''On How Life Is'' is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known professionally as Macy Gray, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B and soul music, soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influence ...

. It was released on July 1, 1999, by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

and Clean Slate. Produced by Andrew Slater, it became Gray's best-selling album to date, selling 3.4 million copies in the United States and seven million copies worldwide. The album's second single, "

I Try "I Try" is a song co-written and performed by American musician Macy Gray. Issued as the second single from her debut album, ''On How Life Is'' (1999), the song was first released in Japan as a double A-side with "Do Something (Macy Gray song), D ...

", became an international success, topping the charts in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, while reaching number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also won a

Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

in 2001.

Critical reception

''On How Life Is'' was met with highly positive reviews from music critics upon its release, with many praising Gray's songwriting and vocal performance. '' Q'' rated the album four out of five stars, calling it a "confident, bluesy soul debut ..with a lived-in sound – as if

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

were a girl."

Track listing

Sample credits

* "Do Something" contains a sample of "

Git Up, Git Out "Git Up, Git Out" is the third and final single from Outkast's debut album ''Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik''. A conscious Southern story-rap about the dangers of giving in to circumstances and not doing anything with one's life, the song feature ...

" by

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

and "Funky for You" by

Nice & Smooth Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays (born May 30, 1967) and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes (born August 3, 1965). The duo released four albums between 1989 and 1997. Their firs ...

. * "I've Committed Murder" contains a sample of "Live Right Now" by

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

and an interpolation of " (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" by

Francis Lai Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film '' Love Story''. The ...

& His Orchestra. * "A Moment to Myself" contains a sample of "Human Beat Box" by

The Fat Boys The Fat Boys were an American hip-hop trio from Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, who emerged in the early 1980s. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark "Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon Wimbley, ...

, excerpts of "The Wildstyle" by

Time Zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

, and a sample of " Entropy (Hip Hop Reconstruction from the Ground Up)" by

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972 in San Jose, California, San Jose, California), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. His debut studio album, ''Endtroducing.....,'' was released in 1996. He uses l ...

& the Groove Robbers.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''On How Life Is''.

Musicians

– lead vocals, vocal arrangements ; backing vocals * Dawn Beckman – backing vocals * Musiic Galloway – backing vocals * Jeremy Ruzumna – backing vocals ; organ ; piano ; electric piano, Moog ;

Farfisa Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...

, clavinet ;

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

; Optigan,

Chamberlin The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are several ...

* David Wilder – backing vocals ; bass * Jinsoo Lim – guitar *

Arik Marshall Arik Ben Marshall (born February 13, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, poet, and author, best known as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992-93. Early life Arik Ben Marshall is the third of five children born to an A ...

– guitar *

Lenny Castro Lenny Castro (born September 19, 1956) is an American percussionist from the Los Angeles area. He is one of the most prolific percussionists of all time, appearing on hundreds of albums, including those by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Maroon ...

– percussion *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session drummer, record producer and songwriter. He has played with various artists, including Pearl Jam, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey, The Wallflow ...

– percussion ; drums * Darryl Swann – backing vocals, guitar ; programming ; vocal arrangements * DJ Kiilu – turntables ; programming *

Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...

– Chamberlin ; synths ; guitar ; piano ; orchestra bells ; vibes ; marimba ; Optigan * Patrick Warren – vibes ; Chamberlin ; synths ; Rhodes,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

* Dion Derek Murdock – bass * Sy Smith – backing vocals * Bendrix Williams – guitar * Rami Jaffee – synths ; piano, Optigan, Chamberlin * Blackbyrd McKnight – guitar * Gabriel Moses – guitar * Steve Baxter – horn * Charlie Green – horn * Michael Harris – horn * Miles Tackett – guitar * Greg Richling – bass * David Campbell – string arrangement *

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine. He also fronted the band Bedlam, featured on the soundtrack to ...

– guitar * Ngozi Inyama – sax solo

Technical

* Andrew Slater – production * Dave Way – recording, mixing * Darryl "D-Style" Swann – additional engineering * Howard Willing – first assistant engineer * Dave Reed – second assistant engineer * Kevin Dean – second assistant engineer * Jeff Walch – second assistant engineer * Michelle Forbes – second assistant engineer * Sherry Sutcliff – production coordination

Artwork

* Stéphane Sednaoui – photography * Hooshik – art direction, design * Frank Harkins – art direction

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1999 debut albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders Epic Records albums Macy Gray albums