Couldn't buy a clue

>> Mix tape mogul DJ Clue's mysterious ways and means

by SCOTT C

As March 11 slowly but surely creeps up on us, the biggest hip hop show to hit the Molson Centre since Smokin' Grooves two years ago stands ready to give Mtl a good kick in the ass. Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man and Redman are riding high on insane record sales and hype, not to mention some larger than life personalities.

Also on the bill that night is 24-year-old Queens native DJ Clue, the mix tape master...

Clue is known as a mix tape god in New York, where his uncanny ability to break a record and make it a hit has won him honours and led to his present night job at HOT 97 FM. "I don't think mix tape DJs get the respect they should. People don't really get what we do," says Clue over the phone from New York, like this was such a difficult concept to understand.

Clue's high-pitched, self-promoting shout outs and intros are nothing new, carrying on a style made popular by Kid Capri and Ron G. What does set his tapes apart are the exclusive tracks and star-studded freestyles from hip hop heavyweights. But I still don't get it. His new album, The Professional, is selling through the roof, taking his tried and true format to CD, but something's missing.

I ask him if he thought there was a difference between a mix tape bought from a DJ in the club or on the corner and his new album.

"Not really," he responds, unwilling to elaborate on the obvious differences. Personally, I always bugged out over the mix tapes where you didn't have a track listing, leaving you to identify the MCs you knew and wonder about the ones you didn't. Useless chatter and jawing over tracks never did anything for me; less talking and more music was and is a big priority. Most importantly though, how can I cherish a true mix tape if two million other people can go and pick it up at any commercial record store, and on CD no less?

When asked if he receives money for strategically leaking some of hip hop's biggest jams he answered, "Never. I don't never do that shit. That's illegal. It's illegal to take money to play records." Duh. Let's get a clue here. It's basically illegal to make a mix tape and sell it for your own profit, right? So somebody's not telling the whole story.

Clue is pretty tight with some industry big-ballers like Puffy Combs, Jermaine Dupri and Irv Gotti, to name a few, so I'm sure he's well taken care of, both musically and monetarily. Man, record sales are out of control... and not a clue in sight.

DJ Clue hosts the Def Jam/Rocafella presentation of Jay-Z, DMX, Redman and Method Man at the Molson Centre March 11, 7:30 pm, $29.50­34.50+taxes