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.

The album's second single, "I Try", 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 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" 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.

Musicians

• Macy Gray – lead vocals, vocal arrangements ; backing vocals

• Dawn Beckman – backing vocals

• Musiic Galloway – backing vocals

• Jeremy Ruzumna – backing vocals ; organ ; piano ; electric piano, Moog ; Farfisa, clavinet ; Rhodes ; Optigan, Chamberlin

• David Wilder – backing vocals ; bass

• Jinsoo Lim – guitar

• Arik Marshall – guitar

• Lenny Castro – percussion

• Matt Chamberlain – percussion ; drums

• Darryl Swann – backing vocals, guitar ; programming ; vocal arrangements

• DJ Kiilu – turntables ; programming

• Jon Brion – Chamberlin ; synths ; guitar ; piano ; orchestra bells ; vibes ; marimba ; Optigan

• Patrick Warren – vibes ; Chamberlin ; synths ; Rhodes, Wurlitzer

• Dion Derek Murdock – bass

• Sy Smith – backing vocals

• Bendrix Williams – guitar

• Rami Jaffee – 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 – guitar

• Ngozi Inyama – sax solo

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

Certifications and sales

Release history

Notes

References