''The Nine Yards'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th cen ...

. It was released on January 26, 1993, through

Next Plateau Entertainment Next Plateau Entertainment (formerly Next Plateau Records) is an American record label that currently operates in association with Republic Records. Background 1980s New York City-based independent label Next Plateau Records began in the early ...

. The album was produced by Rhythm D, with Aaron Clark, Dave Ferguson and John Ferguson serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Rhythm D and Angela Dauphiney. The album peaked at number 48 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 26 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

. It was certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America 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 June 22, 1993, for selling 500,000 units in the United States. Its lead single, "Ditty", reached number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and achieved Platinum status by the RIAA.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote that "Johnson, in his punchy, machine-gun rap style, spins hard-edged tales of life in the ghetto, riddled with clever, insightful observations, floating on funky beats."

Track listing

;Sample credits *Tracks 1 and 10 contain portions of "Do Wa Ditty (Blow That Thing)" written by

Roger Troutman Roger Lynch Troutman Jr. (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known simply as Roger, was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and infl ...

and

Larry Troutman Zapp (also known as the Zapp Band, Zapp & Roger) is an American funk band that emerged from Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, Zapp were known for their trademark use of the talk-b ...

*Track 6 contains elements from "Future Shock" written by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

Personnel

*Mitchell "

" Johnson – main artist *Angela Dauphiney – backing vocals (tracks: 2, 3) *David Cochrane – lead guitar, bass, saxophone, flute, engineering *David "Rhythm D" Weldon – producer, arrangement *

Ben Liebrand Ben Liebrand (; born 27 September 1960) is a Dutch dance music disc jockey, DJ and remixer. He has record producer, produced for artists such as Forrest (singer), Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Alexander O ...

– remixer (track 1) *Desmond "Divine" Houston – remixer (track 10) *Gary "D.J. GLE" Ellis – engineering, mixing *Phil Austin – mastering *Jason Vogel – engineering (track 10) *Aaron Clark – executive producer *Dave Ferguson – executive producer *John Ferguson – executive producer *Jenniene Leclercq – art direction *Jeff Faville – design *Michael Miller – photography

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

References

External links