On How Life Is

On How Life Is
Studio album by Macy Gray
Released	July 1, 1999
Recorded	1998-1999
Studio	A&M Studios, Paramount Studios, Sunset Sound Recorders (Hollywood, California)
Genre	R&B soul neo soul
Length	44:55
Label	Epic
Producer	Andrew Slater
Macy Gray chronology
On How Life Is (1999) The Id (2001)
Singles from On How Life Is
"Do Something" Released: June 24, 1999 "I Try" Released: September 27, 1999 "Still" Released: February 21, 2000 "Why Didn't You Call Me" Released: July 24, 2000

On How Life Is is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Macy Gray, released on July 1, 1999 by Epic Records. Produced by Andrew Slater, it became Gray's best-selling album to date, selling 3.2 million copies in the United States and seven million copies worldwide.^[1][2]

The album's second single, "I Try", became an international hit, topping the charts in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand,^[3][4] while reaching number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[5] The song also won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 2001.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[9]
Entertainment Weekly	B[10]
Muzik	[11]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]

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 were a girl."^[12]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Macy Gray. 

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Why Didn't You Call Me"	Jeremy Ruzumna	3:14
2.	"Do Something"	Patrick Brown Raymon Murray Rico Wade Cameron Gipp Thomas Burton André Benjamin Antwan Patton Greg Mays Darryl Barnes Ruzumna Darryl Swann Robert Barnett Dion Derek Murdock	4:57
3.	"Caligula"	Gray Swann Ruzumna	4:38
4.	"I Try"	Gray Ruzumna Jinsoo Lim David Wilder	3:59
5.	"Sex-o-matic Venus Freak"	Ruzumna Murdock	3:57
6.	"I Can't Wait to Meetchu"	Ruzumna Swann Miles Tackett	5:18
7.	"Still"	Ruzumna Bill Esses	4:15
8.	"I've Committed Murder"	Swann Kiilu Beckwith Ruzumna Eddie Harris Francis Lai Carl Sigman	4:59
9.	"A Moment to Myself"	Ruzumna Tackett Mark Morales Damon Yu Wimbley	4:00
10.	"The Letter"	Matt Sherrod Jamie Houston	5:38

Australian and Japanese edition bonus track[15][16]
No.	Title	Music	Length
11.	"Rather Hazy"	Gray	3:10

Sampling credits

• "Do Something" contains a sample of "Git Up, Git Out" by OutKast and "Funky for You" by Nice & Smooth.
• "I've Committed Murder" contains a sample of "Live Right Now" by Eddie Harris and an interpolation of "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" by Francis Lai & His Orchestra.
• "A Moment to Myself" contains a sample of "Human Beat Box" by The Fat Boys, excerpts of "The Wildstyle" by Time Zone, and a sample of "Entropy (Hip Hop Reconstruction from the Ground Up)" by DJ Shadow & the Groove Robbers.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of On How Life Is.^[17]

Macy Gray – lead vocals, vocal arrangements (all tracks); backing vocals (tracks 1, 3–5, 10) Steve Baxter – horn (track 6) Dawn Beckman – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–9) Jon Brion – Chamberlin (tracks 2, 3, 8, 10); guitar (tracks 3–6, 8–10); synthesizer (tracks 3, 8); orchestra bells (track 4); piano (tracks 4, 10); vibraphone (tracks 7, 8); marimba (track 8); Optigan (track 10) David Campbell – string arrangement (track 7) Lenny Castro – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 7–9) Matt Chamberlain – drums (all tracks); percussion (tracks 1, 3, 9, 10) Kevin Dean – second assistant engineer DJ Kiilu – turntables (tracks 2, 8, 9); programming (track 8) James Dowdall – A&R Michelle Forbes – second assistant engineer Musiic Galloway – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–10) Charlie Green – horn (track 6) Frank Harkins – art direction Michael Harris – horn (track 6) Hooshik – art direction, design Ngozi Inyama – sax solo (track 8) Rami Jaffee – synthesizer (track 5); Chamberlin, Optigan, piano (track 10) Jay Joyce – guitar (track 7) Jinsoo Lim – guitar (tracks 1, 2)

Arik Marshall – guitar (tracks 1, 7–10) Blackbyrd McKnight – guitar (track 5) Gabriel Moses – guitar (track 5) Dion Derek Murdock – bass (tracks 2, 6) Rose Noone – A&R Dave Reed – second assistant engineer Greg Richling – bass (tracks 6–10) Jeremy Ruzumna – backing vocals (track 1); organ (tracks 1, 4–6, 8); piano (tracks 1, 7, 10); electric piano, Moog (track 2); clavinet, Farfisa (track 3); Rhodes (tracks 5, 6); Chamberlin, Optigan (track 10) Stéphane Sednaoui – photography Sy Smith – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5, 7) Andrew Slater – production Sherry Sutcliff – production coordinator Darryl Swann – vocal arrangements (all tracks); programming (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 8–10); backing vocals, guitar (track 3) Miles Tackett – guitar (track 6) Jeff Walch – second assistant engineer Patrick Warren – vibraphone (track 2); Chamberlin (tracks 2–4, 7, 8); synthesizer (track 3); Rhodes, Wurlitzer (track 9) Dave Way – mixing, recording David Wilder – backing vocals (track 1); bass (tracks 1, 4) Bendrix Williams – guitar (track 4) Howard Willing – first assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1999–2000) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[18] 1 Australian Urban Albums Chart[19] 1 Austrian Albums Chart[20] 3 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[21] 9 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[22] 44 Canadian Albums Chart[23] 2 Danish Albums Chart[24] 1 Dutch Albums Chart[25] 28 European Top 100 Albums[26] 5 Finnish Albums Chart[27] 16 French Albums Chart[28] 24 German Albums Chart[29] 19 Irish Albums Chart[30] 4 Italian Albums Chart[31] 29 Japanese Albums Chart[16] 61 New Zealand Albums Chart[32] 1 Norwegian Albums Chart[33] 2 Scottish Albums Chart[34] 4 Swedish Albums Chart[35] 5 Swiss Albums Chart[36] 6 UK Albums Chart[37] 3 UK R&B Albums Chart[38] 1 US Billboard 200[39] 4 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[40] 9

Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position UK Albums Chart[41] 10 Chart (2000) Position Australian Albums Chart[42] 7 Austrian Albums Chart[43] 22 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[44] 47 Danish Albums Chart[45] 5 Finnish Albums Chart[46] 254 German Albums Chart[47] 59 New Zealand Albums Chart[48] 5 Swiss Albums Chart[49] 25 UK Albums Chart[50] 28 US Billboard 200[51] 21 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[52] 32 Chart (2001) Position UK Albums Chart[53] 192 Decade-end charts Chart (2000–09) Position US Billboard 200[54] 129

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[55]	4× Platinum	280,000^^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[56]	Gold	25,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)[57]	3× Platinum	300,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[58]	Gold	20,496[58]
France (SNEP)[59]	Gold	169,900[60]
Germany (BVMI)[61]	Gold	250,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[62]	Gold	50,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[63]	4× Platinum	60,000^^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[64]	Platinum	50,000^*
Sweden (GLF)[65]	Gold	40,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[66]	Platinum	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[67]	3× Platinum	900,000^^
United States (RIAA)[68]	3× Platinum	3,200,000[2]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[69]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^*
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Ref.
Japan	July 1, 1999	Sony	[16]
United States	July 27, 1999	Epic	[70]

References

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