Discography Chat: Ludacris

[jarrylf]

1 of my fave rappers of all time, top 3. This is SOOOOOOOO hard for me, like I'm not even ready to do my analysis or ranking or poll predictions. Like he has some REALLY great albums so I gotta keep listening to the songs from the 3 albums thats trying for my #1 spot. DAMN!

(this is also why it wasnt posted last night, where I try to do a new 1 of these every Weds & Sunday night, but I dont like starting this when I dont have my shit together on the artist involved)

[Bailey]

"Word of Mouf" was muh shit... "I got hoes, I got hoes, in different area codes"

[Escapade]

Chicken n Beer!

[TwistedElegance™]

Ludacris used to be a kingpin, but I find him very hit-and-miss these days. I'll always be a fan (I saw him live just last month), but I think he's lost the edge which made the first half of his career so exciting to watch. It's easy to draw several parallels between him and Missy. Both are so animated and forward-thinking in their approach to not only hip-hop, but pop as a whole.

For my taste, I have to say his first two albums had the biggest impact. The raw and unaffected tone of his debut made me sit up and take notice. 'Southern Hospitality' was the first Luda track I ever heard, thanks to my borderline-unhealthy obsession with The Neptunes at the time. I would search the depths of the internet for anything with Pharrell Williams or Chad Hugo in the liner notes, and that led me to Back For The First Time. Like Eminem, it was thrilling to discover a rapper with such personality, who was incredibly witty with his bars, but always held more clout than a novelty act. And he was unashamedly filthy, which I loved. The 'What's Your Fantasy' remix with Trina is one of the best examples of how a dirty beat can really emphasize an even dirtier rhyme.

Word Of Mouf is Luda at his best, imo. I think it's his most cohesive album, and its run of singles was nearly faultless. The cool thing is just about all of them became catch-phrases as well as hits. "I got hoes", "Stay the fuck up out my biznass!", and "Move, bitch!" are all synonymous with Ludacris to this day. Other favs are 'Freaky Thangs' (Twista's rap >>>>>>) and 'Growing Pains', which should've been a single. It was also the era that saw his video game rise to the top.

'Stand Up' and 'Splash Waterfalls' were kind of the last moments of Luda greatness for me. Chicken-n-Beer was fun, even with the sheen starting to fade a little. I really struggled to get through his last three studio albums, though. Not even the singles did it for me. I don't know whether he'd worn thin or I'd moved on, but it just wasn't fun anymore. 'Runaway Love' aside, I'd be content not hearing them ever again.

There is a quote from Ludacris which has stuck with me since I read it close to ten years ago. He said (something to the effect of) the key to longevity in the industry is you have to evolve. You can't stay the same artist because people will get bored and you'll be stuck. In a way I guess that's up to the listener's interpretation, and I understand how much the music world has changed, but I find it contradictory - or at the least, intriguing - that an artist as inventive and as individual as Ludacris is now a common fixture on Justin Bieber and Enrique Iglesias records, seemingly content dropping mundane verses the old Luda could have written in his sleep. Maybe for some it highlights his versatility, but for me it draws attention to a rapper who's just not as good as he used to be.

My ranking...

1. Word Of Mouf

2. Back For The First Time

3. Chicken-n-Beer

4. Release Therapy

5. The Red Light District

6. Battle Of The Sexes

7. Theater Of The Mind

[jarrylf]

OK I vote for Word Of Mouf, like the 1st album is just GREAT and made smart single choices, but it has filler. To me all of his albums do to an extent but the 1 with the least is Word Of Mouf. And I LOVE Chicken & Beer, and the red light district, And I think Release therapy was the peak, like I think that was his Velvet Rope, like he went deep with that album. He needs to really stick with The Neptunes, because they really work well together. And his last 2 albums have had nice themes and good songs, but just nothing really NEW or game changing from him. But he's also 1 of my fave 21st century male video artist, like he's really innovative with his videos and I love that. and my ranking is

Word Of Mouf

Chicken N Beeer

Back for the 1st time

Red Light District

Release Therapy

Battle Of the sexes

Theater of the mind

Incognegro

And I expected/expect Word of mouf to storm like it is