No Way Out (album)
| No Way Out | ||||
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| Studio album by Puff Daddy & the Family | ||||
| Released | July 1, 1997[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1996-1997 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop, east coast hip hop | |||
| Length | 77:52 | |||
| Label | Bad Boy | |||
| Producer | Sean "Puffy" Combs (exec.), Christopher Wallace (exec.), Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie (exec.), The Hitmen (including Steven "Stevie J" Jordan, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Nashiem Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady, Jeffery "J-Dub" Walker & Yogi), Black Jeruz, Big Jaz | |||
| Puff Daddy & the Family chronology | ||||
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| Singles from No Way Out | ||||
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No Way Out is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist, songwriter and record producer Puff Daddy. It was released on July 1, 1997, by his record label Bad Boy Records. The label's official crediting as "The Family", with the album's guest appearances from a large number of artists from his label. Production was handled by Puff Daddy (real name Sean Combs) and various members of production group The Hitmen.
Puff Daddy served as executive producer, alongside The Notorious B.I.G. and Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie (of The Hitmen) Although it features generally introspective content; including his close friend The Notorious B.I.G.'s killing on March 9, 1997, the album features several more aggressive and positive songs recorded before the shooting. It was originally planned to be titled Hell Up in Harlem;[2] The album underwent several changes (the title included; from Hell Up in Harlem to No Way Out), after the death of his close friend emotionally affected Combs, who postponed the album in order to begin recording some several of the album's more emotional songs.
The album also received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who generally wrote positively about its emotional feel and its production, but were divided in their reviews towards Puff Daddy's rapping and songwriting. The album earned Combs five nominations at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, winning the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.[3]
Background
When asked about the meaning behind the album title, Puff Daddy himself said that it was because of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death on March 9, 1997, he was feeling that there was 'no way out' of the way things were. The album's lyrical content is filled with some of the emotions Puff Daddy felt in mourning his close friend the Notorious B.I.G. In the song titled “Is This the End?” he raps about experiencing the drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California, which took his friend (The Notorious B.I.G.)'s life. The album was originally called Puff Daddy & The Goodfellas then slated to be titled Hell Up in Harlem, but following the death of The Notorious B.I.G., he decided to switch the album's title to No Way Out. As discussed in "Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G." by Cheo Hodari Coker, the weight of the East/West nonsense and the accompanying threats had taken it’s toll on Combs and those around him. It was decided that they needed to get away to get focused and get back to making hits. So, Combs brought producers Steven "Stevie J." Jordan, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Nashiem Myrick and Ron "AMEN-RA" Lawrence as well as engineers Axel Niehaus and Tony Maserati down to the Caribbean Sound Basin studio in Maraval, Trindad, along with everything that they needed to craft hits. In the book, Puffy is quoted as saying, "For the next two years, I wanna have radio on lock. Call the girlfriend, wifey, or whatever, and let ‘em know that you’re not gonna be around for a few weeks. We’re gonna get away from all this drama, put our heads together, and when we come back, we’re coming back with hits." The material would later be used on "No Way Out", "Life After Death" and future Bad Boy albums from 1997 to 1999.
Accolades
In the United States, the album topped the Billboard charts, with 561,000 copies sold in the first week. The album topped music charts worldwide for 24 non-consecutive weeks. In 1998, No Way Out would win the grammy award for the Best Rap Album. On September 7, 2000, the album was certified seven-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). During 1997, among the ten songs that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list, four of them belonged to Bad Boy Records. The album spawned two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "I'll Be Missing You", and the number 2 singles "Been Around the World" and "It's All About the Benjamins". The longest reign of the label's four hits was "I'll Be Missing You", which topped the charts for 11 weeks. The melody for "I'll Be Missing You" is sampled from The Police's 1983's hit "Every Breath You Take". The album's success led Puff Daddy to be named as one of Forbes' 40th highest-paid entertainers, alongside southern rapper Master P and Oprah Winfrey.
The music video for "Been Around the World" features a cameo appearances by an actress Jennifer Lopez, playing as his love interest in a fictional story line. Its positive reception led to widespread rumors of a personal relationship in the media. Furthermore, the music video for "Victory" was one of the most expensive videos ever made.[4] The song titled "No Way Out" performed by Puff Daddy, appeared on the soundtrack for the film Money Talks (1997), but is not included on this album.
