I Am

The Source (2/00, p.95) - Included in The Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year [1999]."
The Source (4/99, p.195) - 4.5 Mics (out of 5) - "...A cursory listen...will uncover traces of the lyricist we used to call nasty....And as further proof that reports of his demise may have been premature, the one man who has come to embody hip-hop's adoration of all things material declares Esco's continued existence..."
Muzik (5/99, p.81) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...a schizophrenic tour de force....there's something for everyone..."
Rolling Stone (4/29/99, p.66) 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...jumping from the virtues of getting heave, seven figure lifestyles and busting guns to existentialism and back again, all in seconds..."
Entertainment Weekly (4/2/99, p.91) - "...With the right choreography and costumes, I AM... could easily be marketed as rap's answer to RENT. And Nas may touch on enough universal themes--sex, death, inequity, jealousy, retribution--to convince high-falutin critics that his vision is worthy of serious analysis..." - Rating: B
New Musical Express (4/3/99, p.40) - "...This, after all, is what makes this autobiography far phatter than the average 25-year-olds."
CMJ (4/26/99, p.3) - "...suggests [Nas] has a firm grip on both his past and his present....[positions] him as a curiously contradictory figure in a world of one-sided rhyme heads..."