official liveblog rap album review thread

is anything not autotuned yet? xp oh damn that's the whole thing?

it's all autotune except it doesn't sound like "put on" autotune or even love lockdown autotune. motly it just makes his voice rougher.

its kinda funny kanye jumping all over autotune now when he considers himself such a tastemaker

robocop is hilarious

ya it is

i'm not feelin the autotune on this one cuz it makes it sound like he's singing thru an answering machine or something (kinda strokes-y treatment).

haven't heard the song you're referring to but that seems like a pretty apt description of all the vox i've heard on this record

man...this totally going to get a critical blowjob, isn't it?

you think? it seems like it's going to be pretty divisive as far as reviews go, and definitely not as well reviewed as his other albums.

Ultramagnetic MCs's Critical Blowjob

yeah i dunno...just like a "adventurous" non-rap-album-by-a-rap-artist-that-most-rock-critics-know-by-now...seems like it would be in that "love below" zone

a lot of this album is on some u cant be serious shit

yeah I've seen people operate on that assumption..."oh he's singing and making stuff-white-people-like indie/techno, critics are gonna go nuts," but really compared to the critical reception of his first 3 albums there's nowhere to go but down, and I think it's gonna go way way down with this album, aside from pockets of apologists here and there.

yeah you might be right.

based on the songs i've heard so far i think i like chinese democracy better than this.

haha that's been a Taking Sides going on in my head ever since those 2 albums ended up on the same release date.

i suspect there is an equal amount of autotune on each album, some of axl's high notes sound pretty suspect

I pretty much decided that I'm going to end up listening to both and hating myself for it, but I will only contribute to Axl's ego by actually purchasing his CD.

xpost

"paranoid" (ft. mr. hudson)

when i saw this i was like oh word, he did another song w/ Eric Hudson from "Flashing Lights" and actually gave him a feature credit for the beat? but then it's some British douchebag signed to Kanye's label, i guess.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Theater_of_the_Mind.jpg

what up, sunday posters, won't you come and join me for my liveblog of the new luda album?

1. Undisputed "co-starring" Floyd Mayweather

I never realized how stupid that cover was til I saw it up close and all the people in the background were also Luda in different poses. This had some annoying British accent guy yelling over the first had but once it got going there was a good fast flow.

oh wait i already fucked that up, track 1 was "intro," that I was describing.

2. Undisputed

d-_-b Don Cannon beatz

I already heard it. Decent Luda rhymes. Shit beats.

that intro is so groan-inducing

chris brown joint is aight. Skip to that

3. Wish You Would "co-starring" T.I.

I like this better than "On Top Of The World" already. Not that Luda or T.I. were ever in the same lane or had a lot of potential for dope collabs, but this one works for me. Feeling this beat more than probably anything Toomp has made in the past 2 years, you hating on this one, Whiney? The "whuuut"s at the end of a few lines in the first verse cracking me up. It might be kind of corny that Luda says "I wish a muthafucka would" at the end of the previous song and then the beat transitions seamlessly into this song, but I'm a sucker for that kind of shit, it sounded great.

4. One More Drink "co-starring" T-Pain

Yeah I'm gonna say "co-starring" every time because I still can't believe how dumb the concept is on this album, "every song is a movie," stfu luda. Even though he's like the billionth rapper to jump on the T-Pain bandwagon I'm not mad at him because unlike most of those other cats, Luda actually sounds like he has the same vibe and sense of humor as T-Pain. "Chopped 'N Skrewed" is way way better than this, though, so every time I hear it I wish I was listening to that.

5. Call Up The Homies "co-starring" The Game and Willy Northpole

I was gonna say he's never done a song with Game before but I guess there was that phone commercial with Kanye before Motorola swapped them out for Mickey Avalon. Worst radio personality ever Clinton Sparks comes with some heat on the track.

I should have stayed with the movie theme and wrote: spoiler alert: disappointing album

6. Southern Gangsta "co-starring" Rick Ross, Playaz Circle and Ving Rhames

lol ving rhames intro. my least favorite track so far, even before Officer Ross showed up and made a Public Enemy quote sound lame. Tity Boi's dope, though, that Playaz Circle album was a decent little inconsequential record. Another thought about the cover: why does every different Luda in the theater seem to be watching a different kind of movie or different scene? Some are laughing, some look scared, wtf is going on.

is it possible to be disappointed by a Ludacris album at this late date?

