Ludacris - 'Theater Of The Mind' (Def Jam/DTP) Released 24/11/08

It’s long been known that Ludacris is the man when it comes to having a way with words. In fact, the head of DTP (Disturbing Tha Peace) Records could be considered one of the chief wordsmiths of our time. While recognition has never really been an issue for Luda, there are still some folks who overlook him. For those unfamiliar with the Atlanta rapper, he’s been in the game for about eight years, has established himself as a bit of a keen actor – with roles in movies such as “Crash”, “RocknRolla”, and more recently “Max Payne”, and has blessed hip-hop with six turbulent and metaphor trigger happy albums. If you were to combine William Shakespeare with Richard Pryor, that’s probably the best way to describe the man they call Ludacris, real name Chris Bridges.

Following the standard of his previous Grammy Award-winning album, “Release Therapy”, his latest project “Theater Of The Mind” is best described as a hyperactive hip-hop fest with solid subject matters, and to top it all off it could be his funniest offering yet. That’s the thing with Luda, he somehow manages to come off sounding like an intellectual stand up comic, so teaming up with Chris Rock on ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ was a no brainer. Playing on the title of Chris Rock’s hit TV show, he drops lines like, “’Cos my ice gives them colds as if they under the weather/ But my women keep me warmer than a Polo sweater,” and, “You talk shit and you’ll end up with a bottomless lip/ I hit a Nigga so hard that he’ll swallow his spit/ Then I’ll be with Bobby V on that anonymous shit.”

Proving he’s one of the best to ever do it, tracks such as ‘MVP’, produced by DJ Premier, and ‘Undisputed’, which features boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather, murders any hip-pop bubblegum within a worldwide vicinity. With a real lyrical feel to it, ‘MVP’ hears Luda spit the bars, “Still hungry as the day I began/ I heat the booth up so much the engineer caught a mother fuckin’ tan,” and, “I’m the MVP, I’m stupid with this rap shit/ Rewind the verse make the track do a back flip.” His chemistry with legendary Gangstarr producer Premo is incredible. It’s a dream come true for fans of real hip-hop.