Revisiting Review Nov 2022: Firstly, I forgot how good the rapping performance on 'Girls Gone Wild' is. As I've been revisiting these albums, I remember thinking I heard some Eminem influence on his debut album, and on the aforementioned song, I definitely hear it more so. I know Ludacris rates Em highly, but I can't say for sure that he was influenced by him. As all Ludacris albums do, this again starts off fiery with the 'Intro'. 'Grew Up a Screw Up' somewhat matches the intro for energy but I think Jeezy's different delivery hurts the song. Ludacris rapping every verse or getting a different type of rapper would've fitted the song better. Next is the Neptunes produced 'Money Maker' that is overrated given it won a Grammy for best rap song, but it's still entertaining, and the album doesn't let the listener down across the first four songs. 'Ultimate Satisfaction', sampling Benny Benassi's 'Satisfaction', goes for something very different though and is easily the worst song here. I don't like the production, the hook is boring, and the rapping doesn't save it. From 'Mouths to Feed', for the most part the content gets more serious, and it's easily the most grown up Ludacris had been on an album up until this point in his career. 'End of the Night', and the better 'Woozy' with R. Kelly, give us some pop rap/R&B in the middle of the album, but then there is a song about prisoners keeping their head up on 'Do Your Time', responsibilities on 'Mouths to Feed', a storytelling track about three different young girls in trouble with 'Runaway Love, feeling a little like Luda's version of 'Brenda's Got a Baby', and life's struggles on 'War with God' and 'Slap'. The production is never amazing, but it holds up well, and while perhaps less fun in parts, the content is more interesting from Luda, and there's only one skip. Some of his previous albums have higher highs, but this album wins for consistency with most of the album being 4/5 songs. It's his first album without stupid skits that is a bonus too when playing the album through. Beats: ★★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★★ Best Tracks: Warning (Intro), Girls Gone Wild, Mouths to Feed, Woozy, Slap, Runaway Love Songs ordered (best-worst): Girls Gone Wild ★★★★☆ Mouths to Feed ★★★★☆ War with God ★★★★☆ Slap ★★★★ Tell It Like It Is ★★★★ Runaway Love ★★★★ Grew Up a Screw Up ★★★★ Warning (Intro) ★★★★ Woozy ★★★★ Do Your Time ★★★☆ Money Maker ★★★☆ End of the Night ★★★ Freedom of Preach ★★★ Ultimate Satisfaction ★★ ------------------------------------------ Original Review: The dreads are off and we have a more serious Ludacris I reviewed this when it came out but have decided to edit it having heard Luda's other albums since (the rating is the same though). Firstly to the artist himself and Luda is one of the better rappers going around these days, particularly that you hear on the radio. He always sounds like he enjoys what he does, puts effort into it and is distinctive - put Luda over a good beat and he is probably in the top 10 of the voices I'd wanna hear. As far as this album goes, having now heard his others, I think this is comfortably my favourite one. On the whole, the beats are the most to my liking, there ain't many, if any, really 'poor/skippable' tracks like his other albums, and Luda has more to say and a larger variety of subject matter which makes it my fav. Track for track RT begins with an intro titled, ‘Warning’, for which the beat matches the title, begins the LP well and gets you into the mood. Track two, ‘Grew Up a Screw Up’, which features a Biggie sample as its hook is a fairly good track with some catchy bars that are mostly brag rap. Other tracks in this 'fairly good' vain are ‘End of The Night’, ‘Do Your Time’, ‘Freedom of Preach’ and ‘Money Maker’ which are all solid tracks but no world beaters. Oddly all of those mentioned are songs with featuring artists while the best tracks ‘Girls Gone Wild’, ‘War With God’, Tell It Like It Is' and ‘Slap’ are all just Luda himself. 'Girls Gone Wild' has a beat that I probably normally wouldn't find interesting but Luda raps excellently making the track great. I said on his '08 album, 'Theater of the Mind', that that had too many features and he really doesn't need to have many. Luda can carry tracks himself if he has something to say. However, honourable mentions are given to ‘Woozy’ and ‘Runaway Love’ which feature the legends R. Kelly and Mary J. Blige respectably. Overall, while RT is nothing brilliant it's more of what a Ludacris album should be like. I find his previous albums fairly hard to get through largely being hit or miss. This has a few too many tracks that I don't like quite enough for RT to get an excellent score but I enjoy enough. Best Tracks: Warning (Intro), Girls Gone Wild, Mouths to Feed, Woozy, Slap, Runaway Love

