Release Therapy

by

Ludacris

Edit

I was first introduced to Ludacris just like most people were with the infamous "What's Your Fantasy". I liked the track but I had to hear another song before I decided to purchase Ludacris' 1st official CD in stores, "Back For The First Time". When I heard the Neptunes produced "Southern Hospitality" I knew that I would pick up the CD. My favorites included "U Got A Problem", "Catch Up", and "Stick 'Em Up" w/UGK. Ludacris quickly followed "Back For The First Time" with his 2nd CD "Word Of Mouf". Before the CD was released he had a track entitled "Area Codes" w/Nate Dogg that was featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack. The first official single for "Word Of Mouf" was the Timbaland produced "Rollout (My Business)" where Ludacris was instructing all paparazzi and people who weren't down from the beginning to mind their biznass and to leave him alone. My other favorites from this CD included the hilarious "Coming 2 America", "Saturday" w/Sleepy Brown, and the "Word Of Mouf (Freestyle)". 2 years later Luda dropped his 3rd CD, "Chicken And Beer". Things got off to a great start with the "Southern Fried Intro" where Isaac Hayes' "Walk On By" speeds up to a frenetic pace and Luda drops some nice verses to get the CD started out right. Right after that, "Blow It Out" makes things even better as Luda is able to address any haters and Mr. Bill O'Reilly. The first single from "Chicken And Beer" was the Kanye West produced "Stand Up". My other favorites included "Screwed Up" w/Lil Flip, "Diamond In The Back", "Splash Waterfalls", "Hip Hop Quotables" and "H... In My Room" w/Snoop Dogg. The following year, Luda dropped his 4th CD, "The Red Light District". The 1st single was "Get Back", but the track sounded alot like "Act A Fool" which was on the "Fast & Furious 2" soundtrack. My favorites on this CD included "Number One Spot", "Hopeless" w/Trick Daddy, and "Virgo" w/Nas & Doug E Fresh. Although "The Red Light District" did have its moments, this was definitely my least favorite CD from Ludacris because alot of the songs seemed outdated and the CD seemed rushed, in my opinion.

"Release Therapy" is Luda's 5th solo CD and the 1st single is "Money Maker" w/Pharrell. The Neptunes produce the track and while the song is nice, you can definitely tell that this is just a song for the clubs and something you like to hear at a party. Luda switches things up on his 2nd single, "Grew Up A Screw Up" w/Young Jeezy. This track is definitely one of my favorites as the Notorious BIG's verse from "Runnin'", which featured 2 Pac, Stretch and Dramacydal, is sampled and slowed down to make a tight chorus and Luda gives one of his best verses on the entire CD to start things out. Young Jeezy makes up his verse by naming DTP members and Luda finishes things up on the 3rd verse. "Girls Gone Wild" is another track that is produced by the Neptunes but it is entirely different from "Money Maker". The song is very catchy and after a few listens the track will grow on you after awhile. The same can be said for "Ultimate Satisfaction" which features Field Mob. Don't get me wrong this song is nowhere close to being as tight as the track "Georgia" was. However, after a few listens and every 4 bars ending in "satisfaction", the song will grow on you after awhile. Luda next says he has "Mouths To Feed" and it is actually a tight song. However, after 5 solo CDs, 2 DTP CDs and some movie roles it is hard to convince me he still has trouble feeding his family and daughter, although I understand it's just a figure of speech. He is basically saying if you are not trying to make any moves or make any progress, then I can't be around you. I have to do what I need to do. "End Of The Night" w/Bobby Valentino and "Woozy" w/R Kelly is basically the same track with the edge going to "Woozy" with the "R" doing what he does best as he attempts to hypnotize the ladies with his vocals. In both songs Luda tells the women what he would like to do and how they are going to feel afterwards. As Sunshine Anderson would say, "I've Heard It All Before". Things get better on "Tell It Like It Is" as Luda tells the average joe how they can try to make in the rap game and gives out some knowledge or tools on how to stay in the game after you do get in. He also has a brief statement for Chingy who is still trying to "pull back" whatever is left of his rap career. The best moment on "Release Therapy" is clearly "War With God". The use of the "War Of The Gods" sample from Billy Paul is just plain "sick" and Luda has a field to address any enemies that he may still have in the rap game. Although, Luda said he was talking about himself, as Jay Z would say, we don't believe you... yeah you know the rest. "War With God" is clearly better than any track on this CD. On "Do Your Time", Luda comes up with a clever concept by putting 3 rappers who have been released from jail in the past year, Beanie Sigel, Pimp C and C-Murder, to address the friends and family that he may know that are in jail. The track definitely gets the point across and he is basically telling anyone that is doing jail time to make themselves a better person while they are there and Beanie, Pimp C and C-Murder talk about the harsh realities of actually being in jail since they have been there and know from experience. Luda slows things down on "Slap" but once again he comes up with a clever concept as he portrays the image that everyone has once in their life has done when they get fed up with everything in the world and what is going on around them. If that day were to happen, Luda describes situations that would possibly occur if he went off the deep end one day. "Runaway Love" features Mary J. Blige and deals with a serious topic as far as runaway children are concerned. Luda describes 3 different situations that have definitely happened in real life to try to let any child know they do have other options in life. If I am correct, I think this will be the next single. Last but not least, Luda ends things on a nice note with "Freedom Of Preach", which comes off as being funny but Luda is actually trying to be serious to tell folks and the man upstairs that he is finally getting what is going on this crazy world of today. He even says in his own words, "I'm 28 years old, it just now started making sense."

