YW Review: The Last Kiss

There has been more hype surrounding The Last Kiss, Jadakiss' third solo album, than any other rap album thus far in 2009. Hip Hop heads patiently awaited the release of the album, even after it was pushed back a few times a week before its supposed drop date. When you speak to most people about Jada, the only flaw in the classic New York rapper's career is that he hasn't made a classic album. When judging most rappers, not having a timeless LP would be a hinder their credibility, but with Kiss, he's given a pass because of the incredibly smooth flow and the gutter swag that oozes out of his verses. When discussing Jadakiss, the goto excuse for his fans has always been that he has the ability and promise to one day make an album that blows away the competition. Sadly, that day did not come yesterday.

There are only a handful of 90's rappers that continue to attempt to fit in with the new school of hip hop. Common's last attempt with Universal Mind Control was filled with songs crafted for 2009 contemporary (or futuristic) success, but ended up being less of an innovative genius and more of cry for acceptance. Jada did not take that route, but at points I have trouble finding his music relevant in today's hip hop climate. I need more--and If I can't have innovation from Kiss, I want retro '98 Kiss. Unfortunately, this album is by no means 1998 nor 2009. It's a confused and unsettling piece of music, that falls in somewhere in between the two eras, and most certainly in between the genres of hood rap and corny R&B.

I cannot think of another album with better featured artists in its lineup. With Ne-Yo, Nas, Lil' Wayne and Mary J. Blige (to name a few), the executives at Def Jam gave Jada every opportunity to make his classic album. However, when I listen to the artists on the hooks, I kind of feel like they were forced to come in and sing these cheesy hooks, and that they had nothing at all to do with the words or song composition.

I feel like Jada has always tried too hard to create hooks with catch phrases in them. "Rocking with the Best" and "Something Else" both rely heavily on the repetition of a phrase, hoping that somewhere, someone cool will begin using the phrase in their daily life. "What if" featuring Nas, is a good song--the problem being that Fredro Starr made it when I was in high school, and made it much better. "One More Step" is classic back-and-forth from S.P. and Jada, but Styles sounds like he's reading off of a notebook, and once again, had nothing to do with the song structure. "Death Wish" is pretty 1998, but the beat is a little too boring for me. However, Lil' Wayne might have the best verse on the album. Lastly, "Who's Real?", the Swiss Beatz track, is the most annoying song I've heard in a long time. Show me one person whose ear this pleases. If this makes it to the radio I'm going to jump off of my roof.

On the positive side, "Cartel Gathering" is New York drug rap at it's best. The Chef and GFK join kiss and spit 48 fire bars. Jazmine Sullivan comes through for a ferociously dope feature on "Smoking Gun", a classic Jada ghetto-love song. "Letter to B.I.G.", although not as exposing or emotional as I wanted it to be, is still a pretty ill track. In my eyes, any song that brings me back to the golden age of rap is a successful venture. "Things That I've Been Through" is a dope recollection of his career, with a killer Luther Vandross sample. This is Jada's most insightful song on the album.

This album isn't bad, it just doesn't live up to my expectations for Jadakiss. I think he may be one of the most naturally smooth and charismatic rappers of all time. His flow is never off and his rhymes are tighter than that girl in 10th grade. But to be fair, he suffers from sporadic boringness, repetitiveness and a severe inability to write choruses. I'll always love him, but never again will I expect him to drop a Blueprint or a Stillmatic. He's not made for it. He needs to realize this in order to retain his legacy. My suggestion: holler at DJ Premier, Timbaland, Pete Rock and D-dot Angelettie for production that suits you, use a sample on every chorus and stop trying to make a club hit. Play your position, Kiss, and I'll be able appreciate you that much more.