Nas - I Am...The Autobiography (Original Concept)

[TPAC_SHAKUR]

This album was originally to have been a double album titled I Am...The Autobiography, however most of the original sessions were bootlegged forcing Nas to discard many songs and adjust the release to one disc. I Am...became one of the first major label releases to be widely leaked using MP3 technology. Some of the leaked songs were later released on the compilation LP The Lost Tapes in 2002. The concept of this album as can be seen by tracks such as "Fetus" from The Lost Tapes was to be an autobiography of sorts for Nas. The original intended release was leaked out nearly a decade later on P2P sites.

Below is the original tracklisting for the double album, how sick would this release have been!

Disk 1

1. Fetus (Belly Button Window)
2. NY State Of Mind Pt. II
3. Life Is What You Make It
4. Small World
5. Hardest Thing To Do Is Stay Alive
6. Poppa Was a Playa
7. Nas Is Like
8. Blaze A 50
9. Favor For A Favor
10. We Will Survive
11. Some Of Us Have Angels
12. Project Windows
13. Day Dreaming, Stay Scheming
14. Sometimes I Wonder
15. Undying Love

Disk 2

1. After Life (Intro)
2. Amongst Kings
3. Life We Chose
4. Drunk By Myself
5. Pray
6. God Love Us
7. Ghetto Prisoners
8. Last Words
9. Family
10. Come Get Me
11. Find Your Wealth
12. U Gotta Love It
13. Wanna Play Rough
14. The Rise And Fall
15. My Worst Enemy

[mat_turbo]

This would have been muh more classic if this came out with tracks like fetus, blaze a 50, drunk by myself etc I didnt really like the retail release.

[stevo]

never heard of the album originally being intended as a double album, where did that come from?
the story i heard and that is probably spread the most is, that after the first version (13 tracks) got bootlegged, nas scrapped alot of those tracks and went back in the booth to record some new songs.

this 2 disc set just looks like a compilation of all the songs that were done for the album at one point.

[H.O.V.A.]

tbh while it's sad that the songs got leaked and gave birth to two mediocre LPs, if it wasn't for the leak, we wouldn't have gotten "The Lost Tapes." Kindof a gift and a curse.

I hope the original versions of the songs that appeared on LT surface.

[Frank Castle]

I really like I Am...........but not Nostradamaus so much.

But yeah it's a shame nas changed up his original concept because that double album would have been insane.

[TPAC_SHAKUR]

Here is some info on the original tracks that were going to be featured on I Am:

Fetus
A song that describes Nas’ birth through his mother’s womb. This song was later released on The Lost Tapes.

Poppa Was A Playa
Another song that describes Nas’ personal life; however, this one is about growing up with his father Olu Dara, which was later released on The Lost Tapes.

Drunk By Myself
This track describes Nas rhyming as an alcoholic, also released on The Lost Tapes.

Blaze A 50
A twisted tale where Nas is at his best; released on The Lost Tapes.

Wanna Play Rough
A gangster song which depicts a failed ambush on Nas’ Escobar persona, which was produced by Dame Grease and contains a sample from “The Message”. It was placed on a compilation album Live On Lenox.

Sometimes I Wonder
A street song that pays respect to the streets. This track features Nature and is still unreleased.

Hardest Thing To Do Is Stay Alive
Another twisted tale that depicts the drug game. This track is still unreleased.

U Gotta Love It
Nas breaks down street life over a smooth beat which includes a sample of AZ from It Was Written‘s “Affirmative Action”. This track can be found on The Lost Tapes.

Amongst Kings
The sequel to the staged suicide “Undying Love”, where Nas pleads with God for a second chance. “Amongst Kings” has Nas telling a story of being in the afterlife after begging for his life back and gets judged by God, who decides to give him another chance and sends him back as Natradamus. This track can be found on some international versions of I Am.

Pray
This track features the Bravehearts and can be found on the cassette version of I Am as a bonus track.

Find Ya Wealth
A motivational song which was later released on QB’s Finest.

Day Dreamin, Stay Schemin
Amusing track where Nas taunts people who want to rob him. It remains unreleased.

Project Windows
A song that describes childhood in the projects, it features Ron Isley and was later released on Nastradamus.

My Worst Enemy
A song where Nas talks about his life and decisions he made on the street but looks back and realizes his worst enemy was himself. This track is still unreleased.

The Rise And Fall
A song where Nas explains all the hardships he was going through in his career from the release of Illmatic to the release of It Was Written, where he supposedly fell off but rose back to the top. It contains samples from “Take It In Blood” and “Escobar ’97″ and remains unreleased.

[H.O.V.A.]

Weird that it says that some of the tracks are unreleased, unless they're referring to the fact that some songs haven't been released on retail albums.

[danIZA]

columbia really dropped the ball on this by not dropping the double disc, it woulda made them way more money. lost tapes > illmatic

[TPAC_SHAKUR]

Weird that it says that some of the tracks are unreleased, unless they're referring to the fact that some songs haven't been released on retail albums.

Thats exactly it, obviously they have leaked but have not been officially released