The Professional (album)

The Professional is the debut studio album by American record producer DJ Clue?. It was released on December 15, 1998, via Roc-A-Fella Records.

Recording sessions took place at Alien Flyers, at Platinum Island Studios, at Desert Storm Studios, at Soundtrack Studios, at The Hit Factory, at Sound On Sound Studios and at D&D Studios in New York City, at Krosswire Studios in Atlanta, and at Source Sound Labs in Canton, Massachusetts. Production was handled by Ken "Duro" Ifill, Buckwild, DJ Scratch, Hangmen 3, Laze-E-Laze, M.O.P., Self, V.I.C., Swizz Beatz and Clue himself.

It features guest appearances from DMX, Fabolous, Big Noyd, Big Pun, Boot Camp Clik, Cam'ron, Canibus, Drag-On, EPMD, Eve, Flipmode Squad, Foxy Brown, Ja Rule, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Keith Murray, Lord Tariq, Made Men, Ma$e, Memphis Bleek, Missy Elliott, Mobb Deep, Mocha, M.O.P., Nas, Nature, Nicole Wray, N.O.R.E., Puff Daddy, Raekwon, Redman, R.O.C. and Styles P.

The album peaked at number twenty-six on the Billboard 200 chart, and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America 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 and The Professional 3, were released in 2001 and 2006, respectively.

Track listing
All tracks are produced by DJ Clue and DURO, except where noted.

Sample credits
 * "It's On" contains a sample of "Goin' Crazy", written by Johnnie Wilder Jr., and performed by Heatwave.
 * "Fantastic 4" contains a sample from "I Think I Love You", written by Tony Romeo, and performed by The Partridge Family.
 * "Gangsta Shit" contains a sample from "You and Me", written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, and performed by The Stylistics.
 * "It's My Thang '99" contains a sample from "Seven Minutes of Funk", written by Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, and performed by EPMD.
 * "Whatever You Want" contains an interpolation of "You Got the Love", written by Yvette Marie Stevens and Ray Parker Jr., and performed by Chaka Khan.
 * "That's the Way" contains a sample from "Genius of Love", written by Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Steven Stanley, and Adrian Belew; and performed by Tom Tom Club. It also contains an interpolation of "That's the Way (I Like It)", written by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch.
 * "I Like Control" contains an interpolation of "I Like It", written by El DeBarge, Randy DeBarge, and Etterlene Jordan. It also contains a sample from "Let's Move It", written by Howie Tee and performed by Special Ed.
 * "Bitch Be a Ho" contains a sample from "Love Supreme", written by Theophilus Coakley and performed by the T-Connection.
 * "The Professional" contains a sample from "Hasta Que Vuelas", written by Felipe Bojalil Garza and Mario Arturo Ramos, and performed by Vikki Carr.
 * "Cops & Robbers" contains a sample of "Lucky Me", written by George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti, and Luigi Creatore; and performed by The Stylistics.
 * "No Love" contains an interpolation of "I Like It", written by El DeBarge, Randy DeBarge, and Etterlene Jordan.

Personnel

 * Juan Allen – engineer (7)
 * Paul Arnold – engineer and mixing (20)
 * Tony Black – engineer (13)
 * Larry DeVoure – string arrangements (18)
 * Brian Fyre – engineer (14)
 * Ken DURO Ifill – engineer (3, 4, 6, 9, 11-13, 15, 17-19, 22), mixing (2-9, 11-15, 17-19, 22), keyboards (8)
 * Jay Groucott – assistant mix engineer (4, 18)
 * Fred Hedemark – assistant mix engineer (7, 9, 17)
 * Gal Karmi – assistant engineer (2-4)
 * David Matos – guitar (12)
 * Martha Mook – strings (18)
 * Lil' Rob – keyboards (3, 7, 8, 18, 22), bass guitar (11, 12)
 * Paul Olivera – assistant engineer (3, 9, 17)
 * Greg Pinto – assistant mix engineer (6, 13-15)
 * Vaughn Session – engineer (5)
 * Soundboy – engineer (6)
 * Steve Sounder – engineer (3)
 * Jason Stasium – assistant engineer (8, 11)
 * Patrick Viala – engineer (4)
 * Zach Wind – assistant engineer (18)
 * Carlisle Young – engineer (8), assistant mix engineer (3, 5, 12)