LET’S GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY from the jump: Jadakiss is dope at many things. He’s a dexterous rapper with the ability to reach deep into a discography that features everything from R&B guest 16s (Mya’s “Best Of Me,” Usher’s “Throwback”) to boastful solo material (“Kiss of Death” from Ruff Ryder’s Ryde or Die, Vol. 1, “We Gonna Make It”) to scene-stealing cameos (Nas’ “Made U Look” remix, Ghostface Killah’s “Run). Not to mention his close-to-unrivaled mixtape material. Plus, he has as distinct of a voice as hip-hop has ever heard and he rode shotgun for two of the culture’s most iconic labels, Bad Boy and Ruff Ryders.
His resume is impeccable.
That doesn’t mean he’s Top 5 dead or alive. He’s not Top 10 either. He’s not even Top 15.
But the way we
determine those lists don’t account for what Jadakiss did earlier this week as a part of the Verzuz battle between the LOX and Dipset.
I wrote:
During our yearly Hottest MCs debates, we also shared this unspoken understanding that we were all operating from the same plane. In the accompanying online editorial, led by Shaheem Reid, he would relay our five beats: skill, success, presence, outside ventures and influence. We also operated with the comfort that we’d be comparing apples to oranges in some cases.
We as a culture often center the debate over the greats based on a combination of sales charts and plaques, radio rotation and the relationship rapper’s tracks have to the streets. Along with intangibles. It goes without saying when these forces collide, you have moments that cement an artist’s place in the cannon. Think Jay-Z and Vol. 2, Lil Wayne and Tha Carter III, or debuts from Snoop, Jeezy and 50 Cent.
Cam’ron broached this a bit when he called Jada and crew the “best side bitches” because they were trotting out everybody else’s records they were on instead of their own.
In trying to maximize his talent, Jadakiss spent years venturing on a limb that wasn’t sturdy enough to secure his success.
Be clear, however: None of the aforementioned greats could do what Jadakiss did on Tuesday.
Through a combination of song curation and deft timing with his DJ, charisma and force of personality, and the physical projection and delivery of his voice, Kiss proved himself a totally different type of showman (and animal!) as he pushed his Verzus record to 2-0. (As a solo artist he previously defeated Fabolous.)
It’s through this scope that we should most appreciate Jada’s abilities moving forward.
Himself, too.
During LA Reid’s tenure as the head of Def Jam the prevailing notion was that any rap artist’s singles would feature an R&B singer on the hook, thus after two fine Interscope albums we got Kiss coming to market with Ne-Yo on the chorus of “By My Side” for Kiss of Death.
On Top 5 Dead or Alive, the grit that preceded the album wasn’t there, replaced by a heavy Southern slab of collaborators over polished beats.
In trying to maximize his talent, Jadakiss spent years venturing on a limb that wasn’t sturdy enough to secure his success.
That began to change as a part of his joint LP with Fabolous, Friday on Elm Street.
What Jadakiss does is worth more than any committee of outsiders can see or has more value than even his peers and the standard criteria calls for.
During an
interview I did with Fab and Kiss in 2018 they spoke about the specific digital element of the project (check the 8 minute mark). It wasn’t a mixtape and that freewheeling nature, so there was an accountability to the constraints of a proper release. But they also didn’t pursue it with the haughtiness that an album sometimes brings out.
“I ain’t never trying to be not regular or normal and do what I do,” Kiss said to me when I asked about his approach. “I don’t care what type of platform or what type of collaboration it is. You gotta do you, that’s what the people like you for. That’s how you got where you are today, by doing you.”
That same ethos powered his most recent solo release, Ignatius, named after his longtime manager, Icepick Jay, who passed after a bout with cancer.
I
spoke to Kiss for that project too right at the onset of the Covid pandemic and he was more somber in the wake of his friend’s passing. But his panache on record was there. I took a run recently and gave the album a listen for the first time since its release and it comes closest to balancing all the things Jada wants: street rhymes, commercial prospects, deep records and Grammy catnip.
In our interview, he was very upfront about “I Know” and his hopes for that song’s recognition.
It’s only right he seeks validation for his work, a topic I
covered with regard to rap and the Rock Hall of Fame.
Sometimes, though, a trophy is just a trophy.
And what Jadakiss does, and specifically what he did during Verzuz, is worth more than any committee of outsiders can see or has more value than even his peers and the standard criteria calls for.
It’s his calling card.
That might not move him up any all-time rankings but it damn sure secures his reputation as an all-time great.
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