Jadakiss’ The Last Kiss
Jadakiss of the LOX recently released his third solo album “The Last Kiss” and sold over 100,000 copies in his first week as one of the most celebrated rappers out of New York.
While Nas and Jay-Z battle for the “King Of New York” throne, Jadakiss has quietly become the undisputed prince.
Play a Jadakiss track at your local house party or favorite watering hole, and New Yorkers resoundingly take notice.
The road to the top for Kiss started at age 17, when he gained aclaim for his battle-rap skills at the “Jack the Rapper Competition” in Florida. Dee and Wah of the Ruff Ryders (then a management company) took notice. Kiss began battling outside the Ruff Ryders’ studio where artists like DMX made their first hits.
In 1994, Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P formed a group they called the LOX and were signed to Bad Boy Records. The LOX formed a close relationship with deceased rap legend Biggie Smalls, and got their first multi-platinum single with “We’ll Always Love Big Poppa”, a tribute to B.I.G.
The LOX left Bad Boy and Jadakiss went on to release his first solo project, “Kiss Tha Game Goodbye”, which was Certified Platinum on September 21, 2001. The album spawned hits like “Knock Yourself Out”, “We Gonna Make It”, and “Put Ya Hands Up”.
His second album, “Kiss of Death”, was released in June 2004 and featured “Why?”. The song became one of the biggest hits of the year, reaching #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Kiss of Death” opened at number one on Billboard charts, selling 246,000 copies its first week.
Jadakiss’s third album, “The Last Kiss”, is his first album with Roc-A-Fella records. The album was released April 7, and sold 134,515 copies its first week to debut at number three on Billboard charts.
Kiss credits his loyal fanbase and longevity in the rap game for the success of the album, which is his third album to debut in the top five.
“I ain’t know what to expect now with the way the game is,” Kiss said in an interview with XXL magazine. “But I know I got a core fanbase,” Kiss added. “I got longevity, that’s why I got legs…It’s always good when you can say I told you so. It’s always good when you get the last laugh. But I’m just happy to be embraced after all these years, ’cause hip-hop fans’ ears change hourly. I’m (going to) be here for a while.”
The album opens with “Pain & Torture”, a testimony to Kiss’s struggles with the politics of hip-hop. The hook bellows “one false move will cost ‘ya/these lames will cross ya/don’t let the game extort ‘ya/try to learn from what the game has taught ya/I’m the author of slick talk, pain and torture.”
The album’s second official single “Can’t Stop Me” follows, and continues to deliver on a succession of well-delivered lyrics laced over melodic beats.
The playlist tails off until “One More Step”, a passionate back-and-forth featuring Kiss trading lines with LOX-mate Style P.
Pharrell joins in on “Stress Ya”, but fails to deliver the signature hook that has made his songs successful. “What If” features Nas and apparently tries to build on “Why?”, but lacks the charismatic beat and hook that made “Why?” successful.
The album closes with “Death Wish”, the official 4th single featuring Lil Wayne. The beat sounds more like a horror-movie theme than a hit song, and will unlikely garner the attention of radio executives.
“The Last Kiss” runs like a typical Jadakiss album and delivers several bop-your-head songs, but nothing spectacular. Jadakiss’s delivery carries the album, but fails to carry the listener through its entirety.