I'm revisiting Ludacris' discography from his first project. Overall this is more consistent than I remembered with some original production, reminding me a touch of what Juvenile used to rap over, and Luda rapping with his signature mic presence and dope voice as he has his whole career. The weakness here for me is the topics on hand. Sex, brag rap, repping yo' city, etc. There is nothing that exciting. Ludacris presents it all in an entertaining enough way. Choruses like 'Ho' is one example of some creativity with a tired topic, but after a number of playthroughs, you won't be leaving with anything to think about or remember. The worst moments are 'What's Your Fantasy' and the remix. I don't like the production much. 'Get Off Me' is okay. 'Mouthing Off' is Luda and 4-Ize over beatboxing that has some humorous lines but isn't one I'll rush back to. The final song on some versions, 'Phat Rabbit', originally found on Timbaland's 'Tim’s Bio: Life from da Bassment', is one of the weaker songs too. Everything else is decent-good, but a lot of the songs probably just have too much of a similar vibe to them to help the songs find more of their own lane in amongst the album. 'Catch' Up is my favourite from this, with 'Southern Hospitality' probably next in line, but the album doesn't have an amazing song either stopping it from receiving a higher rating. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Game Got Switched, 1st & 10, Hood Stuck, Ho, Catch Up, Southern Hospitality Songs ordered (best-worst): Southern Hospitality ★★★★ Catch Up ★★★★ Game Got Switched ★★★☆ Hood Stuck ★★★☆ 1st & 10 ★★★☆ Ho ★★★☆ U Got a Problem? ★★★ Stick 'Em Up ★★★ Mouthing Off ★★★ Get Off Me ★★☆ Phat Rabbit ★★☆ What's Your Fantasy ★★☆ What's Your Fantasy (Remix) ★★☆ Tickets Sold Out (Skit) Come on Over (Skit) Ho (Skit)

Revisiting November 2022 Review: As is always the case for a Ludacris album, it kicks off with some aggressive bars over a hard beat. The Austin Powers themed 'Number One Spot' is still entertaining. How tough is it not to scream the "Get back motherfucker/You don't know me like that!" refrain in the chorus of 'Get Back' that feels like a cousin of 'Stand Up'? Impossible is the answer! Given that it features another icon in DMX, 'Put Your Money' is the first disappointing moment and isn't one I've felt like repeating. X is only on the repetitive hook... Why have him and not have a verse? I don't know either. 'Blueberry Yum Yum' is the obligatory weed song and isn't a badly put together one with somewhat of a fresh sound. 'Child of the Night' has always been one of, if not my favourite, Ludacris song. Nate Dogg joins forces again but this time it's better than 'Area Codes'. The chorus, production, verses. All dope! ' 'Potion', that is Timbaland staying very much in his lane, isn't his best but isn't bad to hear as you play through the album. 'Pass Out' continues with somewhat of an electro feel and is about the same quality. Then 'Spur of the Moment' hits that is one of Luda's best tracks, and while it features DJ Quik, and sounds so much like a Quik beat, it's credited to LT Moe. You can't listen to this uplifting track and not feel good. It feels a bit like Pac's 'Heartz of Men'. 'Who Not Me' is a decent, hard-hitting 'fuck you' kind of song. And then 'Large Amounts', that samples 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two' from 'Oliver', sees Ludacris spit about getting rich and those after his money. This is a common theme on rappers' albums once they get big, but he does it in a way that is still interesting. 'Pimpin All Over the World' is another okay pop-rap Luda and Bobby V collaboration, but the best of them comes on Bobby's solo albums. Perhaps motivated by his part in the Fast & Furious franchise, 'Two Miles an Hour' is another I missed talking about in my previous listens. I recently heard the remix, that just adds some featuring artists, on 'Ludacris Presents...Disturbing Tha Peace', label album and it was one of my favourites there. It loses nothing by just having Luda on it. Based on the lack of plays this has on Spotify, many are missing out on this catchy track. 