FishScale is the fifth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang Clan

The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...

 member Ghostface Killah

Ghostface Killah

Dennis Coles , better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and prominent member of the Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success...

, released March 28, 2006 on Def Jam in the United States. The album features guest appearances from every member of the Wu-Tang Clan, as well as Ghostface Killah's Theodore Unit

Theodore Unit

Theodore Unit is a loose collective of Staten Island rappers associated with the Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. The name "Theodore" is derived from "The Open Door", meaning the group acts as an open door to rappers who can prove themselves....

. It also features production from several acclaimed producers, such as MF Doom

MF Doom

Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...

, Pete Rock

Pete Rock

Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...

, J Dilla

J Dilla

James Dewitt Yancey , better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan...

, and Just Blaze

Just Blaze

Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...

, among others. The album follows an organized crime

Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

 theme, and is named after a term for uncut cocaine, fishscale

Fishscale cocaine

Fishscale cocaine is a refined and comparatively pure form of cocaine. This description was likely inspired by the way that cocaine dealers use a fish scale to weigh out their cocaine due to immense quantities not able to be weighed on a triple beam scale...

.

Fishscale sold nearly 110,000 units in its first week of release, and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...

 chart, making it the highest charting Ghostface Killah album since his 1996 debut, Ironman

Ironman (album)

Ironman is the solo debut album by American hip hop artist and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, released October 29, 1996, on Epic Records...

. The singles "Back Like That

Back Like That (Ghostface Killah song)

"Back Like That" is the second single by rapper Ghostface Killah from his critically acclaimed fifth solo album Fishscale. The song features R&B singer Ne-Yo and has become Ghostface's highest charting solo single on the Billboard Hot 100. It contains a sample of "Baby Come Home" as performed by...

," and "Be Easy

Be Easy (Ghostface Killah song)

"Be Easy" is the first single by rapper Ghostface Killah from his critically acclaimed fifth solo album Fishscale. Initially released through mixtapes, it features Ghostface's Theodore Unit protégé Trife da God. The song contains a sample of "Stay Away From Me" as performed by The Sylvers...

" entered the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart, with the former peaking at the 14th position. Upon its release, Fishscale received positive reviews from most music critics, with many applauding the album's cohesiveness, lyricism, and production.

Background

In January 2006, a sampler was released containing full versions of "Be Easy," "Back Like That," and "Kilo," as well as shortened versions of "Big Girl" and "Charlie Brown". It also included an alternate version of "The Champ". "Charlie Brown," which was produced by MF DOOM

MF Doom

Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...

, contained a sample

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 from Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso

Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...

's "Alfomega" that did not ultimately receive clearance

Permission

Permission, in philosophy, is the attribute of a person whose performance of a specific action, otherwise ethically wrong or dubious, would thereby involve no ethical fault. The term "permission" is more commonly used to refer to consent...

, and the song did not appear on the final album. Similarly, "The Champ" was not cleared and an altered version found its way on to the album.

J Dilla

J Dilla

James Dewitt Yancey , better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan...

 created his two productions for Ghostface, but also used them on his instrumental album Donuts

Donuts (album)

Donuts is an instrumental hip hop album by producer J Dilla. Donuts was released on February 7, 2006, his 32nd birthday, and only three days before his death...

; MF DOOM

MF Doom

Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...

's productions are taken from his Special Herbs series of albums.

As of November 2009, the album had sold 332,000 copies.

Critical response

Upon its release, Fishscale received favorable reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, which assigns a normalized

Standard score

In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...

 rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average

Weighted mean

The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...

 score of 88, based on 32 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 from The Village Voice

The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

was especially favorable, awarding an A+ rating and likening the album to Public Enemy's universally hailed It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released April 14, 1988, on Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place at Chung King Studios, Greene Street Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York City...

. Writing for Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

, Raymond Fiore graded the album an A- and commented "He may not be reinventing himself with Fishscale, but as a must-hear street storyteller, Ghostface Killah's still at the top of his game." Matt Barone from XXL

XXL (magazine)

XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...

gave Fishscale an XL rating and stated "Possessing a unique pedigree of prose, and unbridled lyrical passion, he is the reigning king of consistency. With a few forced collaborations being its only flaw, Fishscale is Ghost’s most addictive dosage post Supreme Clientele

Supreme Clientele

Supreme Clientele is the second studio album of American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, released January 25, 2000 on Epic Records. The album was recorded at several studios in New York and Florida, with the sessions taking place in 1999...

. Packed with vivid street tales, comic relief and straight spittin’, the album continues his standard of excellence." Giving the album a 4/4 star rating, Steve Jones from USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

wrote "Few rappers are as consistently compelling as this Wu-Tang Clan member. With his fifth solo album, Ghostface takes a timeworn hip-hop theme — dealing cocaine, and creates a riveting listening experience. He doesn't so much deliver rhymes as narrate graphically detailed scenes, rife with violence, passion and a little humor." Allmusic writer Andy Kellman wrote in his review "...Ghost responds by pouring all that he has, both lyrically and vocally, into every track on the album. The scenarios he recounts are as detailed and off-the-wall as ever, elaborate screenplays laid out with a vocal style that's ceaselessly fluid and never abrasive." In his review for The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

, Nathan Rabin wrote:

Accolades

Fishscale was ranked as one of the best albums of the year by many famous publishers. It also appeared on several lists for best albums of the decade, with Stylus Magazine

Stylus Magazine

Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....

 ranking it number eleven. Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

ranked it number 62 on their 150 Best Albums of the 2000s, while Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 ranked it number 75 on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s, stating "History will remember Fishscale as Ghostface's Magical Mystery Tour: an artist convinced of his own genius empties every chamber on a batshit, pseudo-conceptual headtrip." In 2009, Rhapsody

Rhapsody (online music service)

Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...

 ranked the album at number nine on its "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" list.

