As I Am

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As I Am is the Grammy Award-winning third studio album by American R&B/soul singer Alicia Keys, and was released on November 13, 2007. The album sold 742,000 copies in its first week. This amount is the largest ever first week sales for any female R&B artist, and is also one of the largest first week sales for any female artist in the USA. debuted at number one on the Worldwide chart with sales of 876,000. It features appearances by John Mayer, Marsha Ambrosius, Linda Perry, and others.[1]

Background

Production

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 the 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. Earlier Keys said to MTV: "It's coming together incredibly. I am in love with this album. It's very fresh and new".[2]

Promotion and release

File:John Mayer and Alicia Keys MTV spot.jpg
John Mayer and Keys in the final MTV promotional ad for As I Am.

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 MTV Artist of the Week for the week beginning November 12, 2007.[3] MTV commissioned Evan Silver to direct series of nine, humorous ads of Keys being harassed by someone in a bunny costume.[4] In the final spot, the bunny is revealed to be John Mayer.[5]

Reception

Critical response to the album was mixed. Giving the album three out of five stars, Rolling Stone found the album's prevailing mood "reflectively soulful and the prevailing tempo mid."[6] The New York Times said that "As I Am radiates not just confidence but also experience," and added, "On the whole it's her strongest effort yet."[7] People magazine said that while not "veering too much from the Keys playbook," Keys "continues to scale artistic heights on As I Am" and gave the album three and a half stars.[8] This album was #36 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[9] The song "Teenage Love Affair" was #23 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[10] In People Magazine's Best (And Worst!) of 2007 issue, they noted the top ten albums of the year, and As I Am was ranked #1. The album was ranked the #11 biggest selling album of 2007 by UWC, with sales of 3,222,000, in spite of its release less than a month before year figures are compiled.[11] it was also ranked the #4 biggest selling album of 2007 in the United States with sales of 2,543,000 units.[12] As I Am has been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA as of January 3, 2008[13] The album received two Grammys for the song No One at the 2008 Grammy Awards

Track listing

Standard edition

  1. "As I Am (Intro)" (Alicia Keys) – 1:52
  2. "Go Ahead" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, Mark Batson, Marsha Ambrosius) – 4:35
  3. "Superwoman" (Alicia Keys, Linda Perry, S. Mostyn) – 4:34
  4. "No One" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, George Harry) – 4:13
  5. "Like You'll Never See Me Again" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers) – 5:15
  6. "Lesson Learned" (featuring John Mayer) (Alicia Keys, John Mayer) – 4:13
  7. "Wreckless Love" (Alicia Keys, Harold Lily, Jack Splash) – 3:52
  8. "The Thing About Love" (Alicia Keys, Linda Perry) – 3:49
  9. "Teenage Love Affair" (Alicia Keys, Harold Lily, Jack Splash, Josephine Bridges, Carl Mitchell Hampton, Tom Nixon) – 3:10
  10. "I Need You" (Alicia Keys, Mark Batson, Harold Lily, Paul Green) – 5:09
  11. "Where Do We Go from Here" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, Harold Lily, Johnnie Frierson, Mary Lou Cross) – 4:10
  12. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Alicia Keys) – 2:07
  13. "Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise)" (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers, Ron Haney, Paul Green, Novel Stevenson, S. Mostyn) – 4:28
  14. "Sure Looks Good to Me" (Alicia Keys, Linda Perry) – 4:31

Bonus tracks

  2. "Waiting For Your Love" (iTunes/UK bonus track) – 3:53
  3. "Hurt So Bad" (iTunes pre-order bonus) – 2:56

Limited Edition DVD

A limited CD/DVD edition was released alongside the standard single disc. The DVD contains:

  1. "Live Performance Of 3 Songs From The Forthcoming Hollywood Bowl DVD"
  2. "Footage Of 'The Making Of' The Album Shoot"
  3. "Behind The Scenes From "No One" Video Shoot"
  4. "No One" Video (Only in the sticker, the video doesn't appear in the DVD, it's a typo)[14]

Limited Pressing Double LP

A limited number of vinyl records were pressed on double red vinyl at Nashville's historic United Record Pressing. They contain the 14 standard tracks divided into two vinyls with 7 tracks each.

Personnel

The following musicians and technicians worked on As I Am:[15]

Musicians

Crew

Charts

As I Am has spent fifteen weeks inside the top three on the Billboard 200 so far, with four unconsecutive weeks at number one.

