http://www.mjsite.comMusic News Cache

Josh Grossberg Wed Oct 3, 11:40 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - For Jadakiss, Live, Suffer, Celebrate is more than just an album title.

Prosecutors in White Plains, New York, have decided to drop drug and gun charges they brought against the hip-hop star over a year ago, citing a lack of evidence.

Jadakiss, whose real name is Jason Jerome Phillips, was collared in October 2006 in his hometown of Yonkers. Local police said they detected the smell of marijuana near a parked Toyota Camry, where the rapper and two members of his crew, Kristian Smith and Darnell Frazier, were standing. A search of the vehicle turned up a small amount of pot and a loaded .38-caliber handgun, which had been reported stolen.

The trio was taken into custody and booked on the drug and weapons charges—counts that carry a penalty ranging from 16 months to seven years in prison.

However, the office of Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore filed a motion with the court asking that the counts against Jadakiss be dismissed after DNA tests failed to link any of the three to the weapon.

Frazier had already been tried and acquitted on the charges earlier this year.

Jadakiss' attorney, Clement Patti, told the Associated Press that it was a "travesty that the case went this far."

"[He] has had this cloud over his head for a year, affecting his career,"Patti said.

Jadakiss, 32, broke into the music biz as a protégé of the late Notorious B.I.G. But he's probably best known these days for drawing the ire of Fox News' Bill O'Reilly over the 2004 track "Why?" which included the controversial rhyme "Why do niggas push pounds of power?/Why did Bush knock down the towers?"

The emcee later said O'Reilly misinterpreted the lyrics to suggest Bush was somehow behind the attacks; instead, Jadakiss insistaed he was actually questioning why the President was unable to stop the attacks from happening.

With the charges dropped, Jadakiss can focus on releasing his new solo album, Kiss My Ass, reportedly set to drop later this year. There's still no firm release for his long-gestating album with his group, the LOX (short for Living Off Experience), the aforementioned Live, Suffer, Celebrate.