'Hopeless' is also one worth playing again with more of a social/conscious message. I like how the lyrics don't just state "whitey bad" and look at it from more than one dimension that many rappers don't do. I've never loved the Nas and Doug E. Fresh assisted 'Virgo' and the rock remix of 'Get Back' doesn't do anything for me to finish the album. Like 'Chicken - N - Beer' this is one I enjoy more than my rating from many years ago suggests and have increased it. It follows on from the aforementioned album by again having a more diverse sound than his first couple and also having more high moments to add to a best of Ludacris playlist. I think the weaker few here are poorer than the ones on 'Chicken - N - Beer' though. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Number One Spot, Get Back, Child of the Night, Spur of the Moment, Two Miles an Hour, Hopeless Songs ordered (best-worst): Child of the Night ★★★★★ Spur of the Moment ★★★★★ Get Back ★★★★☆ Two Miles an Hour ★★★★ Number One Spot ★★★★ Hopeless ★★★☆ Intro ★★★☆ Large Amounts ★★★☆ The Potion ★★★ Virgo ★★★ Pimpin' All Over the World ★★★ Blueberry Yum Yum ★★★ Who Not Me ★★★ Pass Out ★★☆ Put Your Money ★★ Get Back (Rock Version) ★☆ Skit (N/A) -------------------------- Original review: Like most Ludacris albums, this features a couple of really good tracks but plenty of forgettable moments as well. It begins with a fiery intro, an interesting second track, sampling the Austin Powers theme, a banger 'Number One Spot', and the variation continues from there. With a bunch of producers, there is no theme present and the production switches between hardcore hip hop, funk, electro (thanks to Timbaland on 'The Potion') and pop/R&B joints. It wouldn't be a problem if they were dope, but there isn't enough great stuff here. There is also a generic song about blacks' plight with 'Hopeless'. To this day he remains as one of the captivating vets to never make an amazing album. Best Tracks: Number One Spot, Child of the Night, Spur of the Moment

Album two of my revisiting of Ludacris' discography. It's evident fairly early on that this album has more of a diverse sound than his major debut, 'Back for the First Time', which is mostly all on the cusp of hardcore hip hop. The diversity in production doesn't necessarily mean there is more here to enjoy though, and I think this has more songs that are skippable. It begins with an opener that goes for an epic start and it works fairly well sampling the familiar 'Symphony No. 9, 4th Movement' by Allegro Con Fuoco. Next is the well known 'Rollout (My Business)'. The hook is catchy but at the same time not that exciting and I've never loved this one. The next few are all okay with 'She Said' being the catchiest being about girls who say they haven't done particular sexual stuff but they be lying! From there, in between a racist skit, the more familiar songs come with 'Area Codes', 'Growing Pains', 'Move Bitch' and 'Saturday (Oooh Oooh!)' that are some of the best on the album. Luda and 4-Ize combine again for a freestyle over bare bones production as they did on 'Back for the First Time'. I've always thought the dark 'Cold Outside' was one of his better songs that feels a bit like 'Slap' from 'Release Therapy' and it finishes with the hard 'Block Lockdown' and the hidden track, 'Welcome to Atlanta'. Similarly to his previous album, there aren't any bad songs, but there are many that just come and go and I don't adore much. There are too many songs around 3/5. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Coming 2 America, Area Codes, Move Bitch, Cold Outside Songs ordered (best-worst): Cold Outside ★★★★☆ Move Bitch ★★★★ Coming 2 America ★★★★ Area Codes ★★★☆ Growing Pains ★★★☆ Rollout (My Business) ★★★☆ Welcome to Atlanta ★★★ She Said ★★★ Saturday (Oooh Oooh!) ★★★ Block Lockdown ★★★ Cry Babies (Oh No) ★★★ Keep It on the Hush ★★★ Word of Mouf (Freestyle) ★★★ Get the Fuck Back ★★★ Freaky Thangs ★★★ Go 2 Sleep ★★☆ Howhere (Skit) Stop Lying (Skit) Greatest Hits (Skit)

Very entertaining, and at times moving, given what the guests have been accused of doing, but like many of these shows, the behind the scenes actions of the producers and staff are troubling. Steve himself says he doesn't trust the results of a lie detector test, but then once the guests fail one on the show, he takes it as gospel.