Last week saw the release of Jadakiss’ fifth studio LP Ignatius, which boasted 13 new tracks from the D-Block alum and additional appearances from Ty Dolla $ign, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, DeJ Loaf, John Legend, and more. The project’s arrival wasn’t without delay — in addition to the album being pushed back a week, one of its standout singles — the Pusha T-assisted “Huntin Season” — was abruptly taken down as soon as it was liberated to the masses. Via press release, Jadakiss revealed that the decision to delay was due to the unfortunate and tragic passing of rising New York star Pop Smoke:
“The New York Hip Hop community is mourning the untimely passing of one of our brightest young stars, and I felt it was best to pause for a moment to come together and reflect. The Ignatius album means a lot to me – it celebrates the life of my brother Icepick Jay, another one we lost too soon.
“It was Jay’s dream for me to collaborate with Pusha T on a new song. The single we’d planned to release together — ‘Huntin Season’ — is a lyrical metaphor about taking out MCs in the rap arena, and we didn’t want anyone to confuse it with anything else. So out of respect for Jay’s memory, for Pop Smoke’s memory, Pusha and I agreed to put this one on hold for a minute.”
Now, that very single gets an accompanying visual courtesy of Trey Lyons, which follows the aforementioned theme of going at hip hop challengers while also reminding viewers about its intention to remain in a truly non-violent atmosphere from the clip’s beginning:
“The lyrical content should not be taken literally. The artists and makers do not condone violence of any kind. The content of this video is purely meant to express an artistic point of view in a tasteful and respectful manner.”
You can press play on “Huntin Season” below.