Album three of my Ludacris discography revisiting brings me to 'Chicken-N-Beer' that I originally had at 2.5/5 but quickly I've realised I was way too harsh. This has more of what the previous albums are missing.
'Southern Fried Intro' has an energetic and fast spitting Luda over enjoyable high tempo production. The lethal 'Blow It Out' sees Ludacris take shots at his haters including Bill O'Reilly who cops it on 'Hoes in My Room' as well. 'Splash Waterfalls' is good for a minute, but then it drags on a lot and feels like a long song. It's a missed opportunity with the likeable sample. On the other hand, 'Hard Times' is longer but flies by. 'Hard Times' and the Kanye West produced 'Stand Up' have some of the best production Ludacris had received or produced himself up to this point in his career. 'Diamond in the Back' features some nice soulful production too with Ludacris' laid-back delivery suiting the instrumental well and 'P-Poppin'' has dope funky production. So, just over half way, and the production is a winner.
The tail isn't as strong, but still features good moments including the closer, 'Eyebrows Down', that has some of the more interesting introspective and storytelling verses from Luda up until this point in his career. The penultimate song, 'We Got', with its cough kick drums, is another good rap song.
The weaker moments are, as mentioned 'Splash Waterfalls', and to a lesser degree 'Teamwork' and 'Hoes in My Room' but they aren't skips. It's worth mentioning the skits that don't hit. 'Rob Quarters Skit' about a wannabe ageing rapper isn't bad, but the rest, including 'Black man's Struggle Skit', that is just a man struggling on a toilet, is the attempt at humour we're given.
Some versions also have 'Act a Fool', 'Blow It Out (Remix)' and 'Southern Hospitality (Remix)'. 'Act a Fool' from the film, '2 Fast 2 Furious', goes hard. 'Southern Hospitality (Remix)' features UK rappers Ms. Dynamite and Maxwell D and they don't mess up the great production. 'Blow It Out (Remix)' features 50 'Snake' Cent and he jumps in for the third verse. He raps completely differently devoid of the energy of Ludacris. The original is better.
This isn't amazing song after amazing song, but I definitively underrated this. Overall the production is the most enjoyable from his first three albums. There is just something more to a lot of these songs than on the previous album, 'Word of Mouf'. There are more songs with replay value, the few of the best are probably in Luda's tpo 10, and there aren't as many average moments.
Beats: ★★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★★
Hooks: ★★★☆
Best Tracks: Southern Fried Intro, Stand Up, Hard Times, Diamond in the Back, P-Poppin', We Got, Eyebrows Down, Act a Fool, Southern Hospitality (Remix)
Songs ordered (best-worst):
Hard Times ★★★★☆
Stand Up ★★★★☆
Eyebrows Down ★★★★☆
Diamond in the Back ★★★★
We Got ★★★★
Act a Fool ★★★★
Southern Fried Intro ★★★★
Southern Hospitality (Remix) ★★★☆
P-Poppin' ★★★☆
Blow It Out ★★★☆
Blow It Out (Remix) ★★★
Screwed Up ★★★
Hip Hop Quotables ★★★
Hoes in My Room ★★★
Teamwork ★★☆
Splash Waterfalls ★★
Rob Quarters Skit
Interactive Skit
T Baggin' Skit
Black Man's Struggle Skit
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