It was released on April 19, 2005 through Psychopathic Records, marking the artist's second and final studio album for the label.

Physical copies of the album were released together with a DVD containing Esham-directed music videos for the majority of its songs.

AllMusic reviewer wrote: "during the course of A-1 Yola, Esham takes the form of street hustler, kingpin, vampire, and all sorts of underworld characters, injecting his undiluted personality into each three-to-four-minute sketch.

His sonic backdrop remains raw but fresh, drawing an impressive amount of energy out of sparse beats".

[1] According to Esham, he was sent receipts from fans who claimed that the album's bass-heavy sound blew out subwoofers, fried amplifiers and shattered rear windshields.