WERS 88.9 fm - Album Review: Jadakiss - The Last Kiss

 August 27th, 2009

Jadakiss starts of his third solo album and "best rapper since B.I.G. died" campaign with what he's synonymous with, "Pain and Torture." As he claims, "Me versus any rapper is slaughter/Something like a poet and an author/Only difference is I mix slick talk with pain and torture." Jada's street single, "Who's Real," sets the hood on fire with Swizz Beats behind the boards and following up on the hook alongside a verse from OJ Da Juiceman who is not able to maintain the lyrical spit fire started by Kiss. On "One More Step," Jada and Styles continue their legendary back-and-forth rapping every two to three bars the only way they can, showing their superior lyrical ability with lines like, "This is audio crack/Guess who's cheffin' this/Jadakiss and S-P/Do this effortless." Another legendary collaboration takes place on, "What If," featuring Nas. The track is sort of a continuation of "Why," off of Jadakiss's 2004 album, Kiss of Death. Jada asks questions like, "What if the Lox would've signed with Suge?/What if Puffy never signed us?/What if Oprah made those comments like Imus?" Nas continues to boggle the mind with questions like, "What if I was just another corner rapper? What if I went before Notorious? Who would tell my story after?" On this track, Nas and Jada raise questions that will put you in a different mind frame in the only way two of the Top 10 MCs of all time can do.

The greatness continues with the most sincere track on the album, "Things I've Been Through." This track gives you a different side of Jada as he expresses the emotions he's felt through his time in the game. "Was bouncing label to label, just trying to get the horse out of the stable"… "Willing to do anything to be a Bad Boy at the time/so I rolled the dices, nah the money didn't add up/but just that whole experience it was priceless." With the Luther Vandross sample in the hook, this track really allows fans to connect with Jada on a different level. The emotions continue on "Letter To B.I.G." featuring Faith Evans. On the track, Jada raps a letter to Notorious B.I.G. in heaven, updating him on all his personal developments and the game as a whole. The album also contains other apperances from Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Young Jeezy, Jazmine Sullivan, Ne-Yo, Lil Wayne and more. All in all, Jadakiss has dropped another great album. With Hip Hop lacking a steady flow of quality new albums and MCs, Jada provides a breath of fresh air while solidifying his spot as one of the greatest rappers of all-time.

-J Leader Of The New... FEEN The Movement