On How Life Is

On How Life Is is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Macy Gray. 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.^[1][2]

The album's second single, "I Try", became an international success, 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

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."^[7]

Track listing

Sample 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.^[8]

Musicians

• Macy Gray – lead vocals, vocal arrangements (all tracks); backing vocals (tracks 1, 3–5, 10)
• Dawn Beckman – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–9)
• Musiic Galloway – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–10)
• Jeremy Ruzumna – backing vocals (track 1); organ (tracks 1, 4–6, 8); piano (tracks 1, 7, 10); electric piano, Moog (track 2); Farfisa, clavinet (track 3); Rhodes (tracks 5, 6); Optigan, Chamberlin (track 10)
• David Wilder – backing vocals (track 1); bass (tracks 1, 4)
• Jinsoo Lim – guitar (tracks 1, 2)
• Arik Marshall – guitar (tracks 1, 7–10)
• Lenny Castro – percussion (tracks 1, 2, 7–9)
• Matt Chamberlain – percussion (tracks 1, 3, 9, 10); drums (all tracks)
• Darryl Swann – backing vocals, guitar (track 3); programming (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 8–10); vocal arrangements (all tracks)
• DJ Kiilu – turntables (tracks 2, 8, 9); programming (track 8)
• Jon Brion – Chamberlin (tracks 2, 3, 8, 10); synths (tracks 3, 8); guitar (tracks 3–6, 8–10); piano (tracks 4, 10); orchestra bells (track 4); vibes (tracks 7, 8); marimba (track 8); Optigan (track 10)
• Patrick Warren – vibes (track 2); Chamberlin (tracks 2–4, 7, 8); synths (track 3); Rhodes, Wurlitzer (track 9)
• Dion Derek Murdock – bass (tracks 2, 6)
• Sy Smith – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5, 7)
• Bendrix Williams – guitar (track 4)
• Rami Jaffee – synths (track 5); piano, Optigan, Chamberlin (track 10)
• Blackbyrd McKnight – guitar (track 5)
• Gabriel Moses – guitar (track 5)
• Steve Baxter – horn (track 6)
• Charlie Green – horn (track 6)
• Michael Harris – horn (track 6)
• Miles Tackett – guitar (track 6)
• Greg Richling – bass (tracks 6–10)
• David Campbell – string arrangement (track 7)
• Jay Joyce – guitar (track 7)
• Ngozi Inyama – sax solo (track 8)

Technical

• Andrew Slater – production
• Dave Way – 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 – photography
• Hooshik – art direction, design
• Frank Harkins – art direction

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Release history

References

1. ^ "Macy Gray – Biography". VH1. Archived May 12, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
2. ^ Peters, Mitchell (August 13, 2013). "Macy Gray Signs with APA". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
3. ^ "Macy Gray – I Try". australian-charts.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
4. ^ "Search the charts". The Irish Charts. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
5. ^ "Macy Gray Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
6. ^ Skanse, Richard (February 22, 2001). "Steely Dan, U2 Top Grammys". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
7. ^ Harron, Sarah (August 1999). "Macy Gray: On How Life Is". Q. No. 155. p. 105. ISSN 0955-4955. Archived from the original on January 29, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
8. ^ On How Life Is (liner notes). Epic Records. 1999. 494423 2.
9. ^ "ARIA Urban Chart – Week Commencing 12th February 2001". The ARIA Report. ' (572): 18. February 12, 2001. Retrieved August 3, 2020. – via National Library of Australia
10. ^ "R&B : Top 50". Jam!. May 22, 2000. Archived May 23, 2000 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
11. ^ "Top National Sellers". Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 18. April 29, 2000. p. 9. OCLC 29800226. – via World Radio History.
12. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 16. April 15, 2000. p. 57. ISSN 0006-2510. – via Google Books
13. ^ "Top National Sellers". Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 49. December 4, 1999. p. 13. OCLC 29800226. – via World Radio History.
14. ^ "ja:オン・ハウ・ライフ・イズ/メイシー・グレイ" [On How Life Is / Macy Gray] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived October 18, 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
15. ^ "Top National Sellers". Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 13. March 25, 2000. p. 13. OCLC 29800226. – via World Radio History.
16. ^ "Year in Focus – European Top 100 Albums 1999". Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 1. January 1, 2000. p. 11. OCLC 29800226. – via World Radio History.
17. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1999". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
18. ^ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2000". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
19. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2000" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
20. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2000 – Albums" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
21. ^ "Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2000". Jam!. Archived August 12, 2004 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
22. ^ "Års Hitlister 2000" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived December 20, 2002 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
23. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2000". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
24. ^ "Year in Focus – European Top 100 Albums 2000". Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 52. December 23, 2000. p. 9. OCLC 29800226. – via World Radio History.
25. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 2000" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
26. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 2000". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
27. ^ "Swiss Year-End Charts 2000". swisscharts.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
28. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2000". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
29. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year End 2000". Billboard. Archived May 26, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
30. ^ "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2000". Billboard. Archived May 8, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
31. ^ "Canada's Top 200 R&B; albums of 2001". Jam!. January 8, 2002. Archived from the original on November 22, 2002. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
32. ^ "UK Year-End Charts 2001". UKChartsPlus. p. 6. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
33. ^ "Decade End Charts – Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard.biz. 2009. Archived March 8, 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
34. ^ "Macy Gray: On How Life Is". Amazon (US). Retrieved December 1, 2018.