Jadakiss Talks Delaying "Ignatius" Out Of Respect To Pop Smoke

The hype surrounding Jadakiss‘s forthcoming album Ignatius has been a well-crafted rollout. The New York rapper has been making the media rounds to discuss his upcoming record that was initially slated for release on Friday, February 28. There was even a song, “Hunting Season” with Jadakiss featuring Pusha T that made its way to TIDAL, but almost immediately it was taken down. Pusha T would later come forward and say that they decided not to move forward with the track’s release at this time because of Pop Smoke’s murder, and since the song talks about hunting fellow rappers, it didn’t seem appropriate.

Mike Coppola / Staff / Getty Images

During a chat with For The Record, Jadakiss explained that both he and Pusha didn’t even talk about taking down the song but they were on the same page about its removal. In fact, Jadakiss delayed the release date of his album altogether. “Yeah, we held back to pay respect for Pop Smoke, the untimely passing and demise of Pop Smoke,” said Jadakiss. “We actually pulled that song back and we pulled the project back as well [by] a week. Instead of February 28, the album is gon’ come out March 6. The song, the video is very artsy but it’s a little crazy so, just to pay respect and shed light on that whole…you know.”

“Even with Kobe and his daughter and the memorial and all that, it just didn’t seem like the right time to release the song or the visual,” Jadakiss added. “Or the project, so we just pulled it back for a week. The song will be on the album…just after stuff dies down a little we’ll let the visual out.” Watch Jadakiss chop it up with For The Record below.