Informal Introduction

Informal Introduction
Studio album by
Shade Sheist
Released September 10, 2002
Recorded 2000–02
Studio
Genre
Length 1:01:39
Label MCA
Producer
Shade Sheist chronology
Informal Introduction
(2002) 		Before The Waitin' Before The Hatin'
(2005)
Singles from Informal Introduction
  1. "Where I Wanna Be"
    Released: December 12, 2000
  2. "Money Owners"
    Released: May 14, 2002
  3. "John Doe"
    Released: 2002
  4. "Wake Up"
    Released: 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
HipHopDX 2.5/5

Informal Introduction is the debut studio album by American rapper Shade Sheist. It was released on September 10, 2002, through MCA Records. Recording sessions took place at Larrabee Studios, at Soundcastle, at Skip Saylor Recording, and at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Production was handled by Damizza, Eddie Berkeley, KayGee, DJ Quik, Howie Hersh and Timbaland. It features guest appearances from Nate Dogg, AMG, DJ Clue, Fabolous, Hi-C, Knoc-turn'al, Kurupt, Vita and Warren G among others.

Due to little promotion, the album was not a commercial success, only reaching number 69 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It did, however, feature his biggest hit to date "Where I Wanna Be", which peaked at 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 12 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs. The album spawned three additional singles, "Money Owners", "John Doe" and "Wake Up" all of which became minor hits on the R&B charts.

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Holla Boyz Intro" (featuring DJ Echo and DJ Vice)     1:08
2. "Somebody Steals the Show"
Damizza 4:25
3. "Act Like You Know Me" (featuring Fabolous and Knoc-turn'al)
  • Howie Hersh
  • Damizza (co.)
5:04
4. "John Doe" (featuring DJ Quik, AMG, Hi-C and Swift)
DJ Quik 3:25
5. "X2" (featuring DJ Clue)
Damizza 4:27
6. "Walk a Mile" (featuring Barbara Wilson, Nate Dogg, N.U.N.E. and Vita)
Damizza 3:45
7. "Stop...And Think About It" (featuring Big Caz)
  • T. Thompson
  • D. Young
  • H. Hersh
  • B. Eland
4:50
8. "Money Owners" (featuring Timbaland)
Timbaland 4:26
9. "Wake Up" (featuring Nate Dogg and Warren G)
4:33
10. "BMF"
  • T. Thompson
  • D. Young
  • H. Hersh
 Damizza 4:17
11. "Thug Luv" (featuring Barbara Wilson)
  • T. Thompson
  • D. Young
  • H. Hersh
 Damizza 3:42
12. "Cali Diseaz (Musik)" (featuring Nate Dogg)
  • T. Thompson
  • N. Hale
  • D. Young
  • H. Hersh
 Damizza 4:12
13. "Here I Come" (featuring Damizza)
  • T. Thompson
  • D. Young
  • H. Hersh
 Damizza 3:24
14. "Where I Wanna Be" (featuring Kurupt and Nate Dogg)
  • Eddie Berkeley
  • Kay Gee
  • Damizza (co.)
4:20
15. "The Urban Gospel" (featuring King Arthur and N.U.N.E.)
  • T. Thompson
  • D. Young
  • H. Hersh
  • Damizza
  • Shade Sheist (co.)
4:18
16. "Holla Boys Outro" (featuring DJ Echo, DJ Vice and Damizza)     1:24
Total length: 1:01:39

Personnel

  • Tramayne Thompson – main artist, co-producer (tracks: 7, 15), co-executive producer, mixing (track 10)

Guest artists/vocalists

  • Henry "DJ Echo" Olortegui – featured artist (tracks: 1, 16)
  • Eric "DJ Vice" Aguirre – featured artist (tracks: 1, 16)
  • Damion Young – featured artist (tracks: 13, 16), backing vocals (track 2)
  • Latonya Holmes – backing vocals (track 2)
  • John Jackson – featured artist (track 3)
  • Royal Harbor – featured artist (track 3)
  • David Blake – featured artist (track 4)
  • Crawford Wilkerson – featured artist (track 4)
  • Jason Lewis – featured artist (track 4)
  • Kenyan "Swift" Martin – featured artist (track 4)
  • Ernesto "DJ Clue" Shaw – featured artist (track 5)
  • Barbara Wilson – featured artist (tracks: 6, 11), backing vocals (tracks: 6, 7, 11, 13)
  • Nathaniel Dwayne Hale – featured artist (tracks: 6, 9, 12, 14)
  • Chris "Nune" McCauley – featured artist (tracks: 6, 15)
  • LaVita Raynor – featured artist (track 6)
  • Caz – featured artist (track 7)
  • Timothy Mosley – featured artist (track 8)
  • Warren Griffin III – featured artist (track 9)
  • Ricardo "Kurupt" Brown – featured artist (track 14)
  • King Arthur – featured artist (track 15)

Instrumentalists

  • Damion "Damizza" Young – drums (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10–13, 15), programming (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 15), percussion (tracks: 2, 6, 13, 15), keyboards (track 5)
  • Howard B. Hersh – bass & keyboards (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10–13)
  • DeVante Swing – keyboards (track 4)
  • Emmanuel "DJ EMan" Coquia – scratches (track 5)
  • Anthony Mazza – guitar (tracks: 7, 10)
  • Florian Ammon – Pro Tools (tracks: 6, 7, 12, 13)
  • D.B. Murda – programming (track 12)
  • B.W.N. – programming (track 12)

Technicals

  • Damizza – producer (tracks: 2, 5–7, 10–13, 15), co-producer (tracks: 3, 14), executive producer, recording (tracks: 6, 7, 11, 13)
  • Howie Hersh – producer (track 3)
  • David "DJ Quik" Blake – producer & mixing (track 4)
  • Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley – producer & mixing (track 8)
  • Edward Berkeley – producer (tracks: 9, 14)
  • Kier Gist – producer (tracks: 9, 14)
  • Michael Schlesinger – mixing (tracks: 2, 5–7, 10–15), recording (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 10–15)
  • Jimmy Douglass – mixing (track 8)
  • Steve Penny – engineering (track 8)
  • Jeremy – recording (tracks: 6, 8)
  • Ray – recording (track 7)
  • Jason Schweitzer – recording (track 13)
  • Evren Göknar – mastering
  • Brian – additional editing (track 5)
  • Aaron – additional engineering (track 8)

Additional

  • Jesse Alvarez – art direction, design & illustration
  • JP Robinson – art direction, design & illustration
  • Manuel J. Donayre – art direction, design & illustration
  • David Irvin – photography
  • Anthony Mandler – photography
  • Naim Ali – A&R
  • Alicia N. Graham – A&R
  • Sujit Kundu – management, co-executive producer

Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 69
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) 20

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
US
 US
R&B
 US
Airplay
 UK
"Where I Wanna Be"
(featuring Nate Dogg & Kurupt) 		2000 37 60 50 14
"Wake Up"
(featuring Warren G & Nate Dogg) 		2002 36 53 52 —
"John Doe"
(featuring DJ Quik, Hi-C, AMG & Swift) 		— 66 64 —
"Money Owners"
(featuring Timbaland) 		— 81 — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.