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Kiss of Death (Jadakiss album)

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Kiss of Death
Studio album by
Jadakiss
ReleasedJune 22, 2004 (2004-06-22)
Recorded2003–2004
Studio
Genre
Length1:02:54
Label
Producer
Jadakiss chronology
Kiss tha Game Goodbye
(2001) 		Kiss of Death
(2004) 		The Last Kiss
(2009)
Singles from Kiss of Death
  1. "Time's Up"
    Released: April 20, 2004
  2. "Why"
    Released: July 13, 2004
  3. "U Make Me Wanna"
    Released: October 12, 2004

Kiss of Death is the second solo studio album by American rapper Jadakiss. It was released on June 22, 2004 via Ruff Ryders/Interscope Records. Recording sessions took place at Powerhouse Studios, Evil Genius Studios and Right Trax Studios in New York, Groovyville Studios and Tha Chuuuch in California and 54 Sound in Detroit.

Production was handled by Black Key, Neo Da Matrix, Scott Storch, Alchemist, Baby Grand, DJ Green Lantern, Elite, Eminem, Havoc, JellyRoll, Kanye West, Red Spyda, Swizz Beatz and The Neptunes, with Darrin Dean, Joaquin "Waah" Dean and Alex Higdon serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from his The Lox cohorts Sheek Louch and Styles P, as well as Anthony Hamilton, DJ Quik, Eminem, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Nate Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg and Nesha.

In the United States, the album debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, selling 246,000 copies in its first week. It also made it to number 65 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart, and number 139 in France. On March 11, 2005, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 500,000 copies in the US alone.

The album was supported by three singles "Time's Up", "Why" and "U Make Me Wanna" with accompanying music videos. All the singles went charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 70, 11 and 21, respectively.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllHipHop[2]
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
HipHopDX4/5[5]
Now[6]
RapReviews8.5/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
SpinA−[9]
Vibe[10]
USA Today[11]

Kiss of Death was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76 based on eleven reviews.[1]

In his album review for Spin, Chris Ryan named Jadakiss "one of the four or five best MCs breathing".[9] Steve Jones of USA Today saw Jadakiss "grow in stature as he expands his repertoire from rugged street tales" and "shows he's maturing into a more well-rounded artist".[11] William Ketchum III of RapReviews resumed: "Kiss of Death is the Jadakiss album that everybody's been waiting for, 'Kiss fans and critics alike".[7] Matt Barone of AllHipHop called it "a must-have release that should help place Jadakiss amongst rap's current elite without any argument".[2] Jeff Ryce of HipHopDX stated: "Jada is a really nice emcee, he proved here he can be diverse without losing his strengths and create a good album".[5] Alvin Blanco of Vibe concluded: "with Kiss of Death, Jada's well on his way to achieving hip hop immortality".[10] Steven Chen of Entertainment Weekly summed up: "doesn't astound, but Jada flexes impressive muscles as he grinds his heels into a well-trodden dance floor".[4] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club called it "uneven", adding "like Kiss tha Game Goodbye, it suffers from an apparent desire to satisfy every demographic at once".[12]

In mixed reviews, AllMusic's Andy Kellman stated: "no matter the number of bright moments, you can't help but feel that Jadakiss has his best days ahead of him".[3] Nick Flanagan of Now found "the choruses aren't always memorable, and when the songs have forgettable R&B; hooks and are forgettable, it can make for aggravating moments. But when Jadakiss has a heavy beat behind him, this record stands with the year's best".[6] Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone wrote: "when he's undone, it's by tinkertoy production on tracks such as the insipid Mariah Carey Vehicle 'U Make Me Wanna'".[8]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro"
DJ Green Lantern1:13
2."What You So Mad At??"
  • Phillips
  • Mickey Davis
Black Key3:37
3."Shine" (featuring Snoop Dogg and DJ Quik)
Jelly Roll5:00
4."Bring You Down"
Neo Da Matrix3:39
5."Time's Up" (featuring Nate Dogg)
Scott Storch3:36
6."Why" (featuring Anthony Hamilton)
Havoc4:00
7."U Make Me Wanna" (featuring Mariah Carey)
Scott Storch4:53
8."Hot" (Skit)
Jadakiss0:18
9."Hot Sauce to Go" (featuring Pharrell)
The Neptunes3:56
10."Real Hip Hop" (featuring Sheek Louch)
Swizz Beatz2:57
11."Shoot Outs" (featuring Styles P)
Elite4:18
12."Still Feel Me"
Alchemist2:42
13."By Your Side"
Baby Grand3:51
14."Gettin' It In" (featuring Kanye West)
Kanye West3:37
15."Air It Out"
  • Phillips
  • Atkinson
Neo Da Matrix4:03
16."Welcome to D-Block" (performed by The LOX and Eminem)
4:25
17."Kiss of Death"
Red Spyda3:12
18."I'm Goin Back" (featuring Nesha)
Black Key3:37
Total length:1:02:54
Sample credits
Notes
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.

