Nas Illmatic First Album to Get 5 Star Review
| I Am… | ||||
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| Studio album by Nas | ||||
| Released | Apr 6, 1999 (1999-04-06) | |||
| Recorded | 1998–1999 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 64:54 | |||
| Characterization | Columbia | |||
| Producer |
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| Nas chronology | ||||
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| Singles from I Am... | ||||
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I Am... is the third studio album by American rapper Nas, released on Apr 6, 1999, by Columbia Records. Following the commercial and critical success of 1996's It Was Written, Nas put to piece of work on a double album that merged the styles of his first two albums and detailed entire aspects of his life. Although he was able to use near songs, other songs that would take made I Am… a double album leaked onto the internet in MP3 format, forcing him to record new material for ii separate single-disc releases (hence, the release of Nastradamus in the aforementioned year).
The anthology debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, selling over 470,000 copies in its kickoff week of sales. I Am… would after be certified double platinum in the Us, making it Nas' 2nd best-selling release behind Information technology Was Written. Upon its release, I Am... received generally positive reviews from critics.
Background [edit]
This anthology was originally to have been a double album titled I Am...The Autobiography, however about of the original sessions were bootlegged forcing Nas to discard many songs and adjust the release to one disc. I Am...became one of the first major label releases to be widely leaked using MP3 applied science.[2] Some of the leaked songs were later released on the compilation LP The Lost Tapes in 2002. The concept of this album as can exist seen by tracks such as "Fetus" from The Lost Tapes was to exist an autobiography of sorts for Nas. Although several homemade versions have appeared on the internet over the years, an official version of the intended double album has never leaked and it remains unclear whether or not it was ever completed.
1998 leak tracklisting [edit]
- 01. Fetus (Omphalos Window) (afterwards on The Lost Tapes)
- 02. Pocket-sized World (later on I Am...)
- 03. Coin Is My Bowwow (afterwards on I Am...)
- 04. Project Windows (afterward on Nastradamus)
- 05. Poppa Was a Histrion (afterwards The Lost Tapes)
- 06. Dr. Knockboots (Do's and Don't) (subsequently on I Am...)
- 07. Day Dreamin' Stay Schemin'
- 08. Sometimes I Wonder
- 09. The Hardest Thing to Do Is Stay Alive
- ten. Drunk by Myself (subsequently The Lost Tapes)
- 11. Wanna Play (afterwards Matriarch Grease's "Live on Lenox" The Anthology)
- 12. Bonfire a 50 (later on The Lost Tapes)
- 13. We Will Survive (after on I Am...)
Other leaked songs include Notice Ya Wealth (later on QB's Finest), U Gotta Love It (afterwards on The Lost Tapes), My Worst Enemy, Amongst Kings and The Ascension & Autumn.
Music [edit]
The two singles from I Am... were "Hate Me Now" and "Nas Is Like". "Hate Me Now" features Puff Daddy and is produced by D-Moet, Pretty Male child and The Trackmasters. It was a Billboard Hot 100 striking, and had a controversial music video directed by Hype Williams. The vocal had a version of the O Fortuna from Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." "Nas Is Like" is 1 of ii tracks produced by DJ Premier who scratches song samples from Nas' "Information technology Ain't Hard To Tell" into the chorus. The "Nas Is Like" music video was directed past Nick Quested and is still very popular in underground circles and continued a long list of pop Nas/DJ Premier collaborations.
The album too contained the song "We Will Survive", a tribute to Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. The vocal criticized his peers, most notably Jay-Z, who "claimed to be New York's king" following B.I.G.'southward death, the tape has been cited as potentially encouraging the Nas vs. Jay-Z feud.
Encompass fine art [edit]
Famed lensman Danny Hastings has shot iconic comprehend images for Big Pun's Upper-case letter Penalty and Raekwon'south Just Congenital four Cuban Linx, but his album art shoot for I Am... almost concluded in disaster. In order to make the iconic mask featured on the embrace, Hastings and his coiffure put a dirt mold on his face and poked air holes so he could exhale, simply he almost suffocated after clay got lodged in his nose.
"The funny part was that the start attempt, Nas was getting asphyxiated. We well-nigh killed Nas," Hastings told MTV.com. "We cleaned him up, and he was like, 'Let's practise it once again!' […] Nas was a true sport."
