Jadakiss — Top 5 Dead or Alive

«Comeback album by one of the best rappers ever». It's what should have been Jadakiss's fourth solo LP: conceived in 2010, it comes six years after his last effort. Here, Yonkers' MC proclaims himself «Top 5 Dead or Alive», fueling you know, those charts that you can find in the comments under every single hip-hop song on youtube. As reviewer Grant Jones for RapReviews explained well, it's hard to seriously consider Jayson "Jadakiss" Phillips for this kind of charts, as he has released three solo albums so far, two with LOX, four with Ruff Ryders and four with the D-Block, without having records considered «classics».

Through no his fault, the guy has competent lyrics more often than not, a captivating voice and a flow typical of the best East Coast performers of the mid / late nineties. Nonetheless, the production has always played against him, because he (and his friends) has relied many times on one of the worst hip-hop producers in history, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean. Unfortunately, this project is no exception and Swizz arrives twice as a producer and once as a guest. The beats are performed by fifteen different people, don't expect a cohesive sound: besides Swizz, among others are Akon, Arkatech Beatz, Bangladesh, Beat Butcha, Just Blaze, Rico Beats, Scram Jones and Ty Fyffe. Jada should be the great protagonist of the tape, after all the title suggests that he'll prove in this hour that he's one of the best rappers not of the period or even of the decade, oh no, it'd be too simple, but to be one of the Top 5 ever. Dead or Alive.

So there will be no guests, right? Wrong. There could be only one, after all, hip-hop artists have done well to put one or two guests in the past, AZ, Meth, Ice Cube, Chuck D, Q-Tip, even Richie Rich, have legitimized more or less all the masterpieces they've made part of. Unlike all those albums, Jadakiss decides to call 16 guests in 18 cuts, with 3 skits, reserving only 1 solo track, if the intro is excluded. If you look at the tracklist, you understand that the title probably actually refers to the Billboard charts more than the top rappers, because the MC has placed tracks for almost every rap fan: among the guests stand out Puff Daddy, Future, Akon, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Nipsey Hussle, Wiz Khalifa, Jeezy, Young Buck, Nas, Styles P, Sheek Louch and the British affiliate of D-Block Young Adz.

The album opens with "First 48" where Ty Fyffe gives a fantastic production: deep vibrant bass, bare downtempo drum, spectacular vocal sample from "Too Good to Let You Go" by Angela Winbush, lush melodic rhythm that offers an ideal support for the silky rapping of Jadakiss, which gives a nice start to his album. A skit follows, then comes one of the main songs of the album, "You Don't Eat". Swizz Beatz and Avenue Beatz behind the keyboards. The two take a sample from "Vivir Mi Vida" by the New York singer Marc Anthony to build this piece. It comes out a masterpiece in some way. Intro by Puff Daddy, credited as a guest, Jadakiss enters concentrated, hardcore, lethal, smoothness on a powerful production, robust bass, tough drum, pleasant hi-hats. Another Diddy interlude, the Yonkers emcee returns and tears the cut, on a memorable soundscape by Swizz Beatz, one of his best in his career.

Lee on the Beats, DJ Khaled and Dane Beats behind the keys for "You Can See": melodic trap production, for some reason it works. Jada drops two verses and asks DJ Khaled for the hook, who leaves it to Future, a banger comes out. The author also descends into socio-conscious territory in "Y.O. (Youthful Offenders)", delivering three verses interspersed with Akon's hook on a frenetic piano that offers a sad mood, beat credited to Akon himself. Choice number is the album's lead single. Swizz Beatz again behind the keys, this time joined by Mark Batson. Swizz gets two beats out of two right. It's absurd. He also has the honor of opening the track with his own verse. Fresh deep heavy echoing bass line, downtempo drum, chaotic rhythm, tense and heavy, the boy delivers with a heavy, slow, cumbersome step, still Swizz on the simple hook, then Jada pays homage to Eric Garner in this socio-political piece.

Bangladesh places a noisy, chaotic and disconnected production for "Kill", where Kiss is joined on the mic by Weezy, who destroys the beat. Pav Bundy & Swerv draw a noisy and powerful production for "Man in the Mirror", a rare solo cut by Jadakiss on this project, where the emcee delivers three verses on a beat of rare craftsmanship. Styles P joins Jadakiss with two verses in back and forth in "Synergy", a joint that lives up to the title on a linear and punctual boom bap jazz production by Just Blaze, with sharp strings. "Ain't Nothin New" is the second single from the album. Beat Butcha, Buba & Grandz behind the keys: lurking violins, vocal sample, loud bass line fresh powerful, tense violins, dirty drum midtempo, slow velvety delivery by Jadakiss over a magnificent soundscape. Ne-Yo kills the hook. Nipsey Hussle on the second stanza with commendable style, Jadakiss returns to close the piece.

"So High" is produced by Rico Beats, simple rhythm with hi-hat in evidence, Jada exchanges verses together with Wiz Khalifa in form. The LOX emcee drops the last bars on a calm break. Skit, Rico Beats stays behind the keyboards for the next piece, unfortunate choice: that frenetic hi-hat begins to annoy along with too tight piano keys, Jeezy spits an infinite hook, Kiss opens the track, Jeezy completes the work. There are three producers credited in "Cutlass" in what is one of the worst rhythms of the edition: StevieNickXX, Poobs and POSTA provide a poor beat with poor sounds and an urgent hi-hat. To cement the piece there is an exhausting hook by EX.OD.US. Jadakiss delivers a basic hook, then Young Buck opens "Realest in the Game" on an honest production by Arkatech Beatz that samples Sylvia St. James' "So I Say to You". LOX member Sheek Louch drops an inspired second verse, Jada saves the last stanza.

The penultimate track brings one of the highlights of the album, and of Jadakiss' solo career, "Rain": a musical painting by Scram Jones, rain, uptempo dry drum, hi-hats that go hand in hand with the drum, an elegant and ethereal sample of Linda Perhacs' "Chimacum Rain". Jadakiss attacks the beat with some of his tightest and catchiest flows, concocting a track about rain. Short and simple hook by Styles P. Nas enters and tears up the cut with a great entrance and a smooth flow, delivering a braggadocio verse. Jada returns to the mic for the last stanza. Pitchshifters creates the last beat of the album, a melancholic and ascending production, with guitar licks, on which the Yonkers rapper drops a couple of verses, supported by a hook sung by Chayse. As a bonus track there is "Baby", in which Jadakiss trades bars with Dyce Payne over a quite poor rhythm by Scram Jones.

Final Thoughts

Jadakiss feels he occupies the fifth and final spot in the Dead or Alive Top 5 after what he considers the most common ranking, that is, according to him, behind The Notorious BIG, Jay-Z, Nas, Styles P and a fifth that always changes and that at this point could also be him, why not. Here's why. If you look at the tracklist, this album is fantastic. They're all there. Lil Wayne, Nipsey Hussle, Future, Puff Daddy, Styles P, Wiz Khalifa, Jeezy, Sheek Louch, Young Buck, Akon, Ne-Yo. Even Nas, one of those top 5. There are no big names in production. Ty Fyffe was and offers one of his last rhythms of his career. Scram Jones was and here he shows both that he can still carve a beautiful beat ("Rain") and also knows how to screw one up ("Baby"). Just Blaze was. Beat Butcha will be. The duo Arkatech Beatz gave us several bangers. The others have nothing to do with it, Swizz Beatz least of all, yet he pulls out two great beats out of two and is somehow the best producer on the album, which is never a promising sign when it happens.

Released by Def Jam and D-Block, the album is a great commercial success, first among rap records and fourth on the Billboard 200, obtaining a good critical response. This is the fifth time I've listened to this stuff in different years, at least. It sounds amazing. After the first ten tracks, it's amazing. In the first half it's hard to find fault even looking for it, more or less everything works, even if Jadakiss is always assisted by a guest. In the second half, the album falls apart in a pretty unexpected and clamorous way, with some of the worst possible choices behind the keyboards. It's inconceivable. It only picks up in the finale, when the LOX come to help him along with other guests.

Overall, the tape is sprawling and uneven, with an excessive amount of pop rap / trap material: Jadakiss doesn't sound at his best due to static delivery and generic, weak production, sinking into mediocre tracks for most of these 62 minutes and managing to save a few good moments. After releasing two albums with LOX, four with Ruff Ryders, four with D Block, and three as a solo artist, and appearing on TWO classic albums (Clipse's debut "Lord Willin", 2002; Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2", 2009), six years after his last solo project, Jadakiss is resting on his laurels and declaring himself one of the best rappers in history, but there's little to no evidence of his own thesis in this effort, spitting out lyrics with half-hearted style over a production that holds up for half the time, after carefully selecting each track over the past five years.

Rating: 6/10.