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.
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.
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]
