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DJ Clue is one of the DJ’s who need no introduction. He lit the streets on fire with his mixtapes back in the late nineties; scoring exclusives with some of Hip-Hop’s strongest acts, and giving the hood something to rock with early. Even though some may say he isn’t the king anymore, he has always been consistently on his game. His latest, Desert Storm Radio 8 (I Am Legend Edition) features his Desert Storm click and a couple of high profile guests that make this worth a listen.

After a quick intro by Rick Ross, DJ Clue grabs everyone’s attention. Clue opens with the news that your about to hear a track of Jay-Z’s next effort Blueprint 3, thus giving the first high profile exclusive of ‘08. The song, “Ain’t I,” harkens to a Blueprint era Jay with a high energy performance styled production from Timberland.

The highly stylized “The Boss” by Rick Ross featuring T-Pain could be an anthem for ballers everywhere with its heavy synthesizer based sound. “Flashing Lights Remix” builds on the already great song by having R. Kelly adding a verse that gives it new life in the MP3 player. He also gives us a snippet of what’s to come from the Clipse on “Re Up Gang Freestyle” and two burners (“Young Veterans,” “Real Power”) from Prodigy’s upcoming H.N.I.C.2.

As great as those standout tracks are, this mixtape suffers from a heavy case of filler.  Many of the tracks are just forgetful, like the G-Unit’s subpar contributions “Bottom Girl” and “You Ain’t Crazy.” The Desert Storm roster suffers the same fate. Ransom, who is the most featured on the mixtape with four songs, can’t separate himself to be worth distinction. Also Fabolous’ version of “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)…” makes the listner long for the original or any of the better remixes out there.

This may not be a legendary mixtape, but Clue already had the work put in to claim the legend status. There are a few great songs, but there are too many lapses of mediocrity to call the product great. Make no mistake about it though, Desert Storm Radio 8: (I Am Legend Edition) is definitely worth a couple spins, but there are too many pitfalls to warrant anything beyond that.

Jay-Z

“Aint I”

G-Unit

“I’m Leaving” >