Clark Kent (born Rodolfo Franklin) is a hip hop DJ, record producer and music executive of Panamanian descent . His crew of DJs is called "The Supermen", and his DJ moniker is derived from the name of Superman's alter ego.
In the mid 1980s, Clark Kent was rapper Dana Dane's DJ.
In 1989 he produced the remix for Troop's hit song "Spread My Wings." Clark scored his first street hit with the Junior M.A.F.I.A. song "Player's Anthem" which featured The Notorious B.I.G. and was also the first record that Lil' Kim appeared on. The biggest hit he produced was "Loverboy" by Mariah Carey, which peaked at #2 in the US on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. He also produced tracks for artists such as 50 Cent, Lil' Kim, the Notorious B.I.G., Canibus, Mad Skillz, Estelle, Lil' Vicious, Mona Lisa, Slick Rick and Rakim as well as groups such as The Future Sound and Original Flavor, both of which were signed to East West Records and Atlantic Records respectively, both groups having been signed by Clark who was a director of A&R at Atlantic at the time.
Original Flavor, on their single "Can I Get Open", featured a guest appearance by a then little known rapper named Jay-Z. This would lead to further collaborations between the two, as Franklin would go on to produce three tracks on Jay-Z's critically acclaimed debut album, Reasonable Doubt. The tracks were: "Brooklyn's Finest", which featured Notorious B.I.G., "Coming of Age" and "Cashmere Thoughts." On his (then) retirement album The Black Album, Jay-Z alludes to Clark Kent's role in helping him break into the industry, in the last song on the album (ironically titled "My 1st Song"). He states: "Clark Kent, that was good lookin' out, nigga."
Clark accidentally overheard the then unknown rapper Moses Michael Leviy (AKA Jamal Barrow BKA Shyne) rhyming in a barbershop, who, noting the young MC's vocal similarity to Notorious B.I.G., steered him towards Combs and Bad Boy.
He is also the cousin of recording artist Foxy Brown.
In 2010 Nike commissioned DJ Clark Kent to design a "Nike Five Boroughs AF1 Low" pack of special limited edition Nike Air Force 1 shoes and unveiled them at fully catered a block party in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood on Mercer Street outside the Nike ID store at 21 Mercer.
Famous quotes containing the word clark:
“In the beginning, I wanted to enter what was essentially a man’s field. I wanted to prove I could do it. Then I found that when I did as well as the men in the field I got more credit for my work because I am a woman, which seems unfair.”
—Eugenie Clark (b. 1922)