''Informal Introduction'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Shade Sheist Tramayne Rayel Thompson (born October 22, 1979), known by his stage name Shade Sheist, is an American rapper from Inglewood, California. He began his career in 2000 by contributing the single " Where I Wanna Be" to a compilation executive produce ...

. It was released on September 10, 2002, through

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

. Recording sessions took place at

Larrabee Studios Larrabee Sound Studios is a recording studio complex in North Hollywood, California, originally established in 1969. Facilities Located at 4162 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, Larrabee has six studios, three tracking spaces, and a prod ...

, at Soundcastle, at Skip Saylor Recording, and at

Westlake Recording Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experienc ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Production was handled by

Damizza Damion Young (born 1974), better known by his stage name Damizza, is an American radio executive, record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in po ...

, Eddie Berkeley,

KayGee Keir Lamont Gist (born September 15, 1969), professionally known by his stage name KayGee, is an American DJ and record producer from East Orange, New Jersey, best known as a member of hip hop trio Naughty by Nature. He has won a Grammy Award f ...

DJ Quik David Marvin Blake (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage names DJ Quik or Da Quiksta, is an American rapper and producer, known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast hip-hop. Blake has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, ...

, Howie Hersh and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

. It features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...

, AMG,

DJ Clue Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive. Early life DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Panamanian and Jamaican immigran ...

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

, Hi-C, Knoc-turn'al,

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer who aided gangsta rap's rise via 1990s verses helping set lasting trends. He is one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Po ...

Vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vita ...

and

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and ...

among others. Due to little promotion, the album was not a commercial success, only reaching number 69 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

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 Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

. It did, however, feature his biggest hit to date " Where I Wanna Be", which peaked at 95 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 12 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

. The album spawned three additional singles, "Money Owners", "John Doe" and "Wake Up" all of which became minor hits on the R&B charts.

Track listing

Personnel

* Tramayne Thompson – main artist, co-producer (tracks: 7, 15), co-executive producer, mixing (track 10) Guest artists/vocalists *Henry "DJ Echo" Olortegui – featured artist (tracks: 1, 16) *Eric "DJ Vice" Aguirre – featured artist (tracks: 1, 16) * Damion Young – featured artist (tracks: 13, 16), backing vocals (track 2) *Latonya Holmes – backing vocals (track 2) * John Jackson – featured artist (track 3) * Royal Harbor – featured artist (track 3) * David Blake – featured artist (track 4) * Crawford Wilkerson – featured artist (track 4) * Jason Lewis – featured artist (track 4) *Kenyan "Swift" Martin – featured artist (track 4) *Ernesto "

" Shaw – featured artist (track 5) *Barbara Wilson – featured artist (tracks: 6, 11), backing vocals (tracks: 6, 7, 11, 13) * Nathaniel Dwayne Hale – featured artist (tracks: 6, 9, 12, 14) *Chris "Nune" McCauley – featured artist (tracks: 6, 15) * LaVita Raynor – featured artist (track 6) *Caz – featured artist (track 7) * Timothy Mosley – featured artist (track 8) * Warren Griffin III – featured artist (track 9) *Ricardo "

" Brown – featured artist (track 14) *King Arthur – featured artist (track 15) Instrumentalists *Damion "

" Young – drums (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10–13, 15), programming (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 15), percussion (tracks: 2, 6, 13, 15), keyboards (track 5) *Howard B. Hersh – bass & keyboards (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10–13) *

DeVante Swing Donald Earle DeGrate Jr. (born September 29, 1969), better known by his stage name DeVanté Swing, is an American record producer, singer, rapper and songwriter. He is the older brother of fellow Jodeci member Dalvin DeGrate. Career In his ea ...

– keyboards (track 4) *Emmanuel "DJ EMan" Coquia – scratches (track 5) *Anthony Mazza – guitar (tracks: 7, 10) *Florian Ammon – Pro Tools (tracks: 6, 7, 12, 13) *D.B. Murda – programming (track 12) *B.W.N. – programming (track 12) Technicals *

– producer (tracks: 2, 5–7, 10–13, 15), co-producer (tracks: 3, 14), executive producer, recording (tracks: 6, 7, 11, 13) *Howie Hersh – producer (track 3) *David "

" Blake – producer & mixing (track 4) *Timothy "

" Mosley – producer & mixing (track 8) *Edward Berkeley – producer (tracks: 9, 14) * Kier Gist – producer (tracks: 9, 14) *Michael Schlesinger – mixing (tracks: 2, 5–7, 10–15), recording (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10–15) * Jimmy Douglass – mixing (track 8) *Steve Penny – engineering (track 8) *Jeremy – recording (tracks: 6, 8) *Ray – recording (track 7) *Jason Schweitzer – recording (track 13) *Evren Göknar – mastering *Brian – additional editing (track 5) *Aaron – additional engineering (track 8) Additional *Jesse Alvarez – art direction, design & illustration *JP Robinson – art direction, design & illustration *Manuel J. Donayre – art direction, design & illustration *David Irvin – photography *

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on si ...

– photography *Naim Ali – A&R *Alicia N. Graham – A&R * Sujit Kundu – management, co-executive producer

Charts

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2002 debut albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by KayGee Albums produced by Damizza Albums produced by DJ Quik Albums produced by Timbaland Hip hop albums by American artists