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

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...

. It was released on July 1, 1999, by Epic Records 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. The song was released on September 27, 1999, as the second single from her debut album, ''On How Life Is'' (1999). It is Gray's most successful single to date, peaking at ...

", 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 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 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, 1967) plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. The duo released f ...

. * "I've Committed Murder" contains a sample of "Live Right Now" by Eddie Harris and an interpolation of "

(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film ''Love Story'' after the film's distributor, Para ...

" 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 so ...

& 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, 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 "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, ...

, excerpts of "The Wildstyle" by

Time Zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...

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

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sh ...

& 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 (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) 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, Professio ...

, clavinet ;

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

;

Optigan The Optigan (a portmanteau of Optical Organ) is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built under ...

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 one-time member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Early life Arik Ben Marshall is the third of five children born to an Afr ...

– guitar * Lenny Castro – percussion *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

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

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

– Chamberlin ; synths ; guitar ; piano ;

orchestra bells The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The gloc ...

; vibes ; marimba ; Optigan *

Patrick Warren Patrick Warren (born March 26, 1957) is an American musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Magnolia'', ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', '' Boogie Nights'' and ''Red State'', as well as the television series ' ...

– 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 Sy Smith is an American singer and actress. Early life and career beginnings Sy Smith began her career leading a six-person Washington D.C. go-go band called "In Tyme". After graduating from Howard University with a bachelor's degree of Scien ...

– backing vocals * Bendrix Williams – guitar *

Rami Jaffee Rami Jaffee (born March 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Foo Fighters, whom he initially joined in a touring and session capacity in 2005. Jaffee has contributed to six of the band's studi ...

– 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 and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...

– guitar * Ngozi Inyama – sax solo

Technical

* Andrew Slater – production *

Dave Way Dave Way is an American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Phoebe Bridgers, John Doe, Sa ...

– 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 Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor. Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited ...

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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

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