I had high hopes of this long awaited and overdue forth album from Alicia and I rate her as one of the most talented female vocalists in the neo soul genre, so I couldn’t wait to hear it. We were given a taste of As I am with the debut track- No one- which was a perfect choice in some ways as it had such a great impact and is a strong, classic sounding Alicia tune.

This song comprises everything that makes Alicia so talented and individual. However, I think this probably resulted in its downfall because the supporting tracks don’t quite hit you in the same way as No one and it fails to live up to the high expectations that we had. In addition there was a greater pressure with As I am; because of her break from the industry she was open to even more criticism as we hoped for an album which would effortlessly better her last three. I don’t want to sound too negative because this isn’t a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, it’s still Alicia and it‘s packed full of great sounding soulful (if a little more commercial) songs.

Demonstrating that unique Alicia sound that we know and love, which we can find in tracks like teenage love affair, tell you something (a song said to be written for her grandmother), a lesson learned and Wreckless love. The more I hear this album, the more it grows on me- it just has something missing and I think that the main problem is that it fails to deliver in the same way as Songs in A minor and The Diary of Alicia keys. However she continues to outshine others with her flawless vocals and her incredible piano skills (something that she deserves respect for alone)-this is definitely worth a listen.

Words by FunkyRoast
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