"Checkmate" is a song by the American rapper

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with B ...

, released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

on March 9, 2005, by

Ruff Ryders Entertainment Ruff Ryders Entertainment is an American hip hop record label and management company founded by siblings and record executives Joaquin "Waah", Darin "Dee" and Chivon Dean. It operated as a subsidiary of Universal, and distributed by Fontana Dis ...

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mu ...

. The song uses the instrumental "Air It Out" from

Big Noyd TaJuan Akeem Perry (born May 7, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Noyd, is an American rapper from Queensbridge, Queens, New York. He is closely affiliated with Mobb Deep and is featured on all of their albums except '' Blood Money''. ...

's album '' Only the Strong'', produced by The Alchemist. "Checkmate" is a

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the t ...

aimed at

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

, a response to 50 Cent's diss track "

Piggy Bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th centur ...

". "Checkmate" was in heavy rotation on hip-hop radio and reached number 56 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart.

Background

had a feud with

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with '' Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single " Holla Holla". Dur ...

since 1999. In 2004,

and

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a so ...

appeared on Ja Rule's song "

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

". 50 Cent saw it as them "helping" Ja Rule while 50 Cent was "destroying him", so he started feuding with them as well. 50 Cent's second album, ''

The Massacre ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', was released on March 3, 2005. The album included the song "

" which contained mentions of a number of rappers 50 Cent had feuds with, including Jadakiss. According to Jadakiss, initially he wasn't interested in beefing with 50 Cent. "That was really a lot of media hyping it up", he said to ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

'' magazine. He changed his mind once people, including his friends, started asking whether or not he had heard "Piggy Bank" and if he will respond to it. Jadakiss decided to use instrumental "Air It Out" from

's album '' Only the Strong'', produced by The Alchemist. 50 Cent previously used this instrumental for his Murder Inc. diss song "I'm an Animal".

Lyrics

"Checkmate" is a

diss song A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

, written with the goal to verbally attack 50 Cent. Jadakiss starts the song by congratulating 50 Cent on selling 1.1 million copies of his album ''The Massacre'' in one week. Then, the first and only verse of the song starts. In the verse, Jadakiss raps about 50 Cent's perceived weaknesses and shortcomings, including alleged snitching and his lack of originality. Jadakiss points out the assassination attempt being the primary theme of 50 Cent's lyrics, while simultaneously making fun of it by rapping "You had to get shot nine times to be rich" and "Since when has it become cool to get shot and not shoot back?". In the song, Jadakiss mentions the mansion in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

owned by 50 Cent, asserting that one cannot be "the King of New York" while living there. Later in the song he also questions 50 Cent's lyrical abilities as a rapper, comparing him to other G-Unit members, and tells him to "just sell clothes and sneakers". According to '' XXL'' magazine, by mentioning 50 Cent's friends and business ventures, "Jada created the impression that he knew his nemesis inside and out".

Release

"Checkmate" was released on March 9, 2005, a few hours after a press conference where 50 Cent announced the end of his feud with rapper

The Game The Game or The Games may refer to: Sports and games * The Game (dice game) (German: ''Das Spiel''), a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig * The Game (mind game), a mind game, the objective of which is to avoid thinking about The Game itself * ...

. Released as a

on Ruff Ryders Entertainment/Interscope Records, the song was premiered later that day along with Fat Joe's "My FoFo" on DJ

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot ...

's radio show on

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared service ...

. According to ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'', after the release, "Checkmate" was in heavy rotation on hip-hop radio. The song appeared on ''

chart, where it peaked at number 56. The success of the song allowed Jadakiss to go on tour, where he would perform the song. "Checkmate" was later included on the live album ''Jadakiss: Kiss Of Death – Tour 2005''.

Legacy

50 Cent and Jadakiss continued to release diss tracks aimed at each other throughout the year, until they ended the feud when 50 Cent visited Jadakiss' studio and they spent a few hours talking to each other. According to Jadakiss, he made "a lot of money" off the feud. In 2011, he claimed the feud was "just a good marketing tool for 50 and his second album". In 2022, '' XXL'' magazine described the song as an "exercise in concision and rhyme technique" and called it "one of the very best clapbacks in rap history". '' The Ringer'' placed "Checkmate" at number 11 on their list of the greatest diss tracks of all time, stating that "Jadakiss defeated him by reminding people that there was a reason why 50 was initially blackballed, that there was a reason real street dudes wanted him gone". The website's writer Jayson Buford viewed the song as the beginning of "50 Cent's transition into a wrestling heel–like celebrity who used to be a rapper".

Chart performance

References

{{Jadakiss 2005 songs Jadakiss songs Songs written by Jadakiss Song recordings produced by the Alchemist (musician) Ruff Ryders Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Diss tracks