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

[ThirdAct]

Couldn't Nas have released the OG version, despite it being leaked?

Absolutely...as its been pointed out, how many people would have really downloaded it in 98 anyway? A couple thousand tops? And only 13 songs got leaked anyway, not the full original double album

I blame Stoute and Sony, they was probably in Nas ear too much pushing him in the wrong direction

We still got a dope album overall but goddamn what it could have been

 

[spliz]

Absolutely...as its been pointed out, how many people would have really downloaded it in 98 anyway? A couple thousand tops? And only 13 songs got leaked anyway, not the full original double album

I blame Stoute and Sony, they was probably in Nas ear too much pushing him in the wrong direction

We still got a dope album overall but goddamn what it could have been

It was said that the bootlegged ranged in the 100s of thousands. Nas was on the radio pissed off about it. At that time it was strange cause people were still tryna figure out the internet mp3 shyt and the industry had no answer for it.

 

[ThirdAct]

Ah true. I understand his anger and get that the industry didn't know how to react to mp3s at the time and all that but they shoulda stuck with the OG game plan. Album woulda sold mad copies regardless, maybe even more than it did cuz it woulda been a double album.

 

[Ziggiy]

Absolutely...as its been pointed out, how many people would have really downloaded it in 98 anyway? A couple thousand tops? And only 13 songs got leaked anyway, not the full original double album

I blame Stoute and Sony, they was probably in Nas ear too much pushing him in the wrong direction

We still got a dope album overall but goddamn what it could have been

It was said that the bootlegged ranged in the 100s of thousands. Nas was on the radio pissed off about it. At that time it was strange cause people were still tryna figure out the internet mp3 shyt and the industry had no answer for it.

I think what happened was that Columbia got flashbacks from the Illmatic leaks and panicked. Which caused Nas to rush out new recordings, which mostly hurt Nastradamus.

 

[IAmListenin']

I remember buying it from Virgin Megastore at the time, didn't particularly care for it, and it gathered dust.

 

[flah_neon]

it was wayyyyyyyy too clean........like it was on some puff daddy pop shyt.......its mixed wayyyy too bright

 

[Big Mark]

I still say that Mass Appeal need to do an investigative report on the album. They need to get deep into the concept, the recording process, the leak and bootlegging and the change of plan. Come on Mass Appeal, she’d some light on it. This could change some people’s perspective on the album... you know how Jay Z self proclaimed Resonable Doubt as a classic.

 

[spliz]

I think what happened was that Columbia got flashbacks from the Illmatic leaks and panicked. Which caused Nas to rush out new recordings, which mostly hurt Nastradamus.

Nastradamus only exists because of the I Am bootleg fiasco.

 

[ThirdAct]

I still say that Mass Appeal need to do an investigative report on the album. They need to get deep into the concept, the recording process, the leak and bootlegging and the change of plan. Come on Mass Appeal, she’d some light on it. This could change some people’s perspective on the album... you know how Jay Z self proclaimed Resonable Doubt as a classic.

With a playlist consisting of the OG tracklisting containing unreleased songs like Kids Have All the Fun for the 20th anniversary

 

[blankstairz]

"I Am" and "Nastradamus" were just

You could forgive Nas reaching for sales with the Trackmaster beats on IWW because the lyrics were so on point.

"I AM" just felt like a let down. "Nastradamus" felt more of the same. Not wack, but not great either. Just didn't hit you like Illmatic and IWW.

The "I AM" "Natradamus" period was a weird phase for Nas.

For real, kinda glad Jay released Takeover.

Because Nas had been sleepwalking for a minute. Jay woke a sleeping giant in Nas, and Nas came back in full force with Ether and Stillmatic, and ain't looked back since.

 

[Izanami]

Nas most underrated album and easily his most balanced album. It has something for every Nas fan. Street shyt, poetic shyt, club shyt, conscious shyt, political shyt, storytelling shyt, radio shyt. All executed to the highest quality. The bootleg myth kind of puts dim light on the album imo. I call it a myth because it featured 0 singles that would’ve pushed the album to its commercial success. 4.5 Mics well deserved

 

[ThirdAct]

Nas most underrated album and easily his most balanced album. It has something for every Nas fan. Street shyt, poetic shyt, club shyt, conscious shyt, political shyt, storytelling shyt, radio shyt. All executed to the highest quality. The bootleg myth kind of puts dim light on the album imo. I call it a myth because it featured 0 singles that would’ve pushed the album to its commercial success. 4.5 Mics well deserved

I think after IWW, Nas was basically superstar status...I mean dude starred in his own movie that he wrote the year before...he woulda went platinum regardless....plus I Am moved mad units with Nas Is Like as its leadoff, which is not the type of song you would think of as a commercial joint

 

[JustCKing]

Also, when people talk about the double album and make track lists, "The Curse" is never included on those tracklists. That song was apart of the album. I don't think it exists in full, but you hear the fade out of "Hate Me Now" at the beginning. I remember the snippet being highly coveted on the old Nas message board. There was a fan at a Nas Q&A session who asked Nas about the song and Nas was in awe that people even knew the song existed.

 

[Big Mark]

Also, when people talk about the double album and make track lists, "The Curse" is never included on those tracklists. That song was apart of the album. I don't think it exists in full, but you hear the fade out of "Hate Me Now" at the beginning. I remember the snippet being highly coveted on the old Nas message board. There was a fan at a Nas Q&A session who asked Nas about the song and Nas was in awe that people even knew the song existed.

Yeah, that his thing. Not completing certain songs. One article I read said that Nas falls out of love with some of the music and never completes it. I would venture to say that Nas probably has as many half way completed unreleased tracks as he does completed ones.

 

[Sinister]

Soley off of family and new world I prefer Nastradamus.

Even the title track was catchy.