mo Problems”. “Benjamins” by Puffy & The Lox (which I thought was the most annoying beat ever the first time I heard it). The Firm‘s “Affirmative Action” and “La Familia”. “Who Ya Wit” and “Hard Knock Life” by Jay-Z. The “Crush On You” remix by Kim & Cease. Akinyele‘s “Put It In Your Mouth”. “Deep Cover ’98″ by Pun & Fat Joe. The Mobb Deep-featured version of Mariah Carey‘s “The Roof”. And that’s not even mentioning the songs that were never officially released… like that time Jay dissed Tupac after he passed.
Then, there’s the artists that I heard first on his tapes, before going on to hear them a LOT more: DMX, Mase, Cam’ron, The Lox, Ja Rule, Beanie Sigel, Black Rob, Canibus, Fabolous, Shyne, Nature, etc. Needless to say, Clue’s tapes were must-have situations whenever a new one would drop, especially for a fan like me. I was always ready to hear the newest and next, and that was how to do it. They were better than MTV and BET, better than the radio, and more up-to-the-minute than most of the other tapes were.
In some ways, “Cluemanatti” is to mixtapes as Puff is to hip-hop as a whole. Some show love and credit him with the increased popularity of mixtapes during that time period, while others think he’s a clown who fucked the game up. Either way, DJ Clue and his four-styles-in-one haircut (shoutout to Dame Dash) were at the head of what was big on the East Coast scene in the late-’90s. I’d even say he was just as much a part of that era as the artists were.
DJ Clue: Halloween Hold-Up (1995) courtesy of DJ Soul
Side A & Side B
-D!
Posted by Danj! 
