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 While
the Lox were still together Jason Phillips, better known
as Jadakiss, always found a way to shine as a lyricist.
This seems like the main reason everyone had such high
hopes for his debut album. But when Kiss Tha Game Goodbye
dropped so did Jada's status in the hip hop community.
I believe that just about everyone who knows Jadakiss
knows him as a killer lyricist. He could have been in
the ranks with Hova, Nas, Big and Pac if it weren’t
for such disappointing sales on his last album. Kiss Tha
Game Goodbye turned out to be a complete flop. Jadakiss
had already proven he could rein champ on a 16 bar verse
but in the end proved to be a huge disappointment when
it came to putting together an album. But Jada never lost
hope because on June 22, 2004 he dropped his second solo
album Kiss of Death. The album features several different
producers including The Neptunes, Dr. Dre, Havoc, Kanye
West and Eminem. Also appearing on the album are Mariah
Carey, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Anthony Hamilton, Nate
Dogg, Styles P., Red Spyda, DJ Quik and Pharell.
 Differing
from the debut album Jada seemed to open up and be more
mature and become more personal with his audience. Jada
is trying to get his grown man on and he is definitely
doing a good job at it. The Kiss of Death included everything
from the gangster rap songs, like "Times Up"
featuring Nate Dogg, to the songs that are just for the
ladies such as the one featuring Mariah Carey entitled
" U Make Me Wanna".
One song that really stands out is "Why" which
features Anthony Hamilton on the hook. Jadakiss asks a
bunch on questions that I hear people asking all the time
such as “Why they stop letting n---- get degrees
in jail” and “Why they give you life for a
murder but turn around an d only give you eight months
for a burner”. " Why" is track number
six and this is one song you really should check out.
It is one that makes you sit back and think about what
really is going on in our community today.
I didn’t think Jada was capable of it anymore but
he proved me wrong. On the album he mentions that it took
him a long time to realize that his career was in his
own hands. I think once he realized that, he saw he could
make himself a success story and he threw himself into
his work and came out with a great album like this. His
laid-back style and distinctive voice just contribute
to taking him over the top.
Listening to most of the songs I couldn’t help but
hit repeat but a few weren’t worth listening to
the first time around. Included in this category are "Shine"
and "Bring You Down". Both of them had horrible
hooks, which ultimately destroyed the entire songs. Jadakiss
hasn’t made it to the top yet but if he can manage
to continue putting out albums of this magnitude and maybe
even step it up a notch or two I have no doubt that he
can climb to the top and maybe even take over the industry.
I
give the album three stars.
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