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

C

Change

All Star
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
5,001
Reputation
590
Daps
6,329
prophecypro said:
Damn so interesting

I assumed the album was the bootleg version cause the review came out like a month before the release but reading it again it includes all the songs there on the retail

:jbhmm:


I mean Source did give the Hot Boys and Made Men albums 4 and a half mics that year and Black Rob (though Im sure that was for the advance/bootleg cause that was months out from the retail)

So maybe they just liked what Nas was on :ehh:

I mean Source gave Untitled and Kingdom Come four and a half mics years later so you never know
Click to expand...

Source didn't mean much at this point. After the people leaving around this time to create XXL it took a big hit. My memory isn't perfect but I believe XXL was a few issues deep at this point.
 
prophecypro

prophecypro

Hollywood North
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
28,223
Reputation
2,693
Daps
60,599
Reppin
LDN
Change said:
Source didn't mean much at this point. After the people leaving around this time to create XXL it took a big hit. My memory isn't perfect but I believe XXL was a few issues deep at this point.
Click to expand...

You're thinking 2000-2003

Even though it launched in 1997, 2000 was when we saw the former folks really start at XXL and it was really 2002-2003 when they fully overtook the Source. Still 2000, 2001 it still mattered. Blueprint, Stillmatic and Fix getting 5 mics was news. I think once they started to give everyone else mics (who did deserve them) in that 200th issue it diluted the ratings and then Kim got her 5 mics in 05 and thats when people were sort of disinterested in how they rated them.


I dont even know if they gave another 5 mics after Kanye and Bun B in 2010
 
Homeboy Runny-Ray

Homeboy Runny-Ray

From Around The Way
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
20,724
Reputation
-954
Daps
20,096
Reppin
Classic Niccas
Change said:
Source didn't mean much at this point. After the people leaving around this time to create XXL it took a big hit. My memory isn't perfect but I believe XXL was a few issues deep at this point.
Click to expand...
​
prophecypro said:
You're thinking 2000-2003

Even though it launched in 1997, 2000 was when we saw the former folks really start at XXL and it was really 2002-2003 when they fully overtook the Source. Still 2000, 2001 it still mattered. Blueprint, Stillmatic and Fix getting 5 mics was news. I think once they started to give everyone else mics (who did deserve them) in that 200th issue it diluted the ratings and then Kim got her 5 mics in 05 and thats when people were sort of disinterested in how they rated them.

I dont even know if they gave another 5 mics after Kanye and Bun B in 2010
Click to expand...


XXL never over-took the source while mays & zino were there.

and I remember Blaze having more buzz than XXL in '99, for what its worth.

those were the days tho. all those mags. I remember Rap Pages too.
 
Last edited:
B

Big Mark

All Star
Joined
Jul 28, 2012
Messages
3,129
Reputation
230
Daps
4,355
Reppin
NULL
I Am is one of the most intriguing eras in Nas career. I’m telling y’all that the entire I am session need to get the “oral history” treatment. It would shed so much light on I am... Nastradamus as well as the Lost Tapes and Death Of Escobar and lead right into Stillmatic.
 
Piff Perkins

Piff Perkins

Veteran
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
52,632
Reputation
19,471
Daps
287,170
Stick Up Kid said:
I swear Nas is the most dissected rapper ever. Every album, every song, every beat, every lyric is put under a microscope.

#GoatStatus:wow:
Click to expand...

I definitely think Jay benefits from not being dissected like Nas. And I also think Nas is a rapper where the opinions of hardcore purists outweigh the masses...something that doesn't happen with every rapper. You don't see Hov's Vol albums get discussed from a "real rap" perspective, yet that perspective is the dominant one whenever IWW or I Am get brought up. Think about how many commercial reaches are on Vol 1...yet IWW had 2 mainstream singles (with r&b choruses) and dusty purists lost their minds. That's not to say IWW was not a commercial album, it is; Trackmasters have a very glossy sound. But it was still a rap album with multiple straight up rap songs.

I've refused to cape for I Am but think about how many rappers (including Hov...) basically released an album like that in the 90s. Nas' went triple plat and had multiple hits that resonate to this day...yet it's viewed as a failure.

Nas is held to a very high standard. He fell below that standard and rightfully got shytted on at times (Big Things, Nastradamus, etc) but often times I think people judge him based on what they WANT him to be.
 
Homeboy Runny-Ray

Homeboy Runny-Ray

From Around The Way
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
20,724
Reputation
-954
Daps
20,096
Reppin
Classic Niccas
Piff Perkins said:
I definitely think Jay benefits from not being dissected like Nas. And I also think Nas is a rapper where the opinions of hardcore purists outweigh the masses...something that doesn't happen with every rapper. You don't see Hov's Vol albums get discussed from a "real rap" perspective, yet that perspective is the dominant one whenever IWW or I Am get brought up. Think about how many commercial reaches are on Vol 1...yet IWW had 2 mainstream singles (with r&b choruses) and dusty purists lost their minds. That's not to say IWW was not a commercial album, it is; Trackmasters have a very glossy sound. But it was still a rap album with multiple straight up rap songs.

I've refused to cape for I Am but think about how many rappers (including Hov...) basically released an album like that in the 90s. Nas' went triple plat and had multiple hits that resonate to this day...yet it's viewed as a failure.

Nas is held to a very high standard. He fell below that standard and rightfully got shytted on at times (Big Things, Nastradamus, etc) but often times I think people judge him based on what they WANT him to be.
Click to expand...


this is false.

and volume one was trashed in real-time.
 
SoulController

SoulController

Moderator
Staff member
Supporter
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
27,121
Reputation
5,644
Daps
65,354
Reppin
Almighty Garden State
there was a ton of misfires with the beats

collabs w/ X and Face ruined

its not a very likable album as time goes on, Nastradamas is probably a better album
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top