Jadakiss - Kiss Of Death (CD)

All Music Guide

The most startling thing about Kiss of Death is that Jadakiss dumped a bunch of Neptunes productions and kept only "Hot Sauce to Go," one of the record's poorest tracks. This, along with a particularly illsuited "soft and smooth track for the ladies" featuring a cartedin Mariah Carey, as well as a toofamiliarsounding Scott Storch production, are thankfully the only outright blights on an otherwise satisfactory showing. These issues aside, Jadakiss makes good on his promise to become a rounded lyricist and receives some valuable help in the form of tight production work from a handful of pros surprisingly enough, Swizz Beats' work on "Real Hip Hop" tops anything he did for Cassidy's debut, and the Red Spydamanned title track (bizarrely tucked near the end) is his most vicious track yet. No matter the number of bright moments, you can't help but feel that Jadakiss has his best days ahead of him. For further proof, listeners loooking to go deeper are strongly advised to seek out The Cham...p Is Here, a teaser Jadakiss mix presented by Big Mike and Green Lantern. Provided you can stomach the Will Smith version of Cassius Clay proclaiming "The champ is here" about every 30 seconds (Jada's cackle could've been kept in check a little more, too), you should find that it's actually superior to this fine record. - Andy Kellman , All Music Guide Read more Less