"Release Therapy" is definitely better than "The Red Light District". However, you're not going to find too much ground breaking material, you will just find the same consistent Luda that he has been for the majority of his 5 CDs. I will say that "War With God" is one of the best Luda songs that have came out in awhile. There is one track that isn't on this CD that I heard on a mixtape entitled "Stick Up". This song should have definitely made the cut for the CD, so if you are a Luda fan you should definitely try to get your hands on the song if you can. Luda also is on the remix to Busta Rhymes' "In The Ghetto". If you are a fan of Luda's previous CDs, then you should definitely add "Release Therapy" to your collection.

James' Top 5

1) War With God

2) Grew Up A Screw Up w/Young Jeezy

3) Slap

4) Do Your Time w/Beanie Sigel, Pimp C & C-Murder

5) Runaway Love w/Mary J. Blige

Ranking Luda's Discography

1) Back For The First Time

2) Chicken And Beer

3) Word Of Mouf

4) Release Therapy

5) The Red Light District

I'll be straight-forward, I've never been too big on Luda to begin with. While I respect Luda, and believe he is quite talented, he has never really given me music to relate to. For Luda, it's always been about partying, pimping, smoking, and occasionally, haters. Some would say he gives a slightly introspective cut on each of his albums, but honestly, they've never really given me much of an insight into Ludacris.

I just don't feel personally attached to Luda, and for me, that's essential to appreciate an artists' work fully. I have the same problem with quite a few emcees, and even if they're a lyrical genius, if they don't touch me as a person, I'll rarely ever be able to see them as anymore than a talented artist, who lacks any form of personality.

Now, don't get it twisted; Luda has tons of personality to share, but that personality almost always a happy-go-lucky, "**** this *****," "smoke this ganja," "drank these beers," and other subjects that follow these patterns. The thing is, we've always known what Ludacris, the rapper is all about; but what about the man underneath the guise?

I'd heard so many things about how this was Ludacris' most mature effort to date, and it is; however, that's not a giant step up from the aforementioned pimpcapades he's put on over the last six years. While Ludacris does finally offer some visits to the man behind the mask, the production he's chosen for these tracks seems to nearly always fail. Now, this could be due to one major thing; Ludacris has an ear for hot party beats, but he really doesn't know hot to get a premier beat when it comes to heart-felt, and/or introspective cuts.

"Grew Up A Screw Up," "War With God," and "Runaway Love" are all stellar tracks lyrically, but each fall short on the production half of things. Even some of the party tracks, such as "Money Maker" and "Girls Gone Wild" lack the infectious beats of other Ludacris singles in the past. While The Red Light District may not have shown as much depth lyrically as Release Therapy, it showed significantly more depth musically, and unfortunately, this album falls below even that release.

Ludacris is heading on the right path; he just needs a lot of help with directions. Honestly, this release is take it or leave; while it does show you the vulnerable side of Luda you've been aching to hear, the production fails greatly, and leaves you not wanting to listen again. Maybe I was expecting too much from this release; maybe I wanted Ludacris to use his full potential too badly, and drop his first classic album. Ultimately, I was left down, and sadly, I could've done without Release Therapy. Maybe next time, Chris.