Nas "I Am" got 4.5 Mic when it came out. WHY DOES THE COLI&the internet HATE IT?!

[Big Mark]

IWW and I Am... are 2 different situations. IWW while glossy in spots had Nas rapping his ass off, even on the Nas is Coming... While Nas slothed and stumbled on I Am tracks like Money and Kissing...

Again, due to the leak, bootlegging and then rushed production, tracks like those ended up in the album. There is no doubt that if you take his top 25 tracks from those sessions, from which he is rumored to have recorded around 45-50, he would have definitely had hip hop’s greatest double album hands down.

 

[Trace]

Until there's some type of confirmation as to what these songs were, I just take the 13 track leak and add the other leaked tracks from that time (maybe 5) and NYSOM II and Hate Me Now.

Makes 20 tracks, no interludes, skits or intros, straight tracks. Split that shyt into 2 illmatics that flow seamlessly and edit Lost Tapes accordingly.

 

[Ziggiy]

Funny thing is I am is ALOT of casual fans favorite Nas album. I remember around 06 when Nas was buzzing due to the Def Jam signing and announcing the HHID album title, at work there was alot of debate about Nas and the title’s meaning (I live in ATL so some people were hot thinkijg he was dissing the south) and alot of people i talked/debated with cited I am or Stillmatic as their favorite Nas albums.

I am was also a BEAST when the retail dropped. It sold 470k first week, which to this day, is Nas’s best first week sales total. I am’s first week outsold Vol 3, Slim Shady LP, Venni Vetti Vecci, and The Block Is Hot’s first week’s...

 

[JayBaldacci]

Again, due to the leak, bootlegging and then rushed production, tracks like those ended up in the album. There is no doubt that if you take his top 25 tracks from those sessions, from which he is rumored to have recorded around 45-50, he would have definitely had hip hop’s greatest double album hands down.

I'm well aware of the what and why... doesn't change the fact that the retail I Am criticism was justified and shouldn't be compared to IWW.

 

[OHSNAP!]

Funny thing is I am is ALOT of casual fans favorite Nas album. I remember around 06 when Nas was buzzing due to the Def Jam signing and announcing the HHID album title, at work there was alot of debate about Nas and the title’s meaning (I live in ATL so some people were hot thinkijg he was dissing the south) and alot of people i talked/debated with cited I am or Stillmatic as their favorite Nas albums.

I am was also a BEAST when the retail dropped. It sold 470k first week, which to this day, is Nas’s best first week sales total. I am’s first week outsold Vol 3, Slim Shady LP, Venni Vetti Vecci, and The Block Is Hot’s first week’s...

Nas had big buzz cause he didn't drop a solo in three years, plus Hate Me Now aired tons of times on radio n tv. Reception of I Am wasn't really great tho

 

[gluvnast]

As someone who things Nas it the goat to ever do it...I say its his worst album. It has 2 songs with any real replay value (Nas is like, Small world) the rest of the tracks are ehhh....

You didn't like UNDYING LOVE???

 

[DANJ!]

It was a very good album. I probably would have given it 4 mics instead of 4.5, but I agree that it is unfairly hated on.

I think it is underrated because there was a great amount of hype leading up to its release --- far too much hype for it to live up to expectations.


The cause of the hype: Nas hadn't released an album for almost three years and fans were very eager to get some new material from him. Moreover, the build-up was all about how it would be a "return to form" for Nas after he went from Nasty Nas to Nas Escobar with It Was Written. Everyone was waiting to see if he could take it back to Illmatic form. When "Nas Is Like" came out a few months before the album's release, it looked like there was a real chance that I Am would be Illmatic part 2, and the hype got even BIGGER.

When I Am finally came out, it didn't live up to the hype (naturally), so there was disappointment. What made it worse was the bootleg that had been floating around before the official release. Everyone could single out a few songs from the bootleg that they thought should have made the final cut, so it just created this "glass half empty" view of the official album.

THIS... all this.

Never hated the album, never quite loved it like I thought I was gonna. I was on 'Nas Is Like' something crazy, and even though people now might look at 'Hate Me Now' as being some kinda cheesy Puff record, it was hot when it dropped. The songs on the mixtapes were dope, really felt like this was gonna put him back at the top. Then it drops and it's just a good album, keeps him in the conversation, but not nearly what it could've been.

 

[filial_piety]

You didn't like UNDYING LOVE???

it's not that I didn't like it....it just wasnt anything special for a Nas song. The store album isn't wack by any means, but to me....as someone who had illmatic, IWW, the Firm and all the Nas cameos before "I am"...I just thought (and still think) the whole album was a drop off from the previous ones. Nastradamus, and QB's Finest and songs like "The General" are in a similar boat to me, theyre all pretty much the same quality. They're a low point for Nas, but still better than 90% o the other stuff that came out from any rap artist during that time.

Nas earned his respect back as the goat imo with STillmatic.

 

[mobbinfms]

it's not that I didn't like it....it just wasnt anything special for a Nas song. The store album isn't wack by any means, but to me....as someone who had illmatic, IWW, the Firm and all the Nas cameos before "I am"...I just thought (and still think) the whole album was a drop off from the previous ones. Nastradamus, and QB's Finest and songs like "The General" are in a similar boat to me, theyre all pretty much the same quality. They're a low point for Nas, but still better than 90% o the other stuff that came out from any rap artist during that time.

Nas earned his respect back as the goat imo with STillmatic.

Nas on I AM >>>> Nas on the Firm
Its not even close.

 

[filial_piety]

Nas on I AM >>>> Nas on the Firm
Its not even close.

Hey it's your opinion..
The Firm aint a solo album, but I disagree. I'd take the Firm any day over the retail I Am

 

[semicko82]

it's not that I didn't like it....it just wasnt anything special for a Nas song. The store album isn't wack by any means, but to me....as someone who had illmatic, IWW, the Firm and all the Nas cameos before "I am"...I just thought (and still think) the whole album was a drop off from the previous ones. Nastradamus, and QB's Finest and songs like "The General" are in a similar boat to me, theyre all pretty much the same quality. They're a low point for Nas, but still better than 90% o the other stuff that came out from any rap artist during that time.

Nas earned his respect back as the goat imo with STillmatic.

I agree with you I thought Undying Love wasn't anything special.

 

[semicko82]

Hey it's your opinion..
The Firm aint a solo album, but I disagree. I'd take the Firm any day over the retail I Am

Agree Nas on the Firm was fresh off It was Written. Nas on I Am was rusty on some of those songs.

 

[tuckgod]

Over the years, the narrative shifted. I remember I Am actually being touted as Nas's 2nd best album, but Stillmatic changed that. Nas acquired new fans and people went back and listened. In the mix, It Was Written was viewed in a more favorable light from new Nas fans

 

[JustCKing]

Nah, that's the way I remember it. I remember people being real dismissive of It Was Written. Many had I Am second to Illmatic before Stillmatic dropped. It was an opinion defended with people saying he balanced the whole commercial, mafiosos style of It Was Written with the more grittier, street sound of Illmatic.

 

[tuckgod]

Because the shyt has 4 dope songs at best

This.