AMG Review of Last Kiss

David Jeffries
All Music Guide

In a genre where albums frequently miss their street date, Jadakiss' The Last Kiss is an especially late hip-hop release, having been pushed back, retitled, and retooled numerous times. With prime street cuts given away to comps, mixtapes, and soundtracks in the five years since Kiss of Death was released, the numbers that remain are slick and polished, although kickoff "Pain & Torture" breaks the mold. Elsewhere, he sings "If you're real and you know it/Clap your hands" over a Swizz Beats production on "Who's Real," and Mary J. Blige offers standard support on the following "Grind Hard." "What If" uses the same structure as Kiss of Death's Nas collaboration "Why," and although "Letter to B.I.G." already appeared on the Notorious soundtrack, it is one of the more interesting cuts on The Last Kiss.