Personnel

[edit]
  • Jason "Jadakiss" Phillips – vocals, co-executive producer, A&R
  • Aja Smith – additional vocals (track 2)
  • Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus – vocals (track 3)
  • David "DJ Quik" Blake – vocals & recording (track 3)
  • David "JellyRoll" Drew – additional vocals & producer (track 3)
  • Saundralin "Mami Gunn" Green – additional vocals (track 3)
  • Nathaniel "Nate Dogg" Hale – vocals (track 5)
  • Anthony Hamilton – vocals (track 6)
  • Mariah Carey – vocals (track 7)
  • Pharrell Williams – vocals & producer (track 9)
  • Sean "Sheek Louch" Jacobs – vocals (tracks: 10, 16)
  • David "Styles P" Styles – vocals (tracks: 11, 16)
  • Jason Spoor – additional vocals (track 11)
  • Kanye West – vocals & producer (track 14)
  • Marshall "Eminem" Mathers – vocals, producer & mixing (track 16)
  • Ronesha Howard – vocals (track 18)
  • Hanan Rubinstein – guitar (track 11)
  • DP – scratches (track 11)
  • Luis Resto – keyboards & additional producer (track 16)
  • Steve King – guitar, recording & mixing (track 16)
  • James "DJ Green Lantern" D'Agostino – producer, recording & mixing (track 1)
  • Mickey "Black Key" Davis – producer (tracks: 2, 18)
  • Qaadir "Neo Da Matrix" Atkinson – producer (tracks: 4, 15)
  • Scott Storch – producer (tracks: 5, 7)
  • Kejuan "Havoc" Muchita – producer (track 6)
  • Kaseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean – producer (track 10)
  • Anthony "Elite" Parrino – producer (track 11)
  • Alan "The Alchemist" Maman – producer (track 12)
  • Robert "Baby Grand" Adair – producer (track 13)
  • Andy "Red Spyda" Thelusma – producer (track 17)
  • Rene Antelmann – recording (tracks: 2, 17, 18)
  • Dragan Čačinović – mixing (tracks: 2, 4, 5–8, 10–15, 17, 18), recording (tracks: 4, 5, 7–9, 11–16)
  • Jason Schweitzer – recording & mixing (track 3)
  • Randy Williams – recording (tracks: 3, 6, 7, 10, 16)
  • Shon "Don" Brooks – recording (track 3)
  • Rouble Kapoor – recording assistant (track 3)
  • Jeremy MacKenzie – mixing assistant (track 3)
  • Patrick Viala – mixing (track 9)
  • Mike Strange – recording (track 16)
  • Tony Dawsey – mastering
  • Darrin "Dee" Dean – executive producer, A&R
  • Joaquin "Waah" Dean – executive producer
  • Alex Higdon – executive producer
  • Jay "Icepick" Jackson – co-executive producer, A&R
  • Drew FitzGerald – art direction, design
  • Anthony Cutajar – photography
  • Roger Ericson – photography
  • Alimah Shamsid-Deen – A&R
  • Ampora Sapp – A&R coordinator
  • Craig Brodhead – A&R coordinator
  • Mike Foster – A&R assistant
  • Keiwanna Collins – A&R assistant

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Kiss Of Death - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Barone, Matt (2004). "ALLHIPHOP REVIEWS | Kiss Of Death". AllHipHop. Retrieved August 25, 2004 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "Kiss of Death - Jadakiss | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Chen, Steven (July 9, 2004). "Music Review | Kiss Of Death (2004) | Jadakiss". Entertainment Weekly. No. 773. p. 89.
  5. ^ a b Ryce, Jeff (June 21, 2004). "Jadakiss - Kiss of Death". HipHopDX. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Flanagan, Nick (July 1, 2004). "Jadakiss - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto. Vol. 23, no. 44. Archived from the original on February 21, 2005. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Ketchum III, William (June 22, 2004). "Jadakiss :: Kiss of Death :: Ruff Ryders/Interscope Records". RapReviews. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Caramanica, Jon (August 5, 2004). "Review | New CDs". Rolling Stone. No. 954. p. 106. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  9. ^ a b Ryan, Chris (August 2004). "Reviews". Spin. Vol. 20, no. 8. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 103, 105. ISSN 0886-3032.
  10. ^ a b Blanco, Alvin "Aqua Boogie" (July 2004). "Revolutions". VIBE. p. 136. Retrieved November 16, 2004.
  11. ^ a b Jones, Steve (June 2004). "Jadakiss' killer 'Kiss'; Wilco's shape-shifting 'Ghost'". USA Today. p. D4. Retrieved August 13, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ Rabin, Nathan (July 12, 2004). "Jadakiss: Kiss Of Death". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  13. ^ "Albums : Top 100". Jam!. July 15, 2004. Archived from the original on December 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  14. ^ "R&B : Top 50". Jam!. July 29, 2004. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  15. ^ "Lescharts.com – Jadakiss – Kiss Of Death". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  16. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  17. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  18. ^ "Jadakiss Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  19. ^ "Jadakiss Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  20. ^ "Jadakiss Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  21. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  22. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2004". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  23. ^ "American album certifications – Jadakiss – Kiss Of Death". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 26, 2024.

See also

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