Ludacris Album: “The Red Light District [PA]”

"If your spinnin rims spin counterclockwise...you are not pimpin!!!!"

Ludacris returns ( did he ever leave?!?) for his fifth studio album. Yes, fifth album, in four years as well as a group album and numerous guest appearances. It seems as if we should be Ludacris'd out by now but we aren't amazingly. He seems to reinvent his flow on guest appearances and they indeed increase anticipation for his albums ( Lovers & Friends, Sugar, Stomp, Oh, Whole City Behind Us...etc). So does this album deliver even with the onslaught of Ludacris? You bet it does. Ludacris steps his game up lyrically on this one. Instead of constant braggadocio and game spitting he talks about life a little on this album. He still gets down with his flow and with rewind worthy lyrics. The beats are tight too but kinda chill, for Ludacris standards, but I guess that was part of the goal for this album.

The album, at first, is kinda hard to listen to; unlike his others that you could just jump right into. If you just scanned the album you would think it was wack, as I did at first. But give it some time..it'll grow on you. Luda delivers on tracks like the Nate Dogg collaboration Child Of The Night, and gets down with Trick Daddy on Hopeless. Spur Of The Moment is pimped out west coast beat perfect for sippin on lemonade chillin on the porch. It's a very nice feel good track...arguably the best song on the album. It features the smooth DJ Quik on the track; although he doesn't produce the track, it sure sounds as if he did. Very smooth track. Pimpin All Over The World is another great track with a great beat and pimpin lyrics. To me, the best song on the album would have to be The Potion, a Timbaland beat. Luda's flow on this joint is flawless and the beat is bananas. You might not like it at first but man...joint iz banging. Virgo with Nas is a throwback song with beatbox beat by Dougie Fresh...classic. And Two Miles An Hour, a DJ Toomp production, is straight up ridin. He samples Austin Powers on Number One Spot and it actually works.

However all the songs are not good; for example, Blueberry Yum Yum with Sleepy Brown is surprisingly terrible, The song with DMX is subpar, Who Not Me is underwhelming, a worthless skit crowds the album, Pass Out is just plain out wack, and Large Amounts is just goofy (even though he rips the last verse) as he talks about gold diggers and wut not. The beat is aight and the chorus, although catchy, is stupid. In This Life, One Thing counts, In the bank, Large Amounts.

Nonetheless, Ludacris has delivered with this album. The majority of the album is rewind worthy while some songs are borderline unlistenable. But that's how Ludacris albums go. They usually have two extremes. Whatever though. 4 Stars.

Ludacris is the best lyricist in the game who has never released a great record. There are two reasons why: 1. He cares too much about making club bangers. 2. He releases LPs to fast, one a year is too much. If he would take his time he could write something amazing, but he didn't on this record and I don't know if he ever will take his time. Red Light District has it's moments(like all of his previous LPs) and is perfect if you want to get hyped going to the club. If you want something deep and meaningful this is not the CD for you. If you want a completely solid effort from Luda you'll have to take the 3-5 tracks from each of his records and burn them on to one disc, because Luda may never accomplish this himself.

First of all, anybody who is writing about what you were before needs to stop. This is a disgusting habit many have gotten into and nobody really needs to hear about it. Anyway having gotten past that I do believe this is a solid album. The only thing is a few of the tracks don't hold up as well as they should. The raps on "spur of the moment" are lazy, it's as if they're in California enjoying a sunny day and forced to ad-lib for a joint on the new album. Of course "get back" is the street banger on this one, you can feel the rhymes and you can even tell he tried lyrically on this one (Luda's always been better at wordplay, check his lyrics for his first three albums.) "number one spot" is hot but way too loud, and "virgo" gets kind of tired when you listen to it on the nas album all day, and if doug fresh was so eager to have his 'actual' voice on it, couldn't he have dropped a verse? However we see a new side of Luda with the welcomed 'child of the night' and introspective 'hopeless' featuring trick daddy reminiscing over a dream. I also enjoyed 'who not me' and occasionally 'two miles an hour.' even though since I have the clean version the skits are absent, I'm still feeling the album. let's just hope he puts more focus on his brilliant lyrical wordplay on his possibly last def jam release 'release therapy' coming sometime this (fall?) here's hoping.

Okay. Ludacris without a doubt has skills but he sometimes fails to make a good album. His first two were great but Chicken N Beer was horrible and he keeps the madness moving with this album. The Good: the intro wasnt bad plus it leads off into the second single and one of the better cuts on the album, Number One Spot. His first single Get Back was alright although it wasnt a groundbreaking cut its cool(why does that video look like a cheap imitation of Redman's I'll Be Dat?). Child Of The Night featuring Nate Dogg is another notable cut and DJ Quik joins in on the fun on Spur Of the Moment. Pimpin All Over The World is another highlight and will somebody PLEASE tell Honey Mike that he is not funny! Honorable Mention: The Potion. The Bad: A classic example of beat wasting is practiced on Put Your Money feat DMX. Nice beat but the bland lyrics about compulsive gambling make it filler. Pass Out is another dull crunk wannabe that should have been disposed of with the quickness. Two Miles An Hour is boring. Not because of the laid back beat by DJ Toomp but because the lethargic rhymes by Ludacris and how the hell do you sign your name in the streets? With pee? The Ugly: Blueberry Yum Yum, featuring Sleepy Brown is the worst smoke joint ever made! The corny beat and the stupid wordplay by Luda makes you want to quit smoking actually. Who Not Me featuring Small World and Dollar Boy is the second worse track on the album as the song itself sounds like it was put together in five minutes. Hopeless with Trick Daddy is dull as s***. I admire them for attempting to talk about something of substance but the song was too lifeless to get into. Dishonorable Mentions: Large Amounts(GARBAGE) and Virgo feat Nas and Doug E. Fresh(why Nas even put this soulless cubic zirconia on his album makes me question his sanity sometimes). Bottom Line: Luda drops another dud with Red Light District. Its not his worst album(Chicken N Beer has that honor) but its the next worse thing. No doubt that Luda has skills but this album and Chicken N Beer doesnt show it. Just beatwasting and wack guest appearances(with the exception of DJ Quik, Nate Dogg and Bobby Valentino) and some suspect production on certain parts. Red Light District? More like Bordello of wackness.

"King David" simply adores it when he is in a room full of thugs and gangsters who can treat him like a red-headed step child. His emotions soar and sink depending on how many inches he takes from the thugs who treat poor "Queen" David like the German army treated the French army in World War II. The simple fact is that young David is just a poor wandering she-male, a soul who couldn't take the pressure of having a job so he resorted to going down on homeless men in his desperate attempt to climb out of poverty. King David's hopes and dreams have all been wiped out due to his intense craving for those who might give him some ephemeral pleasure, some hope, some reason to continue his meaningless existence. Alas, his entire existence is based upon finding a male lover that would put up with his meager 3 inches. However, any chances of that happening have dissipated like a forgotten sunset on a beautiful hillside. Thus, King David is forced to seek some type of pleasure via using the computer which was probably made during President Reagan's first administration in his run-down 1982 stationwagon that also functions as his home.