The King of New York.No matter where you’re from, the pulse of hip-hop has always resided in New York.And throughout my lifetime the torch has gone from the likes of Rakim, to Biggie and most recently to Jay-Z.And with the “retirement” of Jay-Z, who now will step up to the forefront and earn the crown?
“I’m top five dead or alive and that’s just off one LP” – Made You Look remix
Which brings us now to Jadakiss, owner of the famous raspy voice, sick flow and witty punch lines.Over the years he’s appeared on tracks with Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas and have more than held his own amongst some of rap’s all-time best.But is he one of the best MC’s off of his solo Kiss tha Game Goodbye?Hardly.Not with an LP that lacked direction and tried too hard to satisfy all audiences and not with a limited subject matter of guns and b*tches.What makes Biggie and Jay-Z amongst the greatest MC’s of all time is the ability to mix their subject matter; from MC’ing to commercial anthems, from gangsta records to introspective joints.
“Why they gotta open your package and read your mail
Why they stop lettin’ n*ggaz get degrees in jail
Why you gotta do eighty-five percent of your time
And why do n*ggaz lie in eighty-five percent of they rhymes” – Why
What immediately set Kiss of Death apart are Kiss’ introspective cuts.From the second single “Why”, we get the political and social commentary that makes rap such a powerful voice of the inner city.In addition, tracks like “Still Feel Me”, “Air It Out” and “I’m Going Back” give us a greater insight into the mind of Jason Philips.
Another quality Kiss has added to his arsenal is making more songs for the ladies.While he asked on his first LP “Are we f*ckin’ or what”, now he’s telling the ladies how “U Make Me Wanna”.
But long-time fans of Jadakiss have nothing to fear because Jada’s still keeping things gangsta and MC’ing with the best of them.On “Time’s Up”, we all know how Kiss parallel parks on the track.And in “Real Hip Hop”, Kiss and Sheek trade lyrical barbs on the best track Swizz Beatz has made in years.
Now is this album a classic?Not necessarily.Jadakiss can still stand to write better hooks and the beats for “Bring You Down” and “Kiss of Death” don’t measure up to the rest of the album.Although Jadakiss doesn’t take the King of New York crown outright he does put pressure on MC’s such as Nas and 50 Cent, to either come with their best or prepared to be shook.Therefore what Jadakiss accomplishes is validate and reaffirm his status as one of rap’s elite MC’s, no more no less.
Although Jadakiss doesn’t take the King of New York crown outright he does put pressure on MC’s such as Nas and 50 Cent, to either come with their best or prepared to be shook... WTF does that mean? Jada has to catch up to 50? 50 sucks, he's put out 2 albums, his first one was alright and the new one is horrible, Jada's been putting out some of the hottest shit since 50 cent was still gettin beat up in school.
From :
Tention boi
this album nice but it aint better than kiss of death i feel jada is and always will be the king of feat and 16s, but his albums never really give u what chu want they lack somewhere, but imma cop this coz imma kiss fan coz he derserves way more props than he gets vote jada for king of NY
From :
LILVOKA It's aiight, but not the best of Jadakiss.......
I live in a city where they continuously play "Why" every two hours. So already, I am not feeling it. But overall I actually like the banger "Time's Up" that Scott Storch and Dre at their best. Then also "What's You Mad About" a Neptune beat, and even adding a rapid hitter like Eminem (who produced) "Welcome to D-Block" with Styles P and Sheek Louch. Even though DMX, Eve, Drag-On, Cassidy and Jin are not located within any of the tracks, J-Hood and The LOX certainly keep the music rolling. The album is too commercial. Mariah Carey, DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell, Eminem and The LOX are featured in the album. Although commmerical, it's good. *NOTE: When Jadakiss release his next album, I hope he takes shot more at Bill O'Reilly and the president.
Jadakiss
Kiss of Death
