''Coming of Age'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Memphis Bleek Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper. He is best known for his affiliation with fellow New York City-based rapper Jay-Z, with Cox often described as his hype man and protégé. Cox s ...

. It was released August 3, 1999, via

The Island Def Jam Music Group Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American record label group formed on December 31, 1998, by Universal Music Group. Before 2014, IDJMG encompassed labels originally established under the umbrella of Island Records and Def Jam Recording ...

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American record label and music management company founded in 1994 by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Carter issued his debut album, '' Reasonable Doubt ...

on August 3, 1999. The album spawned the hit single " Memphis Bleek Is...".

Commercial performance

The album debuted and peaked at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' 200, with 118,000 units sold in its first week.Memphis Bleek Is "Coming Of Age" With Top Ten Debut
Mtv.com. Retrieved on January 26, 2013. The album was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on September 14, 1999, for shipments and sales of over 500,000 units in America.

Critical reception

Matt Diehl of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' praised Bleek for holding his own lyrically alongside guest artists

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

and

N.O.R.E. Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage name, stage names N.O.R.E. (an acronym for Nigga On the Run Eating) and Noreaga, is an American rapper, singer and podcaster. Santiago first rose to prominence as one ...

, and displaying striking sensitivity on "Regular Cat". He also noted how the album's production of "ominous inner-city symphonies and raw street beats" was ageless. Keith Farley from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted how Bleek's vocal delivery was more "street-level" than

's, along with the album containing an "urban funk" style like most of his material, concluding that "Still, ''Coming of Age'' is a fine debut that shows Memphis Bleek already leaps and bounds ahead of most rappers." In a dual review with Ja's ''

Venni Vetti Vecci ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Ja Rule. It was released on June 1, 1999, by Def Jam Recordings and Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Records. It was the first album to be released on Murder Inc. Production was mostly ha ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Blen ...

felt that Bleek came across as a cliché-filled rapper that lacked witticism in his lyrics and wasted the beats given to him by his producers.

Track listing

Sample credits * "Who's Sleeping" contains a sample from "If This World Were Mine", written by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

, and performed by Zulema. * "What You Think of That" contains a sample of "High Velocity", written and performed by

Keith Mansfield Keith Mansfield (born 1940 in Slough, England) is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the ''Grandstand'' theme for the BBC. Career Mansfield's other works include "The Young S ...

. * "Stay Alive in NYC" contains an interpolation of "Summer is the Coldest Time of Year", written by

Patti Austin Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for " Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 after its re-release ...

, James Harris, and Terry Lewis. * "Regular Cat" contains a sample of "Love and Let Love", written by

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer. His compositions include " Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the due ...

, William Eaton, and William Salter; and performed by

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

Personnel

* Juan Allen – engineer (12) * B-High – co-executive producer * Big Jaz – co-executive producer * Kareem "Biggs" Burke – executive producer * Eric "EBO" Butler – mixing (7, 14) *

Shawn Carter Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by ''Billboard'' and ''Vibe'' in ...

– executive producer * Tom Coyne – mastering *

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke in 1994, and co-founded the fashion retailer Rocawear with the former in 1999. Early life ...

– executive producer * The Drawing Board – art direction, design *

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R t ...

– mixing (5) *

Ken Duro Ifill Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer * ''Ken'' (film), a 1965 Japanese film * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine * Ken Masters, a main character in th ...

– mixing (4, 8, 11) * Jonathan Mannion – photography * Monica Morrow – stylist * Joe Quinde – engineer (3), mixing (3, 13) * Chico Spades – engineer (4, 13) * Brian Stanley – engineer (10) * Tai – instrumentation (5) * Pat Viala – engineer (2, 5, 7-12, 14), mixing (2, 5, 9, 10, 12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coming of Age 1999 debut albums Def Jam Recordings albums Memphis Bleek albums Albums produced by Irv Gotti Albums produced by Swizz Beatz Albums produced by Buckwild Roc-A-Fella Records albums