This is a good hip-hop album. Having never been a fan of Ludacris, I was very surprised. The production is a lot better. He has stuff with 9th Wonder, Scott Storch, DJ Premier, DJ Paul, and others. Very classic, fresh production. Great guest verses too from Weezy, Jay-Z, T.I, T-Pain (oh you know he had to feature him), Nas, Common, The Game, Jamie Foxx, and Spike Lee. Check it out ladies and gents.


01. Intro
02. Undisputed (Feat. Floyd Mayweather)
03. Wish You Would (Feat. T.I.)
04. One More Drink (Feat. T-Pain)
05. Call Up The Homies (Feat. The Game, Rashad)
06. Southern Gangsta (Feat. Rick Ross, Playaz Circle, Ving Rhames)
07. Everybody Hates Chris (Feat. Chris Rock)
08. What Them Girls Like (Feat. Chris Brown, Sean Garrett)
09. Nasty Girl (Feat. Plies)
10. Contagious (Feat. Jamie Foxx)
11. Last Of A Dying Breed (Feat. Lil' Wayne)
12. MVP
13. I Do It For Hip Hop (Feat. Nas, Jay-Z)
14. Do The Right Thang (Feat. Common, Spike Lee)
Ludacris - Theater of the Mind

LIYL: T.I's "Paper Trail"

change?

Son of a bitch.

So far, it does nothing except make me wonder if I was high when I thought he was the best part of a couple movies I saw in '06.

Still, let's be honest, here... I think the last time I paid for a hip hop record was Digable Planets' Blowout Comb. I like this or that song, don't like this record or another - it's not like my opinion is what you'd call informed.

downloaded this earlier and will be listening to it on my way to school this evening. i have high hopes. thanks, sonic.

ludacris is awful in max payne, as is the movie overall.

he's always seemed like such a talented rapper, just never has released anything other than Area Codes that stuck.

dudes been due for his first classic LP for some time now. hopefully this is it. what's the single?

I'm pretty sure it's "Last of a Dying Breed" with Weezy.

i've made it through the first few songs and this is sounding real good, but i think it's time to put to rest this whole "classic" ludacris album thing. dude will never make a classic album. most rappers won't. neither will most bands. luda's a great rapper with mediocre quality control. and from what i've heard, this won't be topping paper trail, even though he's a better rapper than t.i.

t.i. has a good ear for hooks and his flow is more fluid and less idiosyncratic. luda is a little too luda for his own good. blessing and curse. all that.

I have hopes for this one. Thanks, Alligator.

ehh, i hear you to a certain degree but at the same time, luda is also really too good of an emcee to have put out such medicore albums for so long

finished this album, and i dunno. it's definitely not mediocre. and luda spits like he has something to prove (which he does). but still, it strikes me as a good, not great effort, an album which is solid but approaching irrelevance. much like the record it reminds the most, de la soul's grind date, which come to think of it also happened to feature spike lee.

i might sound like i don't like this album, and i do. there are a number of really awesome songs here and no bad ones. but it's kind of hollow. he's a great rapper, but he doesn't have the biography to make his words resonate. for all of his talent, he still raps like a radio dj.

don't get me wrong, this is well worth hearing, but it isn't going to make a huge impact on anyone other than ludacris fans.

grind date was the only phrase i needed to hear. arguably my favorite album of 2004. downloading now...


fuck, link is down.

http://link-protector.com/653558/

try this link. it seems to be working.

I love lu' cause he recognizes the humor in what he does. Prescient parody of what rap has become. And he also brings it in terms of flow and hooks. Most water-holding argument against this album is that it sounds boring if you're not actually listening.

edit: the theater framing device is brilliant.

edit again: WTF? My first bit here quoted shit from the Melvins thread. The fuck?

the concept for the album works well. but you're right about the parody bit, and i guess that's what leaves me colder than other recent rap records. it's a little too arch. and i find the hooks lacking. not bad, just watery, weak. ludacris' flow is better than his average, which is mighty good, but again, in service of servicable songs...

Fair enough. That said, "Call Up the Homies" is as good as Ludacris has been since "Ho", and probably before. I'm also totally willing to forgo the trees for the forest: a mindblowing thesis > execution any day of the week for me. And this = mindblowing thesis.

i can understand that. i still believe that paper trail is the album of the year based purely on execution. but that's where my preference lies. i'd take a pristine collection of songs over a brilliant concept.

that said, undisputed, homies, do it for hip hop, one more drink and everybody hates chris are my current faves.

I really enjoy the intro.

http://www.ultragraphik.com/blog/

Found this really cool website that has hip-hop songs as well as the samples that they feature. I saw that they had one for Luda's new album.

Do I have enough time in my life for a record called Theater of the Mind?

I think you have enough time to listen to the intro of Theater of the Mind.

Fair enough.