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,
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
' most vicious track yet. No matter the number of bright moments, you can't help but feel that
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