Jason Phillips, known to most as Jadakiss, did an interview yesterday with BET.com regarding the state of hip-hop. The Yonkers-based emcee told BET he felt that as rap took off New York rappers got complacent because they were getting paid which eventually caused the quality of music to drop and allowed for other regions to rise to the hip-hop throne.

The concept is nothing new – you snooze, you lose. What’s refreshing is to see an artist, especially an artist who has been in the game for so long, point the finger at himself instead of going down the Ice-T path of blaming other people or factors for the “death” of rap. Maybe this ethos Kiss has adopted has paid off; 100,000 copies in a week is nothing to sneeze at.

“Not a Criminal” didn’t connect with his audience, so Chamillionaire did the smart thing. Reset his campaign, recruited certified hit-machine JR Rotem, and unleashed a new lead single. This time, he also hooked up with one of the greatest storytellers of all time, MC Ricky D himself.

Sounds like “Ridin’ Pt. II,” but it’s definitely an upgrade from “Not a Criminal.”

Ultimate Victory in stores September 18. Mixtape Messiah 3 drops July 18.