More than a year in the making, the seventh studio album "Battle of the Sexes" from Ludacris is here. On this album Ludacris tackles the timeless paradox in history, the differences between men & women. Armed with the ... more »first hit single "HOW LOW", the album features guests including Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj, Flo Rida, Ciara, Trey Songz, Lil'Kim, Eve, Trina, and Plies.« less
More than a year in the making, the seventh studio album "Battle of the Sexes" from Ludacris is here. On this album Ludacris tackles the timeless paradox in history, the differences between men & women. Armed with the first hit single "HOW LOW", the album features guests including Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj, Flo Rida, Ciara, Trey Songz, Lil'Kim, Eve, Trina, and Plies.
"For starters, I've been a Luda fan for years. His lyrics have always been fresh, his beats hot, and his flow smooth. His flow is still smooth on this disk, but that's about it. Lets face it, this is a pretty commercial-oriented release. I really think the only track on it that is going to get any sort of play time in my library is Tell Me a Secret featuring Ne-Yo after the first listen. I heard how low at a bar a while back and wanted to vomit. On top of that, he has collaborated with gucci mane on a track, and that is just outright disappointing. If you've been to a club recently, you've heard this song 10,000 times, just by different artists. Lets get drunk, party party party, blah blah blah. Down tempo grind song. This whole album is far too commercial for my tastes, a dime a dozen. I would recommend, if you're a real Luda fan, torrent it or something. Don't buy it. Send him and artists like him a message: we won't take this crappy, thoughtless club music anymore. If I want club music, I'll get drunk and listen to it in a bar, because drunk is the only state of mind I can take this. But for my sober money, I want some hip hop with some substance."
WHAT THE HECK LUDACRIS?!
Jason G. Smith | 03/15/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Ludacris is the most creative, lyrically talented, most entertaining and most humorous rappers of all time and his last album "Theater of the Mind" was great and it's one of his best albums, and best album I bought in 2008-2009 and or pretty much one of the best hip-hop albums I bought in this decade along with Kanye's album. Along with 2pac, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Outkast, UGK, Lupe Fiasco, Scarface, Nas and Common, Ludacris is my favorite rapper of all time; however, this album "Battle of the Sexes" , is his worst album! It has like 4 songs on it I like. I can understand if some of the songs were like this but not the entire album. This album appeals to the younger crowd and he stayed relevant to the garbage hip-hop/r'b that's in today's generation. I just hope his next album, "Ludaversal" is more like "Release Therapy" and "Theater of the Mind""
Ludacool J
Nuisance | Miami | 03/30/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I will cut straight to the chase with this review. This album while better than Chicken N Beer is still suspect. The problem with it is that Ludacris is trying too hard to pander to the ladies instead of being that gifted MC we all know he's capable of being. This album sounds like the wack albums that LL Cool J has been recording after The G.O.A.T. Before I get to what makes this album bad I will talk about the good.
Hey Ho feat Lil Kim and Lil Fate is not bad. B.O.T.S. Radio feat I.20 and Shawnna is cool too. The Intro fools you because it causes you to believe that this album is going to be hot which you will hear later on is not. My Chick Bad feat the extremely overrated Nicki Minaj and the remix feat Eve, Diamond and Trina might get some rotation. Tell Me A Secret with Ne-Yo gets a pass too. That is where it stops.
The Bad: How Low is perhaps the most boring club record in recent memory. I dont care how many times the radio tries to beat that song into your subconscious, the track sucks! Equally boring tracks would follow in the form Cant Live With You feat Monica(which is a waste of her talent and your time), Party No Mo feat Gucci Mane and Everybody Drunk feat Lil Scrappy. I Know You Got A Man must be the most painfully bad song for the ladies that I've heard next to Ja Rule's Mesmerized feat Ashanti. I hope I'm not the only one that thinks that Sexting is corny as hell and should have never made it to disc and listen to this cheesy hook while you're at it "So I'm just sitting in this rehab class/ trying to get myself unhooked on a**/ so then my teacher asked me a question/ Like Ludacris are you over there sexting/ Ha ha OMG/ Lol KIT/ Smiling faces / X and O/ LMFAO"(??????!!!!???).
In short this album is a mess. I know people love Ludacris and thinks he is a tight lyricist but dont use that as an excuse to see past this album's glaring flaws. I love Ludacris and think he's a tight MC too. I thought Theater Of The Mind was an excellent album but Battle Of The Sexes SUCKS! This album sounds like something LL Cool J would make(thats why I gave my review that title). You dont believe me? Listen to Cant Live With You, Sex Room, I Do It All Night, I Know You Got A Man, Feelin So Sexy and Tell Me A Secret and imagine LL Cool J's rhymes about women over those tracks. Now you see what Im talking about.
thumbs down.
Standouts: B.O.T.S. RADIO, HEY HO, TELL ME A SECRET, MY CHICK BAD(original and