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 ill-suited "soft and smooth track for the ladies" featuring a carted-in
Mariah Carey as well as a too-familiar-sounding Scott Storch production, is 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 Beatz's work on "Real Hip Hop" tops anything that producer did for
Cassidy's debut, and the
Red Spyda-manned title track (bizarrely tucked near the end) is
Jadakiss' 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 looking to go deeper are strongly advised to seek out The Champ Is Here, a teaser 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