Word...Life is the 1994 debut album from underground Hip Hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 artist O.C.

O.C. (rapper)

Omar Credle , known by his stage name, O.C., is an American rapper who has been involved with several renowned underground hip-hop groups and also released many solo albums.-Recording career:...

, who came to prominence in hip hop because of the album. It also helped establish his membership in the legendary Hip Hop crew D.I.T.C.

Diggin' in the Crates Crew

The Diggin' in the Crates Crew, also known as D.I.T.C., is a New York-based hip-hop collective, deriving its name from the art of seeking out records to sample for production. Its members have achieved substantial and consistent recognition in underground rap circles, often collaborating with...

, which includes Lord Finesse

Lord Finesse

Lord Finesse is a Hip hop artist and producer, hailing from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. rap crew.- Career :...

, Showbiz & A.G., Diamond D

Diamond D

Diamond D is a hip hop producer and MC from the Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the legendary D.I.T.C. crew. He started out as a DJ for Jazzy Jay back in the late 1980s and was at the same time perfecting his skills in beat making and turntablism, and together with rhyme...

, Fat Joe

Fat Joe

Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....

, Big L

Big L (rapper)

Lamont Coleman , better known by his stage name Big L, was an American rapper. Coleman was born and raised in Harlem, New York, where he started his rap career with Three the Hard Way. He founded the group Children of the Corn and was a member of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew before pursuing a...

 and Buckwild

Buckwild

Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...

, who produced the majority of this album.

The album is most remembered because of the single "Time's Up". The instrumental to the track was used for a battle in the hit movie 8 Mile

8 Mile (film)

8 Mile is a 2002 American hip-hop drama film written by Scott Silver, directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Eminem, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, and Kim Basinger....

. The song was a scathing accusation, pointed at thug-posturers who were flooding the hip hop scene at the time. Vocal clips from the song have been sampled in numerous hip hop tracks throughout the years; Including Big L's 'The Enemy', which appears on his posthumous album 'The Big Picture'.

Track listing

#	Title	Songwriters	Producer(s)	Performer (s)
1	"Creative Control"	O. Credle, L. Baskerville, T. Jamerson	Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion is an alternative hip hop duo from Queens, New York. Though not commercially popular, the duo was one of the most respected and acclaimed underground hip hop acts of the 1990s, largely due to the groundbreaking lyrics of Pharoahe Monch and Prince Poetry.-Recording career:Group...	O.C.
2	"Word...Life"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C.
3	"O-Zone"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C.
4	"Born 2 Live"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C.
5	"Time's Up"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C.
6	"Point O' Viewz"	O. Credle, D. Vanderpool, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him... , Prestige	O.C.
7	"Constables"	O. Credle, L. Baskerville, T. Jamerson	Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion is an alternative hip hop duo from Queens, New York. Though not commercially popular, the duo was one of the most respected and acclaimed underground hip hop acts of the 1990s, largely due to the groundbreaking lyrics of Pharoahe Monch and Prince Poetry.-Recording career:Group...	O.C.
8	"Ga Head"	O. Credle, R. Hall	Lord Finesse Lord Finesse Lord Finesse is a Hip hop artist and producer, hailing from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. rap crew.- Career :...	O.C.
9	"No Main Topic"	O. Credle, G. Scott	DJ Ogee/O.Gee	O.C., Prince Po Prince Po Lawrence Baskerville ,also known as Prince Po, is an American rapper and former member of the rap duo Organized Konfusion with Pharaohe Monch. Originally the duo was called Simply 2 Positive. Prince Poetry MC'd and Monch beat-boxed...
10	"Let It Slide"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C., Pharoahe Monch Pharoahe Monch Pharoahe Monch is an American hip hop artist. He is known for his complex lyrics, complex delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhyme schemes.-Biography:...
11	"Ma Dukes"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C.
12	"Story"	O. Credle, G. Scott	DJ Ogee/O.Gee	O.C.
13	"Outtro (Sabotage)"	O. Credle, A. Best	Buckwild Buckwild Buckwild is a Hip hop producer hailing from The Bronx, New York. Originally a DJ, Buck began producing after meeting MC/Producer Lord Finesse. He later joined Finesse's super-crew D.I.T.C., along with Showbiz and A.G., Diamond D, Fat Joe, and the late Big L and brought O.C. with him...	O.C.
14	"Born 2 Live (Remix)"	O. Credle, A. Best	Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion is an alternative hip hop duo from Queens, New York. Though not commercially popular, the duo was one of the most respected and acclaimed underground hip hop acts of the 1990s, largely due to the groundbreaking lyrics of Pharoahe Monch and Prince Poetry.-Recording career:Group...	O.C.

Samples Used

• "Creative Control"
  • "Hey Jude" by Maynard Ferguson
    Maynard Ferguson
    Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
    
    
• "Word...Life"
  • "Never Will I Marry" by Nancy Wilson
• "O-Zone"
  • "Shook Ones Pt. I" by Mobb Deep
    Mobb Deep
    Mobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
    
    
• "Born 2 Live"
  • "Risin' to the Top" by Keni Burke
    Keni Burke
    Kenneth M. Burke , better known as Keni Burke, is an American R&B, soul, funk, and jazz singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who began his career as a member of the 1970s soul outfit, the Five Stairsteps.-Five Stairsteps:As a member of the Five Stairsteps, Burke wrote the...
    
    
  • "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Isaac Hayes
    Isaac Hayes
    Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
    
    
  • "Ain't No Half Steppin'" by Heatwave
    Heatwave (band)
    Heatwave was an international funk/disco musical band featuring Americans Johnnie Wilder, Jr. and Keith Wilder of Dayton, Ohio, Englishman Rod Temperton , Swiss Mario Mantese , Czechoslovak Ernest "Bilbo" Berger , Jamaican Eric Johns and Briton Roy Carter .They were known for their successful...
    
    
• "Time's Up"
  • "A Day In The Life" by Les DeMerle
  • "Hey Young World" by Slick Rick
    Slick Rick
    Richard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
    
    
• "Point O Viewz"
  • "Seeds of Love" by Little Boy Blues
  • "Searchin'" by Roy Ayers
    Roy Ayers
    Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk .- Biography :Ayers...
    
    
• "Constables"
  • "War Drums" by War
    War
    War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
    
    
  • "Hip-Hop Vs Rap" by KRS-One
    KRS-One
    Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
    
    
• "Ga Head"
  • "Together Let's Find Love" by The 5th Dimension
• "Let It Slide"
  • "Dream Clock" by Weather Report
    Weather Report
    Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
    
    
• "Ma Dukes"
  • "Back on Track" by Jimmy McGriff
    Jimmy McGriff
    James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who developed a distinctive style of playing the Hammond B-3 organ.-Early years and influences:...
    
    

2004 re-issue

Word...Life was re-issued in 2004, its tenth anniversary, with five bonus tracks. They are:

1. "Challenge Y'all"
2. "U Made Me"
3. "U-N-I"
4. "Half Good Half Sinner"
5. "Wordplay"

Album singles

Single information
"Born 2 Live" Released: 1994 B-Side: "Let It Slide"
"Time's Up" Released: 1994 B-Side: "Time's Up (Buckwild Remix)", "Time's Up (DJ Eclipse Remix)"

Album

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums	34
Top Heatseekers	11

Singles

Year	Song	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1994	"Time's Up"	34
1994	"Born 2 Live"	41