Ludacris is trying to satisfy your fantasies with some southern hospitalities. But does he succeed? Dirty South hip hop has recently been blastin off. Outkast, Nelly, Slim Cahoon and here we have Ludacris. When I got the Ludcaris album, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I think Outkast are different, and I like their style. However, in my opinion, Nelly is wack, and I haven’t heard much from Slim. I’d only heard Southern Hospitality before the album, and that was something I thought to be an average tune. Well, luckily, I wasn’t dissapointed with it. Ludacris comes in this album with a mixture of phat, beat driven tracks, with some nice emceeing to match. Production includes big names like Jermaine Dupri, Timbaland and Organised noize, and most of the others are laid down by a cat in Luda’s click, DTP (Disturbing the Peace) called Shondrae. Ludacris himself lays down a couple of tracks down on the production, but mainly sticks to the mic. Other appearances on the mic include UGK, Infamous 2-0, 4-Ize and Pastor Troy.
Lot of different producers on the album, but similar styles throughout.
There’s a lot of good things about the album. The production is mainly tight (although there are a couple of track that’ll just make you reach for the hi fi remote), the vocals are laid down nice and clear, the choruses are quite catchy and the guest appearances are a welcome addition. However, some of the tracks, like I just said, could have been left out of the album, quite ironically, the ones produced by Luda himself are the weakest on the album in terms of the beat and tune. Hood Stuck, for example, is monotonous, and adds nothing to the flava of the album. Seems like a filler track that would have been better somewhere else…. maybe in the bin? The other track Luda produces, Catch Up, isn’t too bad, but I still feel he could just pass the production onto someone else and stick to his lyricism. Another criticism of the album is the lyrical content. Whilst most of the emcees on the album can lay down a decent verse, most of the tracks are based around one thing:- sex. Now, I generally don’t like flossers, so in most cases I’d dismiss Ludacris as ‘just another Jay Z’ who can’t stop talking about women and money. But what saves him in this case is his attitude towards both. Imagine a Dirty South ‘Snoop Dogg’ and it’s basically Luda. He don’t give a fuck about thoses hos is the general attitude. And that’s good. It just makes me laugh (check out the track ‘Ho’ – clever rhymes about hos). Ludacris is a talented artist, but please make him stop producing.
I’m glad I chose to get the Ludacris album. Whilst maybe not a classic album, it definitely brings some kind of variety into my collection. His flossin attitude could do with a bit of toning down, and maybe the content of his tracks could be changed (oh, and give up on the production Luda), but overall this album is tight. You can get into most of the tracks easily, and if you got a bangin system in your car, you can pump it easy with the kinda beats dropped on this one. On another note, the skits on the album are some of the funniest I’ve heard for ages (even funnier than the ghost weed skits on the AOI album from De La Soul). Def Jam South are starting out on a strong note with this one. I’d buy this album if I were you, but I’m not, so go buy it anyway.
2001 – Luacris lays down a phat album, with only a few flaws. Go get it.
Track Listing:
1. U Got A Problem?
2. Game Got Switched
3. 1st & 10 – (featuring Infamous 2-0/Fate Wilson)
4. What’s Your Fantasy – (featuring Shawna)
5. Come On Over – (skit)
6. Hood Stuck
7. Get Off Me – (featuring Pastor Troy)
8. Mouthing Off – (featuring 4 IZE)
9. Stick ‘Em Up – (featuring UGK)
10. Ho – (skit)
11. Ho
12. Tickets Sold Out – (skit)
13. Catch Up – (featuring Infamous 2-0/Fate Wilson)
14. Southern Hospitality – (featuring Pharrell)
15. What’s Your Fantasy – (remix, featuring Trina/Shawna/Foxy Brown)
16. Phat Rabbit
Reviewed By Hip Hop Network for HipHopHotSpot.Com