He likewise explained the meaning behind the comprehend, and how it built off of previous album fine art for Illmatic and It Was Written. "The first 1, you lot have him existence a boy, very young. The 2d was a little bit older. And the 3rd i, he was a male monarch," he connected. "He already conquered the world. He was on height of the earth. He was doing a lot of big things. We came with the concept of making a King Tut sarcophagus piece."[three]
Reception [edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Chicago Sun-Times |  [five] |
| Village Voice | B−[6] |
| Amusement Weekly | (B)[7] |
| Los Angeles Times | [8] |
| NME | (eight/x)[nine] |
| Rolling Rock | [10] |
| The Source | [xi] |
Yahoo! Music's Baton Johnson Jr. described the album'south production as "somber" and described its songs as "thought-provoking, though average quality".[12] Jeff Stark of Salon noted "distinct identities" for each vocal and wrote that it does not sound "coherent", but "as if information technology belongs to a scattershot demographic of subway riders".[13] Franklin Soults of The Village Vox viewed that its music attempts to meet "halfway" with consumer demographics, noting that Nas' "most salient talent is finding and exploiting the middle footing".[14] In his consumer guide for The Hamlet Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave I Am... a B− rating and named it "dud of the month",[6] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit farther thought".[fifteen] Christgau criticized Nas' "ethos" and stated, "The question is how convincing he is, and but two themes ring truthful: the bad ones, revenge and money. His idea of narrative item is to drop brand names like Bret Easton Ellis; his thought of morality is everybody dies".[6] Craig Seymour of The Washington Post attributed its thematic inconsistency to the replacement of tracks that leaked to the Net prior to the anthology's release, concluding that "Anyone with a good Web connection might wonder what a profound personal opus ' I Am ' could take been".[sixteen] Miles Marshall Lewis of LA Weekly viewed that Nas "tightrope[s] the line betwixt order and chaos, gangsterism and enlightenment" on the album, which he found to be "not a horrendous anthology. But Nas has now established a pattern of declining album quality, and that makes I Am... Nas' worst album".[17]
Chicago Sun-Times author Rebecca Little gave the album 2-a-and-half out of four stars and stated, "if you go by the torrent of [profanity] and a few terms referring to women as dogs and garden tools, [...] ' I Am ' is a notable effort", calculation that "The finer moments lie in the rapper'south trademark power to spin a compelling tale near ghetto life".[5] Kris Ex of Rolling Stone gave it 3-and-a-half out of five stars and stated, "Nas is withal a diamond in the rough — mayhap the rawest lyrical talent of his day just lacking the guidance and vision to create a consummate album [...] But what I Am... lacks in content, it makes up for in lyrical acumen; the album doesn't deliver the introspection its title implies, but it compensates for it in storytelling and craftsmanship. I Am... offers tantalizing hints of promise tethered by a demand for pop credence".[10] Christopher John Farley of Time complimented Nas' lyrics and themes and the album's musical arroyo, noting "grander, more aggressive, more than cinematic" songs.[18] Entertainment Weekly 's Tom Sinclair compared the album to "a bona fide hip-hopera", noting string and keyboard-laden songs and "universal themes".[7] Los Angeles Times writer Soren Baker commended Nas for "adroitly balancing hard-cadre subject matter with production that should easily find its way onto urban radio".[8] Steve Jones of USA Today gave it four out of four stars and complimented Nas' "dense and deft rhymes" and "nimble, cinematic descriptions", writing that the anthology "nestles nicely between the underground grittiness of 1994's Illmatic and the high gloss of 1996's It Was Written".[19]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor 1000.F. DiBella gave the anthology three out of 5 stars and noted "blandness" in its production, writing that "Musically, I Am is somewhat unimaginative past Nas' stratospheric standards. [...] some of these tracks lack the sonic depth to do justice to the prophecies of the pharaoh, Nas".[4] However, DeBella added that Nas "even so shines as the old soul storyteller and offense rhyme chronicler" on some tracks and cited "Nas Is Similar" and "North.Y. State of Heed, Pt. 2" as highlights, calculation that they "are nada brusque of Illmatic perfection".[iv] Steve Juon of RapReviews gave I Am... an viii-and-a-half out of 10 rating and viewed it as an improvement over It Was Written, praising Nas' "ability of clarification" and "much improved" lyrics.[20] Writing in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), music announcer Chris Ryan gave the album 2-and-a-one-half out of five stars and wrote that it has "[its] share of solid material, but ultimately fail[south] in the face of Nas' inability to navigate the carve up between the street reporting that made him a legend and the commercial hits that fabricated him a star".[21]
Runway listing [edit]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Album Intro" | Nasir Jones | ii:fifty | |
| 2. | "N.Y. State of Mind Pt. 2" | Jones, Christopher Martin | DJ Premier | iii:36 |
| three. | "Detest Me At present" (featuring Puff Daddy) | Jones, Gavin Marchand | Pretty Boy, D. Moet, Trackmasters | 4:44 |
| iv. | "Small World" | Jones, Carlos Broady, Nashiem Myrick | Nashiem Myrick & Carlos Broady for The Hitmen | 4:45 |
| 5. | "Favor for a Favor" (featuring Scarface) | Jones, Brad Jordan, Leshan David Lewis | 50.E.South. | 4:07 |
| 6. | "We Will Survive" | Jones, Jamel Edgerten | Trackmasters, Jamel Edgerten | v:00 |
| 7. | "Ghetto Prisoners" | Jones, Damon Blackmon | Matriarch Grease | 4:00 |
| 8. | "You Won't Encounter Me Tonight" (featuring Aaliyah) | Jones, Timothy Mosley, Missy Elliott | Timbaland | 4:22 |
| 9. | "I Want to Talk to You" | Jones, Lewis, Alvin West | 50.E.S., Alvin Due west | 4:36 |
| x. | "Dr. Knockboot" | Jones, Samuel Barnes, Jean-Claude Olivier | Trackmasters | two:25 |
| 11. | "Life Is What You Arrive" (featuring DMX) | Jones, Lewis, Earl Simmons | L.E.Southward. | 4:04 |
| 12. | "Big Things" | Jones, Michael Masser, W | Alvin West | 3:39 |
| 13. | "Nas Is Like" | Jones, Martin | DJ Premier | 3:57 |
| 14. | "1000-I-SS-I-Northward-G" | Jones, Robert Kelly, Lewis, Due west | 50.E.South., Alvin West | 4:fifteen |
| 15. | "Money Is My Bitch" | Jones, Barnes, Olivier | Alvin West, Trackmasters | 4:02 |
| 16. | "Undying Love" | Jones, Lewis | 50.Due east.S. | 4:23 |
| Total length: | 64:45 | |||
Notes
- On the cassette version, "Pray" featuring Bravehearts is included as track 13, produced by EZ Elpee.
