(Def Jam)
The success Ludacris has attained over the last four years has been nothing short of spectacular. While dropping albums on a near-yearly basis, Luda has held the nation's radios and clubs hostage with a barrage of singles. Furthermore, Ludacris seems to appear everywhere-as often the guest artist as he is the featured artist.
While he has sold a lot of albums, Ludacris seems to be underrated as an artist. His amazing ability to switch up his voice, effortlessly spit out tongue-twisting flows and ride a beat to the point where his voice becomes another instrument in the production is paralled by none. Shamefully, Ludacris is almost completely shunned by the underground hip-hop community simply because of his commercial success. Lyrically, Luda is better than many indie mainstays and when it comes to the flow, one would be hard pressed to find someone better than him above or beneath the ground.
In Red Light District, Ludacris continues to prove he can be commercially successful and legitimately talented at the same time. On \The Potion,"" Luda rides the bonkers Timbaland beat to perfection, meshing his voice in with the head-nodding tribal drums and vocal samples like a chameleon blends in to its surroundings.
""Blueberry Yum Yum"" is an ideal display of Luda's flawless double-timed flow. While opining his favorite flavor of herb, he experiments successfully with melody to create a slick and relaxing track.
Of course, despite the creativity Ludacris shows on individual songs, his albums, like most rap albums, follow a formula that often leads to commercial success. There are the club tracks, the crew tracks and some filler tracks mixed in with the rest. The DMX appearance ""Put Your Money"" is a shameless attempt to get DMX back into the rap game. While the song with Nas-""Virgo""-is a solid track, it also appeared on the new Nas album and should have been left off one or the other.
If you are accustomed to purchasing Ludacris albums, you will definitely like The Red Light District. While releasing an album every year can easily dilute an artist's material, Ludacris has enough talent and charisma, along with a good ear for beats, to make sure that every album he releases is quality.
If you sweat Aesop Rock and Atmosphere and hate Ludacris with a passion, you are better off picking up Word Of Mouf or Chicken-N-Beer before checking out Red Light District. While this album is definitely solid, his two previous efforts are better examples of his mic prowess. Good judges of hip-hop music are willing to concede the fact that Ludacris is a talented artist no matter what scale is used.
