The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 482,000 copies in its first week, giving Knowles her third consecutive number one album.
"You can hear with 'If I Were A Boy', it's not a traditional R&B song," Beyonce explains. "It's difficult to grow and to break out and do new things because people have strong expectations. I feel like at this point, I wanted people to hear songs with stronger lyrics and songs that made you feel. I love singing ballads because I feel like the music and the emotion in the story is told so much better. It's a better connection because you can hear it and it's not all these other distractions. I really wanted people to hear my voice and hear what I had to say."
"If I Were a Boy" was written by Toby Gad and BC Jean
In a Billboard magazine interview, Knowles has described the two sides of the album: "... One side has songs that are more mainstream and another has my more traditional R&B songs for my fans who've been there the whole time. Some of it sounds like Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter and the Beatles around the 1970s."
The standard track listing of the album contains eleven songs, six in the first disc and five in the second. The deluxe edition adds bonus tracks, containing eight tracks in each disc.
Standard edition
Disc 1: I Am…
- "If I Were a Boy" (BC Jean, Toby Gad) – 4:09
- "Halo" (Knowles, Tedder, Evan "Kidd" Bogart) – 4:21
- "Disappear" (Knowles, Ghost, Dave McCracken, Dench) – 4:27
- "Broken-Hearted Girl" (Knowles, Eriksen, Hermansen, Babyface) – 4:37
- "Ave Maria" (Knowles, Eriksen, Hermansen) – 3:41
- "Satellites" (Knowles, Ghost, McCracken, Dench) – 3:06
- "Save the Hero" (iTunes bonus Track) – 4:33
- "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (Knowles, Stewart, Nash, Harrell) – 3:13
- "Radio" (Knowles, Jonsin, Love, D-Town) – 3:38
- "Diva" (Knowles, Crawford, Garrett) – 3:20
- "Sweet Dreams" (Knowles, Jonsin, Love, Wilkins) – 3:28
- "Video Phone" (Knowles, Crawford & Garrett) – 3:35
- "Why Don't You Love Me" (B. Knowles, S. Knowles, Bama Boyz) (iTunes International Bonus Track) – 3:23
Disc 1: I Am…
- "If I Were a Boy"
- "Halo"
- "Disappear"
- "Broken-Hearted Girl"
- "Ave Maria"
- "Smash Into You"
- "Satellites"
- "That's Why You're Beautiful" (Knowles, Andrew Hey) – 3:41
- "Save the Hero" (Japan & iTunes bonus Track) – 4:33
- "Si Yo Fuera un Chico" (Spain iTunes bonus track) – 4:09
- "Single Ladies
- "Radio"
- "Diva"
- "Sweet Dreams"
- "Video Phone"
- "Hello"
- "Ego" (Knowles, Elvis Williams, Harold Lilly) – 3:56
- "Scared of Lonely" (Cristyle Johnson, Jerkins) – 3:42
- "Why Don't You Love Me" (B. Knowles, S. Knowles, Bama Boyz) (Japan & iTunes Bonus Track) – 3:23