I mean I thought we'd been in this holding pattern for like 4 albums now of Luda going "this album's going to be the classic that puts me in everyone's top 10" and then it being some lame uneven shit, at this point I'm just like whatever, I'll check it out and there'll at least be some decent songs.

7. Everybody Hates Chris "co-starring" Chris Rock

is he sampling the theme song of the show on this? I can't remember what it sounds like. this gimmick of having non-singers/rappers talk on the beat is gonna get pretty old by the time Spike Lee shows up, ain't it. Don Cannon is still the 2008 champ of southern soul beats, though.

8. What Them Girls Like "co-starring" Chris Brown and Sean Garrett

OK seriously you think this is the best track? wtf

9. Nasty Girl "co-starring" Plies

v. disappointed in Swizz for this shit, it still has some of his cool "different random drum sound every other bar" style but the synth line is so loud and cheesy. Luda should never do sleazy sex songs that aren't as fast as "What's Your Fantasy" or faster. even Plies is kinda boring on this, I was hoping he'd at least say something ridiculous or disgusting like he does on all his radio singles.

10. Contagious "co-starring" Jamie Foxx

"Unpredictable" was my jam so I gave this the benefit of the doubt but man this stretch really is a no man's land of terrible R&B songs, isn't it. I like how Jamie pronounces "simply" with three syllables, though.

11. Last Of A Dying Breed "co-starring" Lil Wayne

Ooh a film projector sound effect! Real fancy, Luda. This sample's really been done way too many times for it to work here. I don't think I've ever heard an album where a rapper mentions how many albums he has this many times. lol @ him playing up the O'Reilly/Oprah/Obama controversies like he's some kind of scary outlaw rapper. Wayne sounds kinda heated on this, almost like this could've been recorded in 2007 or something.

12. MVP "co-starring" nobody, finally

Primo's dropped some nice beats lately but I'm not really into this one. You'd think he'd be able to piece together a dope collage chorus of Luda quotes but he probably doesn't actually listen to Ludacris records.

13. I Do It For Hip Hop "co-starring" Nas and Jay-Z

Before Joe Budden, before The Game, Luda was the first MC to constantly whine about how Jay won't give him his respect or do a song with him, so I guess congrats to him for finally getting to the point where Jay will throw him a stupid guest verse. Who is this Wyldflyer guy who keeps getting to do boring beats for big event songs like this and "Black Republican"?

14. Do The Right Thang "co-starring" Common and Spike Lee

OK I kind of like that goofy "wake up" intro. This is a pretty big yawn until the OK last Luda verse, though.

15. Let's Stay Together

Since I bought this on iTunes I might as well post about the bonus track. I remember hearing this when it leaked way before the album and liking it, probably would've been one of the best tracks on the proper album if it was included. I like that he fantasizes about all these rap reunions and says "Crunchy with Three 6" when it's a Paul and Juicy track. I like that he mentions a couple DTP breakups in here but I mean he just cut loose half the label's roster last year, that's kinda weird.

wtf @ front row luda vest

this dude is totally a singles/guest rapper artist -- he's really talented but i dont get why everyone thinks hes a minute from dropping a classic at this point

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Ludaback4firsttime-2000.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/Ludacris-WordOfMouf-music-album.jpg

even Plies is kinda boring on this, I was hoping he'd at least say something ridiculous or disgusting like he does on all his radio singles.

^^lol this needs to go on the Rap in 2008 headstone

ya i was gonna say - back for the first time is a classic and word of mouf is pretty damn close

id pick those over the other options but neither of them get me rewinding over and over or something -- they dont have anything on a guy like redman who has such a similar schtick but way more solid records

tbh im kind of challopsing out of boredom here

luda is really too intense to sit though an entire album of

back for the first time has distinctly early 2000s southern beats and knockout punchlines - idk what's not to love

joe you may be right but i think that statement applies to latter day luda when he felt he had things to "prove" - i think on his earlier albums esp. word of mouf when he was already a superstar he's just doing stand-up comedy basically

word of mouf is dope tho

xactly