Friday on Elm Street by Fabolous and Jadakiss was released on Thanksgiving Day 2017 off of Def Jam Records along with Street Fam and D-Block records. It is odd the mixtape was not released on Halloween due to its 80’s horror flick theme. The mixtape is the third installment in the Freddy vs. Jason trilogy. Fabolous plays Freddy Krueger and Jadakiss stars as Jason Voorhees.
Debuting at number 10 on Billboard 200, Friday on Elm Street doesn’t exactly woo crowds but is by no means a flop.
Fabolous who released his debut album on Sept. 11, 2001 has since become one of the most original and inspiring rappers of all time. He has also come to dominate the mixtape world later in his career. Jadakiss, a rap veteran and the most prominent and talented acts to come out of the group The L.O.X. with Styles-P and Sheek Louch makes the tape what it is.
It just feels like Fabolous didn’t give it his all lyrically on Friday on Elm Street. Compared to the Friday Night Freestyles mixtape hosted by DJ Clue that features Fab in a hockey mask holding a knife on the cover, it’s almost hard to believe it’s the same rapper on both mixtapes. Jadakiss however kills it! Every verse is one of the best you’ve ever heard.
The track “Theme Music” is the highlight of the mixtape. It’s both artists’ at a lyrical strong point and features Marvin Gaye vocals in the background. The beats are nothing to write home about, and really aren’t even worth mentioning. The beats have never been the reason anyone listens to Fabolous or Jadakiss though. They are two of some of the most talented lyricists to have ever blessed the mic. You listen to them because you want to hear what they have to say.
To be brutally honest none of the Freddy vs Jason mixtapes were show stoppers. Friday on Elm Street falls in line with the other two. However, it’s not a waste of time listening to either. If anything, listen to it for Jadakiss’s verses and compare it to Fabolous’s three “Soul Tape” mixtapes and his three “There is no Competition” mixtapes (all of which can be found on Youtube.com). Then ask yourself if you can do better. Because Fabolous is my favorite rapper, it hurts me to say there were better mixtapes released in November.