Commercial performance
Upon its release, No Way Out was a significant commercial success, particularly in the United States where it reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its first week, selling 561,000 copies. It also produced five commercially successful singles, the most successful of these being the worldwide hit "I'll Be Missing You", a tribute song aimed at The Notorious B.I.G., which became the first rap song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained at the top of the chart for 11 consecutive weeks, whilst topping several other charts worldwide. The other four singles, the Billboard hits "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", "It's All About the Benjamins", "Been Around the World" and "Victory", were also commercially successful, and all except the latter peaked in the top two positions of the Billboard Hot 100.
On September 7, 2000, the album was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 7,000,000+ copies in the United States:[5] to date, it remains Combs' most commercially successful album.
Track listing
All tracks except "Young G's" were produced by members of Bad Boy Records' in house production team, The Hitmen.
| # | Title | Length | Featured Guest(s) | Producer(s) | Samples and interpolations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "No Way Out (Intro)" | 1:22 | Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen | ||
| 2 | "Victory" | 4:56 | The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen |
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| 3 | "Been Around the World" | 5:25 | The Notorious B.I.G. & Mase | Sean "Puffy" Combs, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, & Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence for The Hitmen |
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| 4 | "What You Gonna Do?" | 4:55 | Sean "Puffy" Combs, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen |
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| 5 | "Don't Stop What You're Doing" | 3:58 | Lil' Kim | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence for The Hitmen |
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| 6 | "If I Should Die Tonight (Interlude)" | 2:59 | Carl Thomas | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Jeffery "J-Dub" Walker for The Hitmen |
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| 7 | "Do You Know?" | 6:06 | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie for The Hitmen |
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| 8 | "Young G's" | 5:25 | Jay-Z & The Notorious B.I.G. | Rashad Smith |
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| 9 | "I Love You Baby" | 4:03 | Black Rob | Sean "Puffy" Combs, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence & Jay "Waxx" Garfield for The Hitmen |
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| 10 | "It's All About the Benjamins (Remix)" | 4:38 | The LOX, Lil' Kim & The Notorious B.I.G. | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie for The Hitmen |
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| 11 | "Pain" | 5:08 | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen |
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| 12 | "Is This the End?" | 4:34 | Carl Thomas, Ginuwine & Twista | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen |
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| 13 | "I Got the Power" | 4:05 | The LOX | Sean "Puffy" Combs for The Hitmen, Big Jaz |
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| 14 | "Friend" | 6:37 | Foxy Brown | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen |
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| 15 | "Señorita" | 4:07 | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Yogi for The Hitmen |
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| 16 | "I'll Be Missing You" | 5:43 | Faith Evans & 112 | Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen |
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| 17 | "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" | 3:51 | Mase | Sean "Puffy" Combs, Carlos "6 July" Broady & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen |
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Personnel
Credits for No Way Out adapted from Allmusic.[1]
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Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[6] | 17 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[7] | 9 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[8] | 24 |
| Canadian Albums Chart[9] | 1 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[10] | 6 |
| French Albums Chart[11] | 18 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[12] | 12 |
| UK Albums Chart[13] | 8 |
| US Billboard 200[9] | 1 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[9] | 1 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[14] | 7× Platinum | 7,000,000 |
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*sales figures based on certification alone | ||
See also
References
- 1 2 "No Way Out > Puff Daddy & The Family > Credits". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy (1997 Man of the Year)". XXLmag.com. 8 August 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ↑ Strauss, Neil (January 7, 1998). "Grammy Nominations Yield Surprises, Including Newcomer's Success". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). p. 2. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ↑ "SoYouWanna know the ten most expensive music videos? - Videos 4 - 2". Soyouwanna.com. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ↑ "Diddy searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- 1 2 3 "Diddy - Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "Puff Daddy And The Family - No Way Out". Chart Stats. The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ "American album certifications – Puff Daddy – No Way Out". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
External links
- No Way Out - P Diddy Lyrics
| Preceded by Men in Black: The Album by Various artists The Art of War by Bone Thugs N Harmony The Dance by Fleetwood Mac |
Billboard 200 number-one album August 16–23, 1997 August 30 - September 13, 1997 September 19–23, 1997 |
Succeeded by The Art of War by Bone Thugs N Harmony The Dance by Fleetwood Mac Ghetto D by Master P |