After his sophomore album It Was Written, Nas teamed up with AZ, Foxy Brown, and childhood friend Cormega (later replaced by Nature) to form The Firm, a supergroup who would release a single solo album largely produced by Dr. Dre. A commercial success, but a critical failure, Nas spent much of 1998 writing and starring in the gangster flick Belly, as relative newcomers Jay-Z and DMX took over hiphop, selling millions upon millions of records and captivating the public with gritty street tales over pop-oriented production. Gone, but not forgotten however as guest appearances and sightings whetted the public appetite for a new Nas album. But not the new Nas, not Nas Escobar: Nasty Nas, the Nas of Illmatic. And Nas was ready to give it to them: a double disc called I Am, with which he’d reclaim his acclaim.
Sadly, this was not to be. The album leaked. A review of the proposed tracklisting, including many songs that have subsequently been released (many on Nas’ later compilation The Lost Tapes), reveals that this indeed might have been the poetic tour de force that everyone expected. But the rapper rushed back into the studio to record new material. Knowing that the resulting material is rushed however won’t necessarily mitigate the album in the eyes of the listener.
The first single, Nas is Like, is one of the rapper’s best songs bar none. Reuniting with DJ Premier, Nas’ stream-of-consciouness rhymes instantaneously recall the poetry of Illmatic. The problem is that this song is completely unlike the rest of the album. The second single, the sprawling Hate Me Now with Diddy ranting a la The Notorious B.I.G.’s Long Kiss Goodknight is. A retort to critics and revivals, it is anthemic yet shallow, with the merest hints the rapper is capable of more:
“It’s a thin line between paper and hate
Friends and snakes, nine millis and thirty-eights
Hell or the pearly gates; I was destined to come
Predicted, blame God, he blew breath in my lungs…”
I Am is filled with similar pop-crossover tunes, more so than It Was Written, such as You Won’t See Me Tonight (with Aaliyah). Dr. Knockboot is cute but ultimately trite. Reigning king of hardcore DMX phones in a verse on the limpid Life is What You Make It. And Big Things, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, and Money is My B—- all suffer from shallow subject matter and overblown production.
Further misfires ensue: He squanders his reputation for delivering thought provoking verses by ranting about facile conspiracy theories on I Wanna Talk to You. And Favor for a Favor wastes the often profound Scarface on a mediocre gangster track. Like his sophomore effort, this album feels heavily influenced by the trends of the day: big name producers (Trackmasters, Timbaland, Dame Grease of the Ruff Ryders camp) providing often over-the-top beats (see Big Things or Money is My B—-), and more aggressive rhymes a la DMX and a young 50 Cent, who Nas would meet and work with around this time. It is however a bit more palatable because we’ve heard from Nas Escobar before, and have some sense of what to expect.
There are definitely some highlights here though, such as the rousing and insightful Ghetto Prisoners, which showcases the rapper’s ability to edutain (simultaneously educate and entertain; a portmanteau word coined by legendary rapper KRS One). The album begins with N.Y. State of Mind Part II, featuring the same excellent DJ Premier beat as the original. Here though Nas abandons the punch line heavy flow of the original in favor of vivid descriptions of growing up in the inner city. It’s hard not to compare the two: Nas has slowed down his earlier double-time flow in favor of a slower drawl and there are fewer memorable lines. But the storytelling on Part II makes the two records fundamentally different and incomparable.
What sticks out the most about this record beyond its unevenness is in fact the storytelling. Small World is a masterful track about karma. We Will Survive is a moving tribute to Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., recounting their exploits and their legacies. And the album closer, Undying Love, is a haunting tale of love and betrayal. Relying heavily on ellipsis and poetic phrasing, truly Nas has cemented himself as hip-hop’s preeminent storyteller, much the way Slick Rick was at his peak.
But the album, clearly brimming with potential, is undermined by its radio concessions and its thematic ambitions. Taken as a whole, it is frustratingly contradictory: he is both unrepentant criminal and socially conscious poet, greedy and selfless, misogynistic and romantic. While most people are contradictions, the context of those contradictions is precisely what this album lacks. It is so hyperbolic that you never get an even adequate sense of Nas the rapper or Nasir Jones the man, either or both of which the album purports to convey. Instead, you only see what he is capable of and while both his abilities and range are laudable, his focus is not. Again, how much of this is truly due to the circumstances of its production are unknown, but any new listeners will likely not care, and instead be somewhat disappointed by a disjointed album from one of hip-hop’s greatest talents.
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