''Da Skool Boy Presents Murphy's Law'' is the debut solo studio album by American rapper

Murphy Lee Torhi Harper (born December 18, 1978) better known by his stage name Murphy Lee, is an American rapper who is best known as a member of the St. Louis, Missouri-based hip hop group, St. Lunatics. Following the commercial success of its lead mem ...

. It was released on September 23, 2003 via

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The recording sessions took place at Basement Beats Studios in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Stankonia Recording and SouthSide Studios in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History In 1969, songwriter Jerry Ragavoy opened a recording studio in New York City and named it ''The Hit Factory.'' On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, ...

and Daddy's House Recording Studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Production was handled by

Jay E Jason Lee Epperson (born August 13, 1978) is an American record producer and DJ from St. Louis, Missouri. He first became known as the primary producer of hometown native Nelly's 2000 debut album ''Country Grammar'', which received RIAA certifica ...

, Waiel "Wally" Yaghnam,

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

, City Spud, Jayson "Koko" Bridges,

Jazze Pha Phalon Anton Alexander, known professionally as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, rapper, singer and songwriter. He founded the record label Sho'nuff Records in 1995, through which he signed R&B singer Ciara in 2003. He produced h ...

Mannie Fresh Byron Otto Thomas (born March 20, 1969), better known by his stage name Mannie Fresh, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for his production work for Cash Money Records releases, as well b ...

, and Murphy Lee himself, with

LRoc James Elbert Phillips, known professionally as LRoc, is an American record producer who has served as in-house talent for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings since 1997. His credits include the singles " Call on Me" by Janet Jackson, " Everyt ...

serving as co-producer. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from fellow

St. Lunatics St. Lunatics were an American hip hop group formed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1993. The group consisted of childhood friends Nelly, Ali, Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, City Spud, and Slo Down. Their first single, "Gimme What U Got", gained popularity in ...

members

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

, Kyjuan and City Spud, as well as Darius Bradford, St. Louis Slim, King Jacob, Prentice Church,

Avery Storm Ralph Di Stasio (born December 5, 1976), better known by his stage name Avery Storm, is an American singer from Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He is best known for his guest appearance alongside Nelly on Rick Ross' 2008 single " Here I Am," which peaked ...

, Cardan, Jazze Pha, Jermaine Dupri,

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

, Moshay, P. Diddy, Roscoe, Seven,

Sleepy Brown Patrick Leroy "Sleepy" Brown (born January 24, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is one-third of the Atlanta-based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as Outkast, Goodie Mob an ...

Toya Toya may refer to: Places *Tōya, Hokkaidō, a former village in Abuta District, Iburi, Hokkaidō, Japan *Tōyako, Hokkaidō, a town incorporating Tōya, Hokkaidō **Tōya Station (Tōyako), a railway station in Tōyako *Lake Tōya, a volcanic lak ...

and Zee. In the United States, the album debuted at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 5 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, ...

charts, selling around 135,000 copies in its first week. It was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

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 November 17, 2003 for the sales of 500,000 units. The album was supported by the single "

Shake Ya Tailfeather "Shake Ya Tailfeather" is a song by American rappers Nelly, Sean Combs, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee. It was released in 2003 from the ''Bad Boys II (soundtrack), Bad Boys II Soundtrack''. The song was also included on Lee's debut album, ''Murphy's L ...

", which originally appeared on '' Bad Boys II Soundtrack''. The official

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

off of the album, "Wat Da Hook Gon Be", peaked at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 11 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts. The follow-up single "Luv Me Baby" made it to number 54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song "Hold Up" was released as a promotional single.

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 1 contains samples from "I Wanna Be Myself" written by Tommy Keith and Bernadette Randle and performed by

the Rimshots The Rimshots were an United States, American funk and disco band, popular in the late 1970s Background The group started out as the house band for the record labels All Platinum Records and in particular, All Platinum Records, Stang Records in t ...

. *Track 16 embodies portions of "

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is the second single from American singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, '' What's Going On''. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one ...

" written and performed by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2003 debut albums Murphy Lee albums Universal Records albums Albums produced by Jazze Pha Albums produced by Mannie Fresh Albums produced by Jermaine Dupri Albums recorded at the Hit Factory