As I Am is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, released on November 9, 2007, by J Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording studios during 2005 to 2007. Production was handled primarily by Keys, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Jack Splash, and Linda Perry, with a guest contribution from musician John Mayer.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 742,000 copies in its first week, and was eventually certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It became an international commercial success and spawned four singles that achieved chart success, including "No One", which became the song most listened to of 2007 in the United States. Despite some criticism towards Keys' songwriting, As I Am received positive reviews from most music critics and earned Keys several accolades, including three Grammy Awards. It has sold over five million copies worldwide.
The album was reissued on November 10, 2008, outside North America, subtitled The Super Edition. The album contains three additional tracks (including "Another Way to Die", Keys' collaboration with Jack White for the 2008 film Quantum of Solace)[1] and a second disc of five performances at The Coronet in London.[2][3]
Keys had been working on the album since late 2005, but focused on it to a greater extent in 2006. She first mentioned the album's name to E! News reporter Giuliana Rancic on June 26, 2007, at the BET Awards red carpet pre-show. During the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards she confirmed that her album was finished. In December 2006, Keys told MTV News, "It's coming together incredibly. I am in love with this album. It's very fresh and new."[4]
The album was heavily promoted, and special advertising was arranged in collaboration with MTV before and during the week of release. The entire album was streamed on MTV's website, beginning on November 6, 2007, a week before the album's North American release date. Additionally, Keys was featured as MTV's Artist of the Week for the week beginning November 12, 2007.[5] MTV commissioned Evan Silver to direct series of nine humorous ads of Keys being harassed by someone in a bunny costume.[6] In the final spot, the bunny is revealed to be John Mayer.[7]
Singles[]
"No One" was released as the album's lead single on September 11, 2007. It peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Keys' third number-one single and charting within the top 10 in other international markets. Additionally, "No One" won two Grammy Awards in 2008 for Best R&B Song, and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The album's second single, "Like You'll Never See Me Again", was released in November of the same year and peaked at 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single, "Teenage Love Affair", peaked at number 54 in the US and reached the top five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single, "Superwoman", peaked at number 82 in the US and reached the top 20 on the R&B chart. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.[8]
As I Am received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 66, based on 22 reviews.[9]Jon Pareles of Blender felt that the album "advances" from her previous two albums "by showing an experimental side."[11]Spin commented that Keys' songwriting has improvement from her previous work.[17] In a rave review of the album, Gregory Stephen Tate of The Village Voice praised Keys for her vintage soul influence and called As I Am a "complete work".[20]NME perceived the album as a departure from Keys' previous albums and described it as "streetwise, smoky set of real soul".[14]Entertainment Weekly's Neil Drumming described it as "Keys' most polished – if, at times, edgeless – album to date".[12]Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote that "Keys isn't quite a superwoman come to save R&B from itself, but the timeless quality of As I Am is right on time."[21]USA Today called it Keys' "most cohesive studio album".[19] Nate Chinen of The New York Times stated "As I Am radiates not just confidence but also experience", and called it Keys' "strongest effort yet".[22] According to The Star-Ledger the album is "another solid effort" but "not the masterpiece that Keys seems capable of producing, someday".[23]
Keys' songwriting on the album received negative criticism from The Washington Post's J. Freedom du Lac, who called As I Am "disappointing" and wrote that it "reveals her considerable limitations as a lyricist".[24] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian called Keys "crashingly dull... her vaunted self-belief seemingly leaves no room for vulnerability, humour, insight or any of the other qualities possessed by the soul giants to whose stature she aspires".[13] Writing for Rolling Stone, critic Robert Christgau found the album's prevailing mood "reflectively soulful and the prevailing tempo mid".[16] In his consumer guide, Christgau gave it a one-star honorable mention () and quipped, "Nice girl holds out," while citing "Teenage Love Affair" and "Wreckless Love" as highlights.[25] Despite commending the album for its "more traditional soul" and pop-oriented sound, The Observer writer Stephanie Merritt perceived Keys' lyrics as a significant fault and wrote "for the most part, the lyrics are so reliant on stock phrases – 'feel your touch', 'hold me', 'shoulda known', etc – that you could read anything you like into them without them carrying any personal feeling at all".[26]Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot felt that the "main problem is that Keys' songwriting has yet to transcend her obvious influences".[27] Marisa Brown of AllMusic also viewed its lyrical quality as a weakness, but stated, "even though As I Am is a flawed work – a little too poppy, a little too clichéd – it is also indicative of what Keys can and will do".[10]
Accolades[]
"Like You'll Never See Me Again"
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The ballad received comparisons from music critics to the music of Prince.[12][22][24]
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The album was number 36 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[28] The song "Teenage Love Affair" was number 23 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[29]As I Am received two Grammy Awards for the song "No One" at the 2008 ceremony for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The following year, she won the award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Superwoman" and received two more nominations for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Lesson Learned" along with John Mayer and Best Short Form Music Video for "Another Way to Die" along with Jack White at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
The album won a 2008 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album, while "Like You'll Never See Me Again" won for Outstanding Song and Outstanding Music Video. At the 2009 NAACP Image Awards, the "Superwoman" was nominated for Outstanding Song and Outstanding Music Video; it lost both categories to will.i.am's "Yes We Can". "Like You'll Never See Me Again" was nominated for the BET Award for Video of the Year in 2008. The album won two 2008 American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. As I Am received a nomination for Album of the Year at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.
In 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked it number 33 in its Best Albums of the Past 25 Years list.[30] The album ranked at number 30 on Rolling Stone's list of "Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2012.[31]
Commercial performance[]
As I Am debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 742,000 copies sold in its first week, then the largest amount ever for any female artist since Norah Jones' Feels Like Home sold one million copies in its opening week in 2004, while becoming Keys' fourth consecutive number-one album on the chart.[32] The following week, the album dropped to number two on the chart, selling an additional 349,000 copies.[33] In its third week, it fell to number three, with 257,400 copies sold.[34] It was ranked the best-selling album overall and the best-selling R&B album of 2008 in the United States by Billboard,[35][36] while its lead single, "No One", became the most listened-to song in the country that same year.[37] In late 2009, it was ranked the 76th best-selling album of the decade in the US.[38] On August 11, 2020, the album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over four million units in the United States.[39]
Internationally, As I Am reached number one in Switzerland, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal, and the top 10 in Austria, Germany, and Poland.[40][41][42][43] As of May 2008, the album had sold over five million copies worldwide.[44]
^Christgau, Robert; Fricke, David; Hoard, DavidRob; Sheffield, Rob (December 17, 2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 200803 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
) and quipped, "Nice girl holds out," while citing "Teenage Love Affair" and "Wreckless Love" as highlights.[25] Despite commending the album for its "more traditional soul" and pop-oriented sound, The Observer writer Stephanie Merritt perceived Keys' lyrics as a significant fault and wrote "for the most part, the lyrics are so reliant on stock phrases – 'feel your touch', 'hold me', 'shoulda known', etc – that you could read anything you like into them without them carrying any personal feeling at all".[26] Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot felt that the "main problem is that Keys' songwriting has yet to transcend her obvious influences".[27] Marisa Brown of AllMusic also viewed its lyrical quality as a weakness, but stated, "even though As I Am is a flawed work – a little too poppy, a little too clichéd – it is also indicative of what Keys can and will do".[10]
