I remember Ludacris first emerging on the hip hop scene when I was a sophomore in high school with his raunchy debut single “Whats Your Fantasy.” The singles that would soon follow were enough to convince me and the rest of the world that Luda was the farthest thing from a one hit wonder. Now eight years and seven platinum plus albums later Luda is still the undisputed king of the south with over 11 million album sold; the most of any southern rapper to date. His latest effort Theater Of The Mind. Theater Of The Mind promises to be a more conceptual journey through the mind of the over-the-top ATL wordsmith.

Luda sounds very similar to his old and more aggressive self on The Runners produced opening intro.  Floyd “Money” Mayweather co-stars with Luda  while lending some corner inspiration on “Undisputed” where Luda talks shit and goes to the extent of threatening to run up in the stands like the Indiana Pacers did in 2004. TI and Luda co-star together as they prove they’ve done more than gotten past their beef as the two combine for the second or third time on “Wish You Would.” T-Pain co-stars on “One More Drink” where he and Luda show and prove their uncanny abilities to knock off major hits with ease.

Luda travels across the country to hook up with The Game on the Clinton Sparks helmed “Call Up The Homies” then brings things back home as he enlists the help of co-stars Rick Ross and Playaz Circle on “Southern Gangstas.” Ving Rhames narrates the track identical to the way he works BET’s American Gangsters.  Luda uses Chris Rock commentary as he keeps the TV parodies rolling on “Everybody Hates Chris” where he uses the whole track to hate on himself much like many people in America already do.

Chris Brown and Sean Garret co-star with Luda to make panties wet all across the nation on the album’s first single “What Them Girls Like.” Producer extraordinaire Darkchild handles the board work on the seductive offering. Swizz Beatz laces Luda and Plies with the synthesizer heavy offering on the sexually outspoken “Nasty Girl.” Scott Storch rises from the realms of major debt  to lace the Jamie Foxx assisted “Contagious.” Both Luda and Lil Wayne go hard on “Last Of A Dying Breed” as they attempt to prove that hip hop isn’t dead, it just lives in the south.

On the DJ Premier helmed “MVP” Luda manages to go bar for bar straight lyricism on some essence type hip hop shit as the first southern rapper to spit over a Premier beat. Jay-Z, Nas, and Luda all proclaim to be the best as they take some time to express their passion for the art on “I Do It For Hip Hop.” Luda returns to his Chi-town roots as he enlists Common for a
cameo on the 9th Wonder engineered “Do The Right Thing.”    

In a year where very few albums will be remotely discussed a decade from now Ludacris’ Theater Of The Mind easily finds its way on that list. Luda managed the unthinkable by rhyming with the ferocity of his early career coupled with his maturity from his last album. This album should be a perfect soundtrack for those getting their grown man on in the aggravated market of today. Just last week Ludacris promised his best album, whether or not he lived up to that will ultimately be up to you. Do trust that there is an adequate argument on either side of the spectrum.

VERDICT – 17 / 20
LYRICS: 4
PRODUCTION: 4
DELIVERY: 4
CONSISTENCY: 5