1. "Intro" I had caught a summer cold from A-Boy and had to stay home from work on the day that these first two tracks were recorded. I recall getting out of bed around 12:30 and walking into the studio when the group played them for me. This one sets up the album nicely.
2. "Choose Your Own Adventure" - This beat was originally intended for a song about problems (tentatively titled "Problem" or "Problem Song"). This was before the album concept was devised. The idea was that each rapper would discuss some problem on his mind, which kind of worked out because here they address the problem of "what will we do now?".
3. "AWWWWDICULOUS Robs a Bank" - Here's a historic track. It was back in mid-June one night, A-Boy and I went to Jo Rida's house and we all began brainstorming ideas for the album in his basement. Jo Rida was trying to come up with a good way to sample a song, as this was new for him and AWWWWDICULOUS. Originally he was planning to sample this Electric Light Orchestra song, "Telephone Line". There were some good ideas of how to use it but it wasn't working out. Then he played "Vehicle" by The Ides of March. It was unanimously decided that this would be a good song to sample, and it simply sounded like the perfect sample for a song about robbing a bank. This was an exciting start and everyone was pumped, fantasizing different concepts for what the album would be like. A couple of weeks later A-Boy explained to me the complete "rap opera" concept and the track layout. Surprisingly, it was not one of the album's first completed tracks because Jo Rida had some negative feelings towards the beat for a while. Once a sweet bassline (inspired by Boz-Dat's verse) was added he came around and an outstanding track was finished.
4. "Lavish Spending" - After several different beat ideas, it was OntaRaj who finally suggested the winning sample ("Eveybody Plays the Fool" by The Main Ingredient) for this money-blowing track. "I was in the zone" says Jo Rida of his stellar verse.
5. "Illinois (I Won't Forget You)" - I wasn't present for the recording of Jake's verse or Lil' Johnson's (both of which are wonderful), but I will never forget witnessing Karma Z's superb additions to this track. Jo Rida and A-Boy were not entirely sure if she would write anything at all for the track, but on the afternoon of recording she walked into the studio with an entire verse. No changes to it were necessary, and it opens On the Lam's first single. The hook, written by A-Boy with Jo Rida's assistance, was improved by Karma. It's difficult to write exactly how she switched up the melody of "you know I need you", but she simply made it better.
6. "Coppin' Identities (Interlude)" - This track samples "Woman's Gotta Have It" by Bobby Womack. Each guest here recorded their verse in an independent session, first Richhez Phatt, then HardKore, then AK-47.
7. "Breaking News" Those who watched the album trailer should recognize the first few seconds of this track, assisted by Special K, who here reprises his role of news reporter from the trailer. At first, the beat was significantly faster throughout the track. It was slowed, mostly at my request, but it was still pretty fast so I rapped my verse without much inflection. I wrote my verse over a week or two and A-Boy helped out with the "weasel pub" line. In between both verses we hear Boz-Dat's "Swimmin' Pretty" ringtone. This segment was originally not going to rhyme, but it had to to fit the guidelines of the rap opera and I love how it turned out.
8. "Beard Song" - I don't think I'll ever forget walking into my house after a nice walk and hearing Boz-Dat recording several takes of "got my straight razor but the need beats the time...". According to legend (and the members of AWWWWDICULOUS) he basically wrote the entire verse in that session. The process of completing "Beard Song" was long and the track changed several times. Before Lurdawg left the group he originally began this song with a new verse. The chorus was then very different and rapped by the members, without OntaRaj. The second version introduced OntaRaj's chorus with freestyled ad-libs from everyone in the studio including me, Ghostface Willah and others. This was pretty strange and it didn't make sense in the context of the album, so the ad-libs were removed. Lurdawg's verse was removed after he left. The third version, almost released as a single, featured an a capella introduction from Ghostface Willah, which was sampled in the chorus. This was never released and later removed, the final version beginning with A-Boy and utilizing OntaRaj's simple, effective chorus (which was a collaborative group effort to write). Jo Rida found the sample for the beat by Google searching for lyrics related to growing beards. He stumbled upon Renaissance's "Let It Grow" and it was a perfect fit. From the start I detested the bells that enter after that final chorus. I still believe that they are ill-fitting but now they just make me laugh and think of the fun had in these sessions. I do, however, adore the strings and the fantastic transition into the next track.
9. "747s & Heartache" - I'm really impressed with how this turned out. It is certainly the best parody/tribute song directed at Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak. You've got the drums, the beat, Jo Rida's auto-tuned verses, and of course that screeching squawk noise. A-Boy concurs, calling the track "a spot-on spoof". The outro was added last. At first A-Boy would rhyme something different after every "oh why did I rob that bank?" from Jo Rida, but the two quickly realized that it made more sense to just repeat "looked at my money and my heart just sank", especially with the fadeout.
