by Anthony Rupert Milwaukee, WI Reviewed on October 3rd, 2004
Jadakiss may not be the greatest rapper in the world, but he sure impressed people when he dropped verses on just about everybody's albums in the late `90s. But when it came time for his own album, Kiss the Game Goodbye, people listened to it and then said that he should do just that. And because of that album, I was cautious to pick up Kiss of Death. While I wouldn't necessarily say that this album is aptly titled, it does have some slip-ups.
But first I'll name the good songs. "Welcome to D-Block" is a dope posse cut featuring Sheek Louch, Styles P and Eminem (but isn't it kind of strange NOT to hear Eminem swearing?). And those of you that were embarrassed by "Kiss Is Spittin'" should enjoy "Time's Up". Not only do Jada and Nate Dogg have better chemistry this time around, but the song also rides a good beat provided by Scott Storch. Politically-charged raps also impress, like the hit single "Why" (with Anthony Hamilton). And the hard-times track "Still Feel Me" comes off better than most rappers' dwelling on that subject.
As I said before, though, there ARE some slip-ups on here. The Mariah Carey-assisted "U Make Me Wanna" has a really corny chorus; and speaking of corny, "Hot Sauce to Go" (with Pharrell) also fits into that category, despite having a smooth Neptunes beat. But the "Hot" skit between those two songs is stupid, mainly because Jada is singing part of Roger Troutman's "I Want to Be You Man" in a very silly-sounding voice. I know that's not supposed to be taken seriously, but it still doesn't work.
Sometimes production fails, too. "I'm Goin' Back" makes a big mistake by sampling the music from Atlantic Starr's "Secret Lovers", and the beat on "Shine" (with Snoop Dogg and DJ Quik) sounds like it's trying too hard to be a club-rocker. But even more so would be Kanye West's "Gettin' It In". The song as a whole is lame anyway, but Kanye drops what could possibly be the stupidest line of the year so far: "My apologies, are you into astrology?/'Cause, um, I'm tryin' to make it to Uranus."
By listening to the singles, you'd just wish that Kiss of Death was stronger. There ARE several good tracks, making it better than Jada's first album, but of course, that's not really saying much.
Anthony Rupert
P.S. In response to the reviewer that said eating at White Castle is better than this album, um...what are you talking about?
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