As I Am by Alicia Keys Review

Bottom-Line: As I Am feels and sounds more personal, more wistful and wishful; Keys is singing about the state of her soul

Upon release, As I Am, like its predecessors won wide-spread critical acclaim and debuted on the charts at No. 1 selling some 742,000 copies in its first week of release making it her strongest debut album yet.  As of January 2008, As I Am had sold some three million copies worldwide; earning a triple-platinum designation, making it less successful than Songs in A Minor, but what's a million album sells between Diva and fans?

I enjoy As I Am on many levels; at least the music is authentically hers; in other words there is a decided and refreshing lack of featured artists (except John Mayer on track No. 6 Lessons Learned).  Ms. Keys in confident enough in her "street credentials" and musical seasoning to keep it real all on her own.  There are many gleaming musical facets to this album.  In additional to Ms. Keys own brand of funky, sultry soul, there is also an diverse mix of genres from contemporary jazz, to smoky salsa, from hip-hop to Pop; Ms, Keys has it covered and covered well on her third studio effort.  

But there is also a heavy Prince influence on all of Alicia Keys' CD's and As I Am is no different.  Prince's musical imprints can be clearly discerned on track No. 5 Like You'll Never See Me Again; the soft bass riffs and layered vocals are straight from Princes' signature ‘80's influenced funk.   

On As I Am, Alicia Keys has grown considerably.  Gone, mostly, is the street tinged songs that so marked her earlier work.  Here Ms. Keys, wrote and perform a more soulful brand of R&B, one that relates to, and pays homage to the artists that came before her and laid the tracks whereby R&B steamed into the fabric of American music. 

As I Am feels and sounds more personal, more wistful and wishful; Keys is singing about the state of her soul, and we are the recipients of a body of work well done, a group of songs that are thankfully devoid of Hip-Hop's brashness and hallow bravado.   As I Am is instead filled with the sweet serenity of old-school R&B, sweetened by a twist of contemporary flavor.