"Six Albums Later You'll Deposit Every Word, Till Your Memory Bank give me the Credit I Deserve, Top 5 Damn Right but really it just hit me, that 3 of ya top scared to FUCK WITH ME!!"
For a long-ass-time, I've been callin' Ludacris NEW "King Of The South". Bein' from the south n all, I get to hear these little rants for Lil Wayne, T.I., ect ect. Dependin' on where you go. (FYI... Scarface is no longer King Of the South cuz he's been the GodFather of HipHop for a while.. Anyway!) Ludacris put out a hell of an effort for his last CD, some claim it to be a classic. But what was noticed and something everyone could agree on, is he showed alot of growth in that CD. For the past two years Luda hit us with a smooth mixtape with Dj Drama, and he's been quietly KILLING, I mean absolutely KILLING these feature verses he's been on. But will the man deliver in "Theater of the Mind"?
Ludacris first comes on pretty good with his annual album intro. Y'know, alil' bit of talkin', then you'll hear some bars from Mr. Bridges. He then starts to crank up the onslaught and his claim for being "Undisputed," with alil' help from another undisputed champ.. Flloyd "Money" Mayweather. And he further stresses the point on the Chris Rock accompanied song "EveryBody Hates Chris." I strongly believe that the Theater that Ludacris put us through a step-by-step guide for putting together a great HIP HOP CD.
"Luda Do it Cuz it's art!"
Ludacris has always been known for that universal sound, not just catering to the south. Nothing gets more universal than a southern rapper on a Dj Premier beat! As Luda states "The 1st Southern Rapper on a Priemo beat." He does a few more boastin' n braggin 'bout his skills even with Lil' Wayne on the track "Last Of A Dying Bread." Lil Wayne started off nice, but he then began to do alot of yellin' and I guess mistaken it for aggression, but it wasn't bad. Luda absolutely slaughtered this one though. But don't worry, Ludacris doesn't dragggg out his MC skills on purpose through-out the whole CD. To all my southern kin-folk, Luda still remembers us, as he always does, and comes with a smooth southern track with the Biggest Bawse. Rick Ross. Narrated by Ving Rhames, to give it a lil' story / documentary feel. But, catering to the south is also his lowest point on this CD, a song with T.I., T.I.P, and Clifford "Wish You Would." Now this doesn't mean it's a bad song, it's just the worse on this CD, it'd be a highlight on other CDs. It's really just a weak hook, and not the best attempt by T.I. to be honest, but it's still a nice song. Then Luda goes back to the universal crowd, where he goes and visits The Game in Compton and his artist, Willie Northpole in Arizona. All three delivered on their end.. (Yes, I even think The Game did well, he didn't do much name droppin'. Lol.)
Now.. It wouldn't be a Ludacris CD without that good ol' Luda-comedy now would it? Luda teams up with the industry's go-to-guy, T-Pain, and they talk about how your girl will get plugged, or the ugly girl will get plugged, if they keep on drinkin'. Unlike most songs, Luda's comical verse keeps T-Pain from stealin' the show, and T-Pain not on a verse either. A Nice feel-good song for everybody to enjoy. And to all the gentlemen.. I don't give a damn who you are, once you hear this song... You'll say "Yea, I've been there." Or something close to it. Lol. Now to keep it on a feel-good vibe, but more catering to the ladies, Luda gets alil' help from Jamie Foxx on "Contagious", and Mr. Bust-It-Baby Plies on "Nasty Girl." And we all know about "What Them Girls Like" cuz Chris Brown is what them girls like... Lil punk. Knowing how some rappers can get, when it comes to the ladies, they can get kinda cheesy, and it can hurt the album, but here, Luda prevents it from happenin', he also leaves it to only these three songs for the ladies to deal with.
After the good time, Luda comes back down to Earth, with alil' help from Common, they give people some good advice with a play on Spike Lee's ol' joint, "Do The Right Thing." A well-thought-out song, and it was executed well to put this joint on repeat like most of the songs on here.
Now.. I know you heard about this biggie. "I Do It For Hip Hop." Ludacris hops on a track with two no-doubt legends Nas and Jay-Z. The only thing sicker than the beat on this song is all three of their verses. Lol. Now this track was alittle fun, because after you listen to it, in some parts you can tell that they were all competing with each other. And Nas took a direct shot at Jay-Z, I'll let you pick out that line in the comment section, n we'll see who listens, lol. Now, who was the best on this verse? That depends on who you like, if your a Jay-Z guy, like me, then, you'll like Jay-Z's verse best, if you're a Nas kinda guy like my boss =!=, you'll like Nas's verse. If you're more new school, you'll prolly be more into Luda's verse. Truely a classic classic track. A rare gem where EVERYBODY who has the background steps up in the song. Now Ludacris holds strong with both of these guys, and does not stumble. Which says alot about Luda's MC skills.
You may be sayin' that "Damn, that's alot of muthafuckin' guest spots on one CD." It is, I agree. But when you're on your 6th CD, AND there is only ONE song where Luda's verse is only questionable out-done. And that's a big ass question mark. Since his verse is the one you end up payin' attention to, you'll never feel like you're listenin' to some compilation CD. Luda does a good job of keeping up the speed of his last CD, maybe even toppin' it. He also gives us alot of diversity in the CD, no overwhelming dope-boy bullshit or to many lady songs. Plus, the CD flows pretty damn nice in the exact order it's in, AND the songs are good! When you do all that correctly.. You get this kinda ratin'...
"Yea, I guess that's why Everbody Hates Cris"
Worth Buyin' - Think of the CD as Obama's campaign, SUPPORT IT!!!
Fav Tracks - What's not to like?
