DJ Clark Kent, the rap producer and hip-hop elder statesman known as “God’s Favorite DJ,” has died. According to a statement posted to his official Instagram account, Kent had “quietly and valiantly fought a three year battle with Colon Cancer,” before dying yesterday evening (October 24) “surrounded by his devoted wife Kesha, daughter Kabriah and son Antonio.” He was 58 years old.
Born Rodolfo Franklin, in Panama, DJ Clark Kent first found notoriety in late 1980s New York as a DJ for the Brooklyn rapper Dana Dane. In 1989, he remixed “Spread My Wings,” by the new jack swing group Troop, but his big break would not come until six years later, when he produced “Player’s Anthem,” by Junior M.A.F.I.A., from their 1995 album Conspiracy. The track featured both the Notorious B.I.G. and, in her first ever appearance on record, Lil’ Kim, then a member of the group.
The following year, Kent produced three songs on Jay-Z’s landmark debut album, Reasonable Doubt: “Cashmere Thoughts,” “Coming of Age,” and “Brooklyn’s Finest,” the latter featuring the Notorious B.I.G. (It’s also said that it was Kent who introduced Jay-Z to Roc-A-Fella co-founder Dame Dash.) Kent continued his production work with the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Sky’s the Limit,” and he scored the biggest hit of his career with Mariah Carey’s “Loverboy,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. His most recent, as a producer, came in 2018, when he worked on Kanye West and Lil Pump’s “I Love It.”
Kent is the subject of a forthcoming documentary directed by New York radio personality Angie Martinez. Following the news of his death, DJ Clark Kent has been memorialized by the likes of Tyler, the Creator, Raekwon, DJ Premier, Meek Mill, Swizz Beatz, and Questlove, who wrote, “Clark will forever be the culture.”