Chart Provider(s) Peak
position 		Certification Sales/shipments
Argentinian Album Chart[16] CAPIF 9
Australian Albums Chart[17] ARIA 3 Platinum[18] 70,000[19]
Australian Urban Album Chart 3
Austrian Albums Chart[17] Media Control Europe 9
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[20] IFPI/Ultratop 47
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[21]
Brazil Album Chart[22] 7
Canadian Album Chart[23] CRIA 2 uncertified
Danish Album Chart[24] IFPI/Nielsen Music Control 22
Estonian Album Chart[25] Pedrobeat 96
European Top 100 Albums[26] IFPI 3
Finnish Album Chart[17] IFPI 24
French Album Chart[27] IFPI 5 Gold[28] 75,000[19]
German Albums Chart[17] Media Control 6 Gold[29] 100,000+[19]
Greek Albums Chart[30] IFPI
Greek International Albums Chart[31] 19
Irish Albums Chart[17] IRMA 15 Gold[32]
Italian Album Chart[17] FIMI 1
Japan Oricon Album Chart[17] Oricon 4 178,005[33]
Netherlands Album Chart[17] Megacharts/NVPI 2 uncertified[34]
Mexican Albums Chart[35] AMPROFON 58
New Zealand Album Chart[17] RIANZ 5 Gold[36] 7,500+[19]
Norwegian Album Chart[17] IFPI 20 uncertified[37]
Polish Albums Chart[38] OLiS 7 Gold[39] 15,000[19]
Portuguese Albums Chart[17] AFP/Nielsen 7 Gold 10.000+
Spanish Album Chart[40] PROMUSICAE 12 Gold 40,000+
Swedish Album Chart[17] GLF 15
Swiss Albums Chart[17] Media Control 1 Platinum 30,000
UK Albums Chart[17] BPI/OCC 11 Gold[41] 100,000+[19]
U.S. Billboard 200[17] Billboard 1 3x Platinum 3,206,842[42]
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[26] 1
United World Chart Media Traffic 1 2x Platinium 4,685,000

References

  1. ^ "Alicia Keys Links With Linda Perry & John Mayer For New CD, Eyes October Release". SOHH Soulful. July 11 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Alicia Keys Kills — Literally — In Film Debut, 'Smokin' Aces'". MTV Movie News. January 2 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ MTV The Leak MTV.com Retrieved 2007-11-15
  4. ^ Silver, Evan (October 10, 2007). "Alicia Keys video shoot in Harlem" Evan Silver's blog. Retrieved 2007-11-15
  5. ^ "The Big Reveal" MTV.com Retrieved 2007-11-15
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (2007-11-15), "As I Am". Rolling Stone. (1039):192. Retrieved November 14, 2007
  7. ^ Chinen, Nate (2007-11-12) "Vintage Sounds, Yet Little Nostalgia". New York Times. 157 (54126):B1-B7
  8. ^ Arnold, Chuck (2007-11-19), "As I Am". People. 68 (21):53
  9. ^ Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007). Fox News' unrated review declared that "Keys still hasn't produced a classic -but, oh, she's so tantalizingly close. Once again,[Keys] comes up with some brilliant music. But what's more important is that even the songs that fail to live up to that standard are, for the most part, pretty memorable on their own, resulting in a near-great, cohesive record." [4] "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
  10. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
  11. ^ United World Chart - Top Albums 2007
  12. ^ Nielsen Soundscan Year In Music 2007
  13. ^ As of February 7th, 2008 As I am has stayed in the top 3 of Billboard 200 for eleven consecutive weeks, and has been #1 for 4 non-consecutive weeks. It is so far, her lowest selling studio album. [1]
  14. ^ http://www.sanity.com.au/product/product.asp?sku=2102263 CD/DVD release
  15. ^ As I Am CDUniverse.com Retrieved 2001-11-15
  16. ^ CAPIF ::: Representando a la Industra Argentina de la Música :::
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Alicia Keys - As I Am worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved November 20 2007.
  18. ^ ARIA 2007 Creditation Charts
  19. ^ a b c d e f IFPI Table on Worldwide Certifications
  20. ^ Belgium Wallonia Album Chart
  21. ^ Belgium Flanders Album Chart
  22. ^ http://www.hot100brasil.com/chtalbums.html
  23. ^ Canada Album Chart
  24. ^ Denmark Album Chart
  25. ^ Estonian Album Chart
  26. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference US Charts was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Classement officiel des meilleures ventes de disques Albums en France du 11.11.07 au 17.11.07
  28. ^ IFPI France 2007 Certifications
  29. ^ German Gold and Platinum Search Engine
  30. ^ http://www.ifpi.gr/chart04.htm Greek Albums Chart]
  31. ^ Greece International Albums Chart
  32. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/awards/gold07.htm
  33. ^ Japanese Sales - アリシア・キーズ 「アズ・アイ・アム. Oricon. Retrieved on March 10, 2008
  34. ^ NVPI Certification Search database
  35. ^ Mexican Albums Chart
  36. ^ RIANZ Chart Top 40 List. RIANZ. Retrieved on February 11, 2008
  37. ^ IFPI Norwegian Certification Search Engine
  38. ^ OLiS - Offical Retail Sales Chart. olis.onyx.pl. Retrieved November 19 2007.
  39. ^ Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry - Gold Cerifications
  40. ^ [2]. promusicae.org. Retrieved November 20 2007.
  41. ^ BPI - Statistics - Certification Awards
  42. ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6500/title.hip-hop-album-sales-week-ending-3-2-08
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album (first run)
December 1 - December 7 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United World Chart number-one album (first run)
December 1 2007 - December 15 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United World Chart number-one album (second run)
January 12 2008 - January 19 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album (second run)
January 26 2008 - February 8 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Soushi Souai 2 by Bank Band
 United World Chart number-one album (third run)
February 9 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album (third run)
February 16 2008 - February 22 2008 		Succeeded by
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