By: Luke McCormick
provided photo
Ludacris
“Theater of the Mind”
Release Date: 11/24
Record Label: DTP/Def Jam Records
3 out of 5
On Thanksgiving Day, before the big meal, my family always has the snack table packed just right. The crowning achievement is always the homemade Chex mix. It can be salty, sweet, spicy, there is a slew of possibilities with this fine appetizer. My one beef with the mix is picking through the array of peanuts scattered throughout. All I really want is some cashews, but year after year is spent sifting through Brazilian nuts, almonds and nuts I’ve never even heard of before.
Ludacris albums are the same way. There is always some great, stand out tracks on his records, but more often than not tracks are skip worthy if not for a punch-line or two.
And there is no shortage of one liners on “Theater of the Mind.” Luda’s wit has always been his strong suit. Whether he is calling out detractors(“I got gangstas that’ll rearrange ya whole face, put ya casket on ice, now that’s a cold case,” he spits on “Southern Gangsta.”) or putting out the vibe for the ladies(“When she need her medicine I give her that Vitamin D” from “Nasty Girl”), he is always on point.
The guest list for the record is a who’s who of rap and R&B heavyweights, including T-Pain, Chris Brown, Jay-Z, Nas, Lil’ Wayne, Plies, Jamie Foxx (just go away) and Spike Lee(?). Yes, Mr. Lee has gone from being in with Public Enemy during their heyday to doing a quick intro on a phone in Luda album. Must have owed the rapper a favor.
With a bevy of guest rappers and singers, none really stand out. Lil’ Wayne actually raps (!) on “Last of a Dying Breed.” It is a treat when he ditches the autotuner and actually spits on a track, even if it is a bunch of incoherent gun talk. Nas and Jay-Z sound just as uninspired as they have for the past few years when guesting on tracks and Jamie Foxx pops up to croon the hook on “Contagious.” I thought the rap game was rid of this guy and he was just going to focus on acting in Oscar bait films.
There is a smattering of redeemable tracks on Luda’s newest and they come when he lets his enormous ego out. The man is at his best when he is having fun on the beat, stretching out syllables to emphasize his favorite lines or ending rhymes with a chuckle.
One just has to wonder, with his acting career booming, how much longer he can keep putting out the same album. As long as he keeps that same swagger and dropping serious punch-lines, at least half of a new Luda album will have a home on my iTunes.
