This is almost everyone's least favourite Nas album, as up to NASIR it deserved to be. However, I don't think it's as bad as most claim it to be. It's also not as poppy as some will have you believe, as really only two of the tracks ('Nastradamus' and 'You Owe Me') are a lot more commercial sounding than his other work. If this was Nas' first album or by some no-name rapper, I can't see it having the low rating it does. It's worth noting that as I Am... was originally going to be a double-disc album, but was one of the first major releases to be leaked on the net, that if things went as planned this album may never have happened. Anyway, one of the biggest problems here are some of the hooks which are not implemented well and make some tracks more boring - see 'Some of Us Have Angels' for an example of that. It's nowhere near his previous three albums or what he created in the future, but I still like about half of it. 'God Love Us', - which is one hook that I do love - 'Life We Chose' and 'Come Get Me' are three high-quality tracks worth hearing if nothing else. 3.5-3/5 Best Tracks: God Love Us, Life We Chose, Come Get Me