Rodolfo Franklin (September 28, 1966 - October 24, 2024), known professionally as DJ Clark Kent, was an American hip hop record producer, DJ and music executive of Panamanian descent. His crew of DJs was called "The Supermen", and his DJ moniker was derived from the name of Superman's alter ego.
In the late 1980s, DJ Clark Kent was rapper Dana Dane's DJ. Around this time, Kent would DJ at clubs such as one just around the block from Downtown Records on West 26th Street in Manhattan which was a short-lived hip-hop hotbed with other DJs also performing there, such as Funkmaster Flex and Kid Capri. In 1989, he produced the remix for Troop's hit song "Spread My Wings."
He later 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 has produced tracks for artists such as Lil' Kim, The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Vicious, Mona Lisa, 50 Cent, Canibus, Mad Skillz, Estelle, Slick Rick and Rakim, as well as groups like The Future Sound and Original Flavor, which were signed to East West Records and Atlantic Records respectively. Both groups were signed by Clark, who was a director of A&R at Atlantic at the time.
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Links to Peel[]
Peel played a track from the artist under the name of Klark Kent in 1986 on his show via his collaboration with Elliot Ness & The Word Processor. There is currently no evidence of Peel playing any further tracks from the DJ.
Shows Played[]
- 1986
- 13 October 1986: Gettin' Busy (v/a LP - Serious Beats 1) Serious