How Could It Be

How Could It Be is the debut musical studio album by comedian/actor Eddie Murphy, released in September 1985 on Columbia Records. It was produced by Aquil Fudge, with the exception of the hit top ten single "Party All the Time", which was produced by Rick James. The album was a moderate commercial success, making it to No. 26 on the Billboard 200 and No. 17 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Two singles were released: "Party All the Time", which made it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the title track, which became a minor R&B hit. This studio album was recorded as part of fulfilling a $100,000 bet that Richard Pryor had made with Eddie Murphy that he could not sing. In the album's liner notes, Eddie Murphy wrote the following "To Richard Pryor, my idol, with whom I have a $100,000 bet. No, motherfucker, I didn't forget." In an interview in 1987, Murphy said: "My album could have been much better but it came out okay".