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"I Am" is a song by British singer and songwriter
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...
from her fifth studio album of the
same name. The song was written by Lewis,
Toby Gad
Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a Los Angeles-based German music producer/songwriter, best known for co-writing John Legend's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and producin ...
and
Eg White
Francis Anthony "Eg" White (born 22 November 1966) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He started his career in the cowpunk band Yip Yip Coyote in the 1980s and then formed Brother Beyond with his brother, David White, in the late ...
, with Gad and White producing it. Lyrically, "I Am" is about the feelings and emotions experienced by Lewis following her departure from her former record label
Syco
Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...
and its boss,
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
. It is a
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
-influenced track which makes use of strings, piano and drums as part of its instrumentation. Its composition garnered comparisons to singers
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
and
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall.
The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
.
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
released "I Am" on 17 July 2015 as the lead single for the United Kingdom, but it is the second single to be released from the album overall. Remixes by Fastlane and DEVolution were also released. The track garnered a positive response from music critics, many of whom praised Lewis' strong and emotive vocal performance and described it as a standout on the album. Lewis has performed the song live on ''
The National Lottery: In It to Win It'' and at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's
Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park festival.
Background and composition
"I Am" was written by
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...
,
Toby Gad
Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a Los Angeles-based German music producer/songwriter, best known for co-writing John Legend's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and producin ...
and
Eg White
Francis Anthony "Eg" White (born 22 November 1966) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He started his career in the cowpunk band Yip Yip Coyote in the 1980s and then formed Brother Beyond with his brother, David White, in the late ...
, with Gad and White producing the track, for Lewis's fifth studio album
of the same name (2015). It was published by
ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
and Atlas Music publishings (on behalf of itself and Gadfly Songs (ASCAP) and
Kobalt Music Group Ltd. White performed much of the song's instrumentation, and is credited with playing the piano, drums, bass and bells, as well as the string and drum programming. The strings were recorded by White and Kristian Larsen in Studio A at Kensaltown Studios, and were arranged by White, transcribed by Clarissa Farran, and contracted by Hilary Skewes. The violins were played by Marije Johnston, Kotono Sato, Max Baillie, Bea Lovejoy, Warren Zielinksi, Janice Graham, Helen Paterson and Hannah Dawson. Meghan Cassidy and James Boyd played the viola, while David Cohen and Ben Chappell played the cello. "I Am" was
mixed by Wez Clarke, with additional mixing carried out by Gad at Kite Music Studios in Los Angeles. The track's audio was
mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...
by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound studios in New York City, with assistance from Randy Merrill. Lewis provided all of the vocals for the track. For the acoustic version of "I Am", Gad undertook all of the instrumentation and also performed the mixing.
"I Am" is a
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
-influenced song. Some critics believe the lyrics allude to Lewis' emotions and feelings following her departure from
Syco Records
Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music rele ...
and
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
, her former label boss and friend.
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
writer Lewis Corner felt that the title track had very few barriers, exemplified by the lyrics "I am, with or without you / I am, breathing without you / I am, somebody without you."
Lewis performs the lyrics over an instrumentation of "rousing" strings and
breakbeat
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...
s.
As she sings "I won't change for you," a heavy drum beat and occasional piano chimes reminiscent of songs by
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
are played.
Release and remixes
On 30 June 2015, Lewis released a three-minute teaser video with snippets of "I Am", "Ladders, "Power" and "
Thunder
Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...
".
"I Am" was released as the second single from the album and lead single for the United Kingdom; it was not promoted in the United States due to the decision to release the album's third overall single "Thunder" as its lead single instead.
The full length version of "I Am" premiered on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
on 17 July 2015.
The same day, the track was made available as an automatic download for anyone who had previously pre-ordered the album.
A two-track remix
EP with dance remixes by Fastlane and DEVolution was also made available as a
digital download on 17 July in the United Kingdom,
Australia,
France,
Germany,
Ireland,
and New Zealand.
"I Am" was added to BBC Radio 2's B-list playlist on 15 August.
Critical reception
Kathy Iandoli of
Idolator
An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry.
Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books
*''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music
* Idolator (website), an American music blog
* ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
highlighted "I Am" as a "gorgeous standout" example of Lewis' ability to "just
ing
Ing, ING or ing may refer to:
Art and media
* '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film
* i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group
* The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes''
* "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
a song as opposed to using
auto-tune
Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances.
Auto-Tu ...
on "Power" and over-singing on "I Got You".
Lewis Corner of Digital Spy felt that the track put "Simon
owellin his place in a way
Louis Walsh
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later bec ...
could only dream of."
Brad O'Mance for
Popjustice
Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael Cra ...
likened the song to
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall.
The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
's 1991 song "
Unfinished Sympathy
"Unfinished Sympathy" is a 1991 song by the English trip hop group Massive Attack, released under the temporary group name Massive. It was written by the three band members Robert "3D" Del Naja, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Mar ...
" "with a different song on top",
while
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
writer Rob Copsey described it as "gutsy and uplifting".
However, Michael Clemons of ''
The Daily Reveille
The ''Daily Reveille'' has been since 1887 the student newspaper at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It prints once a week on Wednesdays during the fall, spring and summer semesters. The ''Daily Reveille'' has a weekly circul ...
'' thought that while it was not a stand out track, it was a good listen.
Chuck Campbell of ''Knoxville News Sentinel'' thought that the track's lyrical theme, and the album's theme as a whole, was flawed as a concept, writing "The problem with repeatedly declaring you don’t need the approval of someone who has wronged you is that your message is false. Clearly if Lewis indulges in six straight bitter songs about defiantly rebounding from a bad relationship (which she does on “I Am”), she obviously craves validation from the very person (or people) who did her dirty."
Live performance
Lewis performed "I Am" for the first time during a live showcase at the Hospital Club in London on 14 April 2015.
The singer premiered four other tracks from ''I Am'' including "Ladders", "I Got You", "Thank You" and "Fire Under My Feet".
Stefan Kyriazis of the ''
Daily Star'' described "I Am" and "Ladders" as "instant crowd pleasers".
Lewis later performed the track live on ''
The National Lottery: In It to Win It'' on 12 September 2015,
and again the following day at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's