The Professional (album)

The Professional is the debut studio album by American record producer DJ Clue?. It was released on December 15, 1998, via Polygram Records, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons' Def Jam Recordings, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke's Roc-A-Fella Records, and DJ Clue, Ken "Duro" Ifill, and Shane Dolla's Desert Storm 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 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.

Its sequels, The Professional 2 and The Professional 3, were released in 2001 and 2006, respectively.