Track listing

#	Title	Producer(s)	Samples	Time
1	"The Return of Clyde Smith" (Intro)		"Ju Ju" by Jack McDuff Jack McDuff "Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...	1:04
2	"Shakey Dog"	Lewis Parker	"I Can Sing a Rainbow I Can Sing a Rainbow "I Can Sing a Rainbow" is a popular song written by Arthur Hamilton. It was featured in the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues where it was sung by Peggy Lee... /Love is Blue" by The Dells The Dells The Dells are an R&B and crossover musical group. Their successful recordings spanned more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues...	3:44
3	"Kilo" (featuring Raekwon Raekwon Corey Woods , better known by the stage name Raekwon, is an American rapper and a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in 1995, and has since recorded four solo albums, as well as work with Wu-Tang and an extensive amount of guest contributions with... )	MoSS MoSS Jason Connoy, better known as MoSS, is a Canadian hip-hop producer from Toronto, Ontario.Rapper Obie Trice recently released Special Reserve, a collection of previously unreleased and rare tracks produced by MoSS. He is also co-credited on Eternia's 2010 album At Last, an album which was named as a...	"Ten is the number - kilos" by George Greer & Jimmy Vann	4:00
4	"The Champ"	Just Blaze Just Blaze Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...	"Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" by Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...	4:09
5	"Major Operation" (Skit)			0:06
6	"9 Milli Bros." (featuring Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group... )	MF DOOM MF Doom Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...	"Fenugreek" by MF Doom MF Doom Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers... "Fast Cars" by RZA RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...	4:14
7	"Beauty Jackson"	J Dilla J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey , better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan...	"Maybe" by The Three Degrees The Three Degrees The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group. Formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, the group has always been a trio though there have been a number of personnel changes and a total of fourteen women have represented the group so far. The original members were Fayette Pinkney,... "Hi." by J Dilla	1:32
8	"Heart Street Directions" (Skit)			0:54
9	"Columbus Exchange" (Skit) / "Crack Spot"	Crack Val	"Feed Me Your Love" by Freda Payne Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944. is an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". She was also an actress in...	2:21
10	"R.A.G.U." (featuring Raekwon)	Pete Rock Pete Rock Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...	"The Look of Love The Look of Love (1967 song) "The Look of Love" is a popular song composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dusty Springfield, which appeared in the 1967 spoof James Bond film Casino Royale.-Songwriters:... " by The Delfonics The Delfonics The Delfonics are a pioneering Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La ", "Didn't I ", "Break Your Promise," "I'm Sorry," and "Ready or Not Here I Come "...	2:39
11	"Bad Mouth Kid" (Skit)			1:10
12	"Whip You With a Strap"	J Dilla	"To the Other Man" by Luther Ingram Luther Ingram Luther Ingram was an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter.-Career:Born Luther Thomas Ingram in Jackson, Tennessee, his early interest in music led to him making his first record in 1965 at the age of 28. His first three recordings failed to chart but that changed when he signed for KoKo... "One for Ghost" by J Dilla J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey , better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan...	2:51
13	"Back Like That Back Like That (Ghostface Killah song) "Back Like That" is the second single by rapper Ghostface Killah from his critically acclaimed fifth solo album Fishscale. The song features R&B singer Ne-Yo and has become Ghostface's highest charting solo single on the Billboard Hot 100. It contains a sample of "Baby Come Home" as performed by... " (featuring Ne-Yo Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario... )	Xtreme	"Baby Come Home" by Willie Hutch Willie Hutch Willie McKinley Hutchison, known professionally as Willie Hutch was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s.... "Song Cry Song Cry "Song Cry" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and produced by Just Blaze. It was the fourth and final single from his sixth studio album The Blueprint... " by Jay-Z Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...	4:02
14	"Be Easy Be Easy (Ghostface Killah song) "Be Easy" is the first single by rapper Ghostface Killah from his critically acclaimed fifth solo album Fishscale. Initially released through mixtapes, it features Ghostface's Theodore Unit protégé Trife da God. The song contains a sample of "Stay Away From Me" as performed by The Sylvers... " (featuring Trife)	Pete Rock	"Stay Away From Me" by The Sylvers The Sylvers The Sylvers were a popular R&B/soul and disco family group during the 1970s. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, the family would later relocate to Watts, California.- Beginnings :... "Mighty Healthy" by Ghostface Killah Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles , better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and prominent member of the Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success...	3:19
15	"Clipse of Doom" (featuring Trife)	MF DOOM	"Apaloosa" by Gino Vanelli Instrumental from "Four Theives Vinegar" by MF DOOM MF Doom Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...  from Special Herbs, Vol. 4 Special Herbs, Vol. 4 Special Herbs, Vol. 4 is an album of instrumental works released by Daniel Dumile under the Metal Fingers moniker, the fourth part of his Special Herbs series...	3:09
16	"Jellyfish" (featuring Cappadonna Cappadonna Darryl Hill best known by his stage name Cappadonna, is an American rapper and oftentimes member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He is also a member of rap duo Wu South, along with Ratchet Rush.-Biography:... , Shawn Wigs, & Trife)	MF DOOM	"Never Can Say Goodbye Never Can Say Goodbye "Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. Released as a single in 1971, it was one of the group's most successful songs... " by Dennis Coffey Dennis Coffey Dennis Coffey is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings.-Biography:Coffey learned to play guitar at the age of thirteen, in the Michigan Upper Peninsula town of Copper City... "Let's Get It On Let's Get It On Let's Get It On is the twelfth studio album by American soul musician Marvin Gaye, released August 28, 1973, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 1970 to July 1973 at Hitsville U.S.A. and Golden World Studio in Detroit, and at Hitsville West in Los Angeles... " by Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....  (interpolation) "Special Lady" by Ray, Goodman & Brown Ray, Goodman & Brown Ray, Goodman & Brown is an American R&B vocal group. The group originated as The Moments, who formed in the mid-1960s and whose greatest successes came in the 1970s with hits including "Love on a Two-Way Street", "Sexy Mama" and "Look at Me "...   (interpolation) "Sumac Berries" by MF DOOM MF Doom Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...	3:50
17	"Dogs of War" (featuring Raekwon, Cappadonna, & Sun God)	Pete Rock	"Family Affair Family Affair (Sly & the Family Stone song) "Family Affair" is a 1971 number-one hit single recorded by Sly & the Family Stone for the Epic Records label. Their first new material since the double a-sided single "Thank You "/ "Everybody is a Star" nearly two years prior, "Family Affair" became the fourth and final number-one pop hit for the... " by Sly & the Family Stone Sly & the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...	4:04
18	"Barbershop"	Studio Steve	"You’d Better Believe It" by The Manhattans The Manhattans The Manhattans are an American popular R&B vocal group, with a string of hit records spanning four decades. Their best known million-selling songs being "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and 'Shining Star' in 1980...	1:56
19	"Ms. Sweetwater" (Skit)			0:14
20	"Big Girl"	Ghostface Killah	"You’re A Big Girl Now" by The Stylistics The Stylistics The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the... "Strung Out" by William Bell William Bell -Musicians:* William Bell * William Bell * William Henry Bell , composer -Politicians:* Dr. William Bell , founder of Manitou Springs, Colorado...	3:35
21	"Underwater"	MF DOOM	Paul Horn Song "Orange Blossoms" by MF DOOM MF Doom Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...	2:03
22	"The Ironman Takeover" (Skit)			0:05
23	"Momma" (featuring Megan Rochell Megan Rochell Megan Rochell is an American contemporary R&B singer, who was formerly signed to Def Jam Records.-Biography:At the age of 11, Megan was a 5-time winner on Showtime at the Apollo. Several years later, she met Philadelphia International's Leon Huff and started working on her recording career... )	Sean Cane & LV The Hitmen (production team) The Hitmen is a production team formed by Sean "Diddy" Combs to produce hip hop and R&B records for his Bad Boy label's recording artists. Because of its great success, the group has also been hired for projects outside of Bad Boy-Production:...	"Wandering Star" by David Axelrod David Axelrod (musician) David Axelrod is an American composer, arranger and producer, working in several musical genres.-Biography:...	4:49
24*	"Three Bricks" (featuring The Notorious B.I.G. The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough... , & Raekwon)	Cool & Dre Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a team of hip hop producers from Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon.-Epidemic Records:...  co-produced by Sean "Diddy" Combs	"Niggas Bleed" by The Notorious B.I.G.	4:58

* Signifies bonus material

Personnel

• Ghostface Killah - performer, producer, executive producer
• Raekwon - performer
• Trife - performer
• Sun God - performer
• Cappadonna - performer
• Shawn Wigs - performer
• RZA - performer
• GZA - performer
• Method Man - performer
• Inspectah Deck - performer
• U-God - performer
• Masta Killa - performer
• Ol' Dirty Bastard - performer
• Notorious B.I.G. - performer
• Ne-Yo - vocals
• Megan Rochell - vocals
• Candice Wilson - vocals
• Jonathan Doyle - vocals
• Rob Mathes - bass, guitar, horn arrangements
• Tom Timko - alto sax
• Jeff Kievit - trumpet
• Birch Johnson - trombone
• Ken Lewis - multi instruments, producer
• MF Doom - producer
• Pete Rock - producer
• J Dilla - producer
• Just Blaze - producer, engineer
• MoSS - producer

• Sean Cane & LV - producer
• Cool & Dre - producer
• Sean Combs - producer
• Lewis Parker - producer
• Crack Val - producer
• Xtreme - producer
• Studio Steve - producer
• Mario "Big O" Caruso - producer, executive producer, management
• Scutch Robinson - executive producer
• Christos Tsantilis - engineer, editing
• David Brown - engineer, mixing assistant
• Morgan Garcia - engineer
• Stephen Glicken - engineer
• Mike Tocci - engineer
• Andrew Wright - engineer
• Jason Goldstein - mixing
• Gimel Keaton - mixing
• Nikos Teneketzis - mixing
• Ryan West - engineer, mixing
• Tony Dawsey - mastering
• Terese Joseph - A&R
• Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds - A&R
• Ashaunna Ayars - marketing
• Tai Linzie - photography, art coordinator
• F. Scott Schafer - photography
• Alli Truch - creative director
• Dawud West - design, logo
• Lyani Powers - set design

Charts

Chart	Position
Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	4
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...	2

External links

• Fishscale Reviews at Metacritic
  Metacritic
  Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
  
  
• XXL article
• Accolades at acclaimedmusic.net