Samples [edit]
Personnel [edit]
Credits for I Am... adjusted from Muze.[24]
- Eddie Sancho – engineer
- Kevin Crouse – engineer
- Steve Souder – engineer
- Nas – performer
- Puff Daddy – performer
- Aaliyah – performer
- Scarface – performer
- DMX – performer
- DJ Premier – producer
- Pretty Boy – producer
- Nashiem Myrick – producer
- L.E.Southward. – producer
- Grease – producer
Charts [edit]
Certifications [edit]
See too [edit]
- Number-one albums of 1999 (U.Due south.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1999 (U.Due south.)
References [edit]
- ^ "Nas is Similar - Nas | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ iTunes Store: I Am.... Apple tree Inc. Retrieved on 2009-02-xviii.
- ^ Horowitz, Steven J. (2011-05-25). "Lensman Virtually Suffocated Nas On "I Am" Cover Shoot | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-02-23 .
- ^ a b c DiBella, M.F. (Nov 1, 2001). "I Am...The Autobiography - Nas: Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ a b Piddling, Rebecca (Apr eighteen, 1999). "Column: SPIN Control". Chicago Lord's day-Times. Sun-Times Media: 10. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (June 15, 1999). "Music - Page ii". The Hamlet Vocalization. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ a b Sinclair, Tom (April 2, 1999). "I Am... Review". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ a b Baker, Soren (March 29, 1999). "*** Nas, "I Am," Columbia". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ "Album Reviews - I Am... The Autobiography Vol 1". NME. IPC Media. March 6, 1999. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ a b Ex, Kris (April 2, 1999). "I Am...The Autobiography by Nas". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ "Nas, I Am... (MCA)". The Source. The Source Enterprises (115): 195. Apr 1999.
- ^ Johnson Jr., Baton (Apr 6, 1999). "Nas Reviews". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Stark, Jeff (May 11, 1999). "Sharps & flats". Salon. Salon Media Grouping. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Soults, Franklin (April xx, 1999). "Half and Half". The Village Voice. Village Vocalisation Media. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Christgau, Robert (Oct 15, 2000). "CG 90s: Central to Icons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Seymour, Craig (April 14, 1999). "Nas's 'I Am' Isn't Quite; Rapper's Third Endeavor Thoughtful but Uneven". The Washington Post: C.05. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Lewis, Miles Marshall (May 6, 2011). "A Dollar a Holler". LA Weekly. Village Phonation Media. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Farley, Christopher John (April 12, 1999). "Music: Staying Cool Under Fire". Time. Time Inc. Archived from the original on January 14, 2005. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Jones, Steve (April six, 1999). "Nas says plenty; Coe earns land 'Airplay'". USA Today. Gannett Company: 4.D. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Juon, Steve (April vi, 1999). "Nas :: I Am... :: Columbia". RapReviews. Flash Web Pattern Exclusive. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard, ed. (November 2, 2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon & Schuster. p. 569. ISBN0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ a b Nas: I Am. Columbia Records. 1999.
- ^ "Nas". the-breaks.com.
- ^ "Nas - I Am CD Album". Muze. CD Universe. Retrieved 2011-08-04 .
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – NAS – I Am" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – NAS – I Am". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Officialcharts.de – NAS – I Am". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – NAS – I Am". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – NAS – I Am". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – NAS – I Am". Hung Medien. Retrieved Nov 12, 2013.
- ^ "NAS | Artist | Official Charts". Britain Albums Chart. Retrieved Nov 12, 2013.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved Nov 12, 2013.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Superlative R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-Finish 1999". Billboard . Retrieved Baronial 25, 2020.
- ^ "Meridian R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1999". Billboard . Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ^ "American anthology certifications – Nas – I Am..." Recording Industry Association of America.
External links [edit]
- I Am... at Discogs
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am..._(Nas_album)
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