Nas "I Am..." Is underrated

[mitter]

I coulda swore the version the Source reviewed had 'Blaze A 50' 'Poppa Was A Playa' 'Drunk By Myself' 'The Fetus'. but I could be wrong about that.

As for the OG version of I am, there was a single disc version of the album that was leaked onto the internet and was heavily bootlegged, I used have it on CD back in the day, thats what I was referring to and I believe the Source reveiwed that version, but like I said, I could be wrong.

I know the single-disc bootleg you speak of, but it was not the intended final version (since it didn't feature songs like "Nas is Like", "Hate Me Now", and "You Won't See Me Tonight" that were intended to be on the final version all along)

Here is a post a made earlier about that bootleg:


"For people who don't know, a few months before the release date, a bootleg of I Am started floating around. It featured 14 tracks. If I can remember correctly, they were:

1. Fetus
2. Poppa Was a Player
3. Dr. Knockboot
4. Small World
5. We Will Surivive
6. Money is My B----
7. Day Dreamin' Stay Schemin'
8. Sometimes I Wonder
9. Find Ya Wealth
10. Wanna Play
11. Drunk By Myself
12. Blaze a 50
13. Project Windows (it had a different, better beat than the version later included on Nastradamus)
14. The Hardest Thing to do is Stay Alive



Four of these songs were released on I Am, the remixed version of "Project Windows" appeared on Nastradamus, "Find Ya Wealth" appeared on the QB's Finest compilation, and a few others appeared on The Lost Tapes.

There were some other unreleased songs floating around at the time that weren't on the 14-song bootleg and didn't appear on I Am either. "You Gotta Love It" and "Amongst Kings" come to mind.

Everyone knew that the bootleg was not the final album, since other tracks (such as "Nas Is Like") were already confirmed to be on the official version of I Am



A lot of people took the whole "grass is greener on the other side" approach and acted like I Am would have been much better if it included the unreleased songs from the bootleg. I am sure a slightly better version than the final version could have been created from all the songs floating around. But the unreleased songs were a mixed bag too (if people are being honest), so I don't think the official version of I Am was somehow wildly inferior to what we could have gotten."

 

[Ruby'sRevolver]

I think the single disc leak was just a sampler of disc 1 of the intended double LP, The tracklisting you posted seems different than the CD bootleg I had, mine had 'Nas is Like' and 'Undying Love' was the last song, it did not have 'Hate Me Now', tho. But anyway, I still believe the version that was reviewed by the Source was not the retail version of I Am.

 

[really tho]

I coulda swore the version the Source reviewed had 'Blaze A 50' 'Poppa Was A Playa' 'Drunk By Myself' 'The Fetus'. but I could be wrong about that.

As for the OG version of I am, there was a single disc version of the album that was leaked onto the internet and was heavily bootlegged (might have been a sampler of disc 1), I used have it on CD back in the day, thats what I was referring to and I believe the Source reveiwed that or the 2 disc version, but like I said, I could be wrong.

theres a post in boxden about it. not sure if its true or not. http://slumz.boxden.com/f87/remeber-nas-origanal-traklist-i-am-1216413/

the double disk as it was planned would have been probably
his greatest release ever !!

the end of the 90’s weren’t kind to Nas as he was forced to re-record his third album I Am…The Autobiography because it was leaked onto the internet. Rather than release the supposed double album as is, Nas scrapped the original track list and dropped just one disc. I Am… was still a commercial success thanks to the controversial “Hate Me Now” featuring Puff Daddy and the DJ Premier laced “Nas Is Like.” When it was time to release the second half of the disc, which was now called Nastradamus, he went against Columbia’s wishes to release the previously leaked material which was supposed to have been on the second disc to I Am…The Autobiography. For whatever reason, Nas decided to scrap those songs entirely and re-record a whole new album in less than seven months.

the orignal track list for iam the autobiography double disk

dsk 1

1. Fetus (Belly Button Window)
2. NY State Of Mind Pt. II
3. Life Is What You Make It
4. Small World
5. Hardest Thing To Do Is Stay Alive
6. Poppa Was a Playa
7. Nas Is Like
8. Blaze A 50
9. Favor For A Favor
10. We Will Survive
11. Some Of Us Have Angels
12. Project Windows
13. Day Dreaming, Stay Scheming
14. Sometimes I Wonder
15. Undying Love

dsk 2

1. After Life (Intro)
2. Amongst Kings
3. Life We Chose
4. Drunk By Myself
5. Pray
6. God Love Us
7. Ghetto Prisoners
8. Last Words
9. Family
10. Come Get Me
11. Find Your Wealth
12. U Gotta Love It
13. Wanna Play Rough
14. The Rise And Fall
15. My Worst Enemy

everyone of those tracks is a banger not one commercial song on there
when the source review the advance copy of it it got a 5
when the single disk version got released after the bootleg was leaked it got
a 4.5

 

[DPresidential]

Undying Love

This is arguably top 5 story telling songs(What HipHop is about) of all time in my book.


But why did he ask horse to come w/ him though? fukked his man's whole life up because of a cheating spouse...

 

[Primetime21]

I've been playing this album the last few days, besides Dr. Knockboot (also not really a fan of money is my bytch) I'm not seeing the flaws in this record.