I AM YOU is the debut mixtape by the Gifford, Florida native, YNW Melly. The project follows up on Melly’s debut project, Collect Call EP. The most notable track on the mixtape, “Murder on My Mind” was released almost two years prior to the release of I AM YOU. It was released on March 4, 2017, to SoundCloud and on March 10, 2017, to YouTube. On March 24, 2018, Melly first hinted at the release of the first promotional single, “Virtual (Blue Balenciagas)” after re-tweeting a Tweet reading “YNW Melly – Virtual.” Melley later announced the official release via a Tweet. Originally, the music video was uploaded to WORLDSTARHIPHOP. Two days after, Melly uploaded the same music video to his channel. On April 20, 2018, the track became available on streaming platforms. Three days after the official release of “Virtual (Blue Balenciagas),” Melly announced the mistake via a Tweet, hinting at a May 2018 release: Album on the way Official date coming soon!! Retweet A song you want to hear on it 🤔 #Ynw #May 2018 Later on May 6, just five days prior to Melly’s birthday he Tweeted: Album On the way 🤧 how Many songs y’all want?? #ynw The audio for the second promotional single, “Slang That Iron” officially released on May 15, 2018, via WORLDSTARHIPHOP. On May 18, the track was available on streaming services. On June 1, 2018, Melly also released the audio for “Murder on My Mind” on all streaming services and the official music video for “4 Real” via WORLDSTARHIPHOP. “4 Real” was released on streaming services on June 17, 2018. While hinting the release of the music video for “Murder on My Mind,” on July 4, 2018, Melly announced the release date of the mixtape for July 20 while asking what features fans would like, he captioned: Tag an artist you want to see feature on my project? 🤔 #july20th #iamyou #ynw On July 7, 2018, Melly previewed a video of the cover art photoshoot with his girlfriend Mariah Hamilton. He previewed the photoshoot again the day later while captioning: i am you and you are me we are one. #iamyou #july20th18 official cover on the way @phototea 🌟🌍 #ynw #freetrell Melly also previewed a snippet with Lil Uzi Vert on July 9 which did not make it onto the mixtape. Later in the month, on July 20, the release date, Melly announced that the project would be pushed back to August 3, 2018. Melly did the while promoting the music video for his single, “Medium Fries.” He captioned: Unfortunately my project #iamyou been pushed back till August 3rd 😞 last min adjustments .. couldn’t leave all my supporters empty Handed ❤️new video out now @worldstar 🌍🐍 #ynw @_andrewlambert Four days later on July 27, Melly officially announced the cover art via Twitter. To promote the mixtape, Melly said that he’d FaceTime five people who’d comment the most on the Tweet. The official music video for “Slang That Iron” was released on July 20, 2018. On August 3, 2018, I AM YOU was released alongside the official music video for “Murder on My Mind.” Three days later, on August 6, 2018, the official music video for “I Am You” was released via WORLDSTARHIPHOP. After participating in many interviews to promote the mixtape, on August 20, Melly appeared in a Genius Verified video for “Virtual (Blue Balenciagas)” explaining the lyrics for the video. On December 12, 2018, Melly again appeared in a Genius Verified interview for “Murder on My Mind” explaining the lyrics. He later performed the song live on January 17, 2019. On February 15, 2019, Melly’s management had released the official music video for “Mama Cry” after Melly had turned himself in after a warrant was put out for his arrest for two counts of first-degree murder. Prior to his incarceration, the album had made its way onto the Billboard 200 debuting at #192. It later peaked at #20.