Jadakiss

Jadakiss is fond of, a propos of nothing, routinely referring to himself as "Top 5, dead or alive." This album, rumored to be his swan song, should finally, and with great authority, put that claim to rest.

It's not that Jada isn't skilled, or that The Last Kiss is completely bereft of good verses –Jada can be a beast when he's focused, and his gravelly rumble has gutted more than a beat or two in his time. The problem is that Jada refuses to recognize what he's good at–spitting hot 16s. His hooks are flaccid, his songwriting skills are nil, his business acumen is mediocre at best, and his ad-libs are among the most grating in the game. He’s just a very good rapper, with limited range at that. Nothing more, and nothing less. And that’s great–if anything, hip-hop needs more spitters like Jada.

But Jada won’t recognize that. And The Last Kiss, unfortunately, exposes what has become Jada’s biggest flaw–his inability to come to terms with the extent of his talents. Instead of more lyrically focused street tracks like "Pain & Torture" and the Lil Wayne-featuring "Death Wish," we get expensive-sounding, wannabe club anthems like "Who’s Real," tedious, snooze-inducing tracks like "What If," and a host of tracks featuring nameless R n' B singers crooning tepid hooks that make large chunks of the album virtually un-listenable.

The Last Kiss, then, does exactly what an album shouldn’t do—it encapsulates its artist's flaws more than it showcases his talents.

Great rappers figure out their boundaries, and they make their mark using the skill sets they actually possess, not the ones they imagine they possess. They make castles in the sandbox they’re sitting in. Jada hasn't quite figured out which sandbox he’s sitting in, unfortunately, and until he does—if he does—the lyrically devastating classic he may have in him is going to stay there.

—Matthew Mundy
04.22.09

In a genre where albums frequently miss their street date, Jadakiss' The Last Kiss is an especially late hip-hop release, having been pushed back, retitled, and retooled numerous times. With prime street cuts given away to comps, mixtapes, and soundtracks in the five years since Kiss of Death was released, the numbers that remain are slick and polished, although kickoff "Pain & Torture" breaks the mold. Elsewhere, he sings "If you're real and you know it/Clap your hands" over a Swizz Beats production on "Who's Real," and Mary J. Blige offers standard support on the following "Grind Hard." "What If" uses the same structure as Kiss of Death's Nas collaboration "Why," and although "Letter to B.I.G." already appeared on the Notorious soundtrack, it is one of the more interesting cuts on The Last Kiss. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi