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.