No Way Out (album)

No Way Out
Studio album by Puff Daddy and the Family
Released	July 22, 1997
Recorded	1996–1997
Genre	Hip hop, pop rap, Mafioso Rap
Length	67:51
Label	Bad Boy
Producer	Sean "Puffy" Combs (exec.), Christopher Wallace (exec.), Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie (exec.), The Hitmen (including Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Steven "Stevie J" Jordan, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Nashiem Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady, Jeffery "J-Dub" Walker, & Yogi), Black Jeruz, Big Jaz
Professional reviews
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Puff Daddy and the Family chronology
No Way Out (1997) Forever (1999)

No Way Out is the debut studio album by American hip-hop artist Puff Daddy, released on July 22, 1997 through record label Bad Boy Records. The label also receives official crediting on the album as "The Family", and the album's guest appearances are largely made up of the label's artists. Production is largely handled by Puff Daddy (real name Sean Combs) and various members of production group The Hitmen. The album, executively produced by Combs himself, The Notorious B.I.G. and Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie of The Hitmen, is predominantly rap-based, although it features generally introspective content, largely focused on close friend The Notorious B.I.G.'s killing on March 9, 1997: however, the album features several more aggressive and positive songs recorded before the shooting. Originally titled Hell Up In Harlem,^[1] the album underwent several changes after the death of his close friend emotionally affected Combs, who postponed the album in order to record several of the album's more emotional songs.

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 of release, 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 eleven 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.

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. On September 7, 2000, the album was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 7,000,000+ copies:^[2] to date, it remains Combs' most commercially successful album. The album earned Combs five nominations at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, winning the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.^[3]

Background and recording

When asked about the meaning behind the album’s name, Puff Daddy said it was because after The Notorious B.I.G.’s death on March 9 earlier in the year; he felt that there was “No Way Out” of the way things were. The album was filled with some of the emotions Puff Daddy felt in mourning of his close friend the Notorious B.I.G. In the song “Is this the end?” Puff Daddy talks about experiencing the drive by in Los Angeles that took his friends life. The album was originally titled Hell Up in Harlem until The Notorious B.I.G.'s death. The album topped the album charts in the US with 561,000 units sold in its first week of release, debuting at #1. On September 27, 1997 “No Way Out” was number one on Jet Magazine’s top 20 albums. The album topped music charts as number one for 6 months after its initial release. The album won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Alongside the album’s Grammy, one of the album’s hits, “It’s all about the Benjamin’s” won the Viewer’s Choice Award at the MTV Music video awards in September 1998. On September 7, 2000 the RIAA certified the album 7.00X Multi Platinum.

At the end of the 1998, out of the 10 songs to reach number one of the Billboard Hot 100 list, four of these belonged to Bad Boy Records, Puff Daddy’s record label which released his album. Out of the 52 weeks of the year, Bad Boy Records had a hit at number one for 22 weeks. The album had two Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "I'll Be Missing You," and two number two singles, "Been Around the World" and "It's All about the Benjamins". The longest reign of any of the label’s four hits was the hit “I’ll be missing you” which topped the charts for 11 weeks. The inspiration for the album’s hit “I’ll be missing you” comes from The Police’s 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take.” A year after the praise at both award ceremonies, Puff Daddy’s success led him to be named as one of Forbes’ 40 highest-paid entertainers alongside southern rapper Master P, and TV’s Oprah Winfrey. The music video of “Been around the world” Puff Daddy romances actress Jennifer Lopez in a fictional storyline. This video began to spread rumors of the two celebrities being in a very serious relationship. Furthermore, the music video for "Victory" is one of the most expensive videos ever made.^[4] A song titled "No Way Out" by Puff Daddy appears on the soundtrack to the film Money Talks, but is not included on the 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 Artists	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	"Going the Distance" by Bill Conti
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	"Let's Dance" by David Bowie "Feeling Good" by Roy Ayers (remix only) "All Around the World" by Lisa Stansfield (interpolation)
4	"What You Gonna Do?"	4:55		Sean "Puffy" Combs, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen	"It's Over" by Eddie Holman
5	"Don't Stop What You're Doing"	3:58	Lil' Kim	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence for The Hitmen	"Don't Stop the Music" by Yarbrough and Peoples "You Haven't Done Nothin'" by Stevie Wonder
6	"If I Should Die Tonight" (Interlude)	2:59	Carl Thomas	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Jeffery "J-Dub" Walker for The Hitmen	"If I Should Die Tonight" by Marvin Gaye
7	"Do You Know?"	6:06	Kelly Price	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie for The Hitmen	"Concentrate" by The Gators "Theme from Mahogany (Do you know where you're going to)" by Diana Ross
8	"Young G's"	5:25	The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z & Kelly Price	Rashad Smith	"On the Hill" by Oliver Sain "Little Ghetto Boy" by Donny Hathaway (interpolation) " Vapors" by Biz Markie "Unbelievable" by The Notorious B.I.G.
9	"I Love You Baby"	4:03	Black Rob	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence for The Hitmen	"Xtabay (Lure Of The Unknown Love)" by Yma Sumac
10	"It's All About The Benjamins (Remix)"	4:38	The Notorious B.I.G., The L.O.X. & Lil' Kim	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie for The Hitmen	"I Did It For Love" by Love Unlimited Orchestra "It's Great to Be Here" by The Jackson 5 (remix only) "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & The Gang
11	"Pain"	5:08	Carl Thomas	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen	"Let's Stay Together" by Roberta Flack
12	"Is This the End?"	4:34	Carl Thomas, Ginuwine & Twista	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen	"Is This the End" by New Edition
13	"I Got the Power"	4:05	The L.O.X.	Sean "Puffy" Combs for The Hitmen & Big Jaz
14	"Friend"	6:37	Foxy Brown & Simone Hines	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen	"Person to Person" by Average White Band
15	"Señorita"	4:07		Sean "Puffy" Combs & Yogi for The Hitmen	"Little Lady Maria" by Ohio Players "No Me Conviene" by La India
16	"I'll Be Missing You"	5:43	Faith Evans & 112	Sean "Puffy" Combs & Steven "Stevie J" Jordan for The Hitmen	"Every Breath You Take" by The Police " Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber
17	"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"	3:51	Mase	Sean "Puffy" Combs, Carlos "6 July" Broady, & Nashiem Myrick for The Hitmen	"Break My Stride" by Matthew Wilder (interpolation) "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton "Big Beat" by Billy Squier "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson

Personnel

Credits for No Way Out adapted from Allmusic.^[5]

Charles "Prince Charles" Alexander - mixing Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie - associate executive producer, composer, producer Lorrenn Argumendes - assistant engineer Michael Benabib - photography Carlos "6 July" Broady - producer Sean "Puffy" Combs - engineer, mixing, producer, executive producer Bill Conti - composer Lane Craven - engineer, mixing Stephen Dent - engineer, programming John Eaton - engineer Jay Garfield - producer Rasheed Goodlowe - assistant engineer J-Dub - producer Stevie J. - piano, producer, programming Jazz - producer Steve Jones - assistant engineer S. Jordan - composer

Michael Lavine - photography Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence - producer Ron Lawrence - composer Al Machera - engineer Tony Maserati - mixing John Meredith - assistant engineer Lynn Montrose - assistant engineer Nasheim Myrick - producer Axel Niehaus - engineer Michael Patterson - engineer, mixing Diana Pedraza - engineer Herb Powers - mastering Kelly Price - vocals Christopher Wallace - executive producer Doug Wilson - engineer Yogi - producer

Charts and certifications

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

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1997 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1997 (U.S.)

References

1. ^ "Puff Daddy (1997 Man of the Year)". XXLmag.com. 8 August 2007. http://www.xxlmag.com/features/2007/08/puff-daddy/. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 
2. ^ "Diddy searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Diddy&format=&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 
3. ^ Strauss, Neil (January 7, 1998). "Grammy Nominations Yield Surprises, Including Newcomer's Success". The New York Times (The New York Times Company): p. 2. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/07/arts/grammy-nominations-yield-surprises-including-newcomer-s-success.html?pagewanted=2. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 
4. ^ http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/toptens/musicvideos/musicvideos3.html
5. ^ "No Way Out > Puff Daddy & The Family > Credits". Allmusic. Macrovision. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r299695/credits. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 
6. ^ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Puff+Daddy+%26+The+Family&titel=No+Way+Out&cat=a. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
7. ^ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". ultratop.be. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Puff+Daddy+%26+The+Family&titel=No+Way+Out&cat=a. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
8. ^ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". ultratop.be. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Puff+Daddy+%26+The+Family&titel=No+Way+Out&cat=a. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Diddy - Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Macrovision. http://allmusic.com/artist/p214335/charts-awards/billboard-albums. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
10. ^ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Puff+Daddy+%26+The+Family&titel=No+Way+Out&cat=a. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
11. ^ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Puff+Daddy+%26+The+Family&titel=No+Way+Out&cat=a. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
12. ^ "Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Puff+Daddy+%26+The+Family&titel=No+Way+Out&cat=a. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
13. ^ "Puff Daddy And The Family - No Way Out". Chart Stats. The Official Charts Company. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=47403. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 

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 9–16, 1997 August 23 - September 5, 1997 September 13–19, 1997

Succeeded by The Art of War by Bone Thugs N Harmony The Dance by Fleetwood Mac Ghetto D by Master P