10. "The Fight" - The same day that I was sick and I heard the first two tracks on the album, most of this track was completed. I was in another room so I didn't know what song it was but I was struck by how clearly the synth line sounded like Coldplay's "Clocks". On a later day in the studio, at my request, A-Boy, Jo Rida and I listened to "Clocks" and "Fight" to compare the tracks. A-Boy agreed with me. Jo Rida basically said, "No, this one goes 'dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun' and 'Clocks' goes 'dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun'". It still sounded like "Clocks", but they weren't about to take the synth out and besides, they said, if the synth was removed the beat would sound too much like the beat for my verse on "Breaking News", which was kind of true. Besides, it's not like any of us really hate "Clocks" or anything. So this track sounds a lot like "Clocks" and the fight lines are really good.
11. "Jo Rida in 'Greasy Tears'" - Here we begin the trilogy of post-fight split tracks. This section was at first divided into two tracks, with two AWWWWDICULOUS members on each, but in Lurdawg's absence three solo tracks made more sense. Jo Rida changed his verse here about four times. There were a couple other versions that were really great but I suppose the final version is best.
12. "Boz-Dat in 'The Rapper's Retreat'" - Out of every AWWWWDICULOUS member, it was easily Boz-Dat who had the least time to work. This was mostly due to his late night job at K-Mart and the fact that he had to leave earliest for school. His track here is short and sweet while the other two members had more time to fully develop theirs. For example:
13. "A-Boy in 'Nordic Sorrow'" - A-Boy turned his track into a wistful song complete with two verses and choruses. Jo Rida thought of using many different instruments for the background melody before deciding on the bells, which aptly give the track an icy feel. A-Boy researched Finnish music, culture, economy and language for this track.
14. "Ballad" - This song is very loosely based off of the Spongebob Squarepants episode "Welcome to the Chum Bucket", in which Spongebob and Mr. Krabs sing the "this kitchen's not the same without you" song (which is itself probably an homage to Dionne Warwick's "A House Is Not a Home"). Jo Rida realized that the entry was pretty long, but everyone loved it so it was kept. At one point the song ended with a gong, but that was removed.
15. "Fan Mail" - I think this is the track I heard the least of before the album's release, and I completely missed the recording of it. It's pretty great though.
16. "Ghostface Willah & OntaRaj Present: The Trick" - Before OntaRaj and Ghostface Willah came over to record "The Trick", they sent a facebook message with complete lyrics for the track to Jo Rida, which he read aloud in the studio for A-Boy and me. We all laughed, delighted and awaiting their arrival. They nailed it during the session and harmonized on the album's only sung-sans-autotune chorus. The beat contains no samples but the chorus melody was inspired by The Lonely Island's "The Old Saloon".
17. "Revelations" - This climactic track originally began with a timpani intro, but Jo Rida later decided that it didn't fit. Boz-Dat had to leave for college before Matt and I had recorded anything, so in addition to his verse he recorded five or six random lines that were saved in case they became necessary. Two were used. I was in the studio when Matt recorded all of his parts. His main monologue was basically written on the spot by A-Boy, Jo Rida, him and me. Everyone else's lines were added later. I forget who it was exactly, but the three of them came up with the idea for Matt to get fed up with it all and leave. The mic was taped to the mic stand, so when he dropped the mic he had to push the stand over and it was pretty loud when it fell. He only had to do it twice though and nothing got messed up except a little tape came off the mic. He did a great job. I wrote my verse mostly on the bus to and from camp where I worked during weekdays. I did end up writing a lot and the beat is somewhat slow so it ended up being over three minutes long, but I'm pretty happy with it. A-Boy wrote his part that comes after mine in the studio during that session. Power-22's goon line was the last thing recorded for the song.
18. "The Great Train Party" - Originally this was going to be "The Great Train Robbery (feat. Mysterious D)". Mysterious came over one night for a session but, to make a long story short, his part was never really completed and AWWWWDICULOUS decided to change the song. The beat was also altered a little bit. At one point Jo Rida added a saxophone to the beat and A-Boy and I thought it sounded awful. It was pretty funny how it messed up the song. Luckily it is nowhere to be found on the final version, which I love. The guitar on Boz-Dat's verse is so triumphant. A-Boy and Jo Ridare-recorded their verses two nights before the album was released, making A-Boy's little intro the final addition to the album.
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20. "Freestyle Curtain Call" - This was a genius idea and it came together brilliantly. An uproarious encore to an amazing masterwork. There are too many favorites to mention.
That wraps up my insider's guide to OTL:ARO. Hopefully you've enjoyed this and hopefully you love the album as much as I do.
Don't have the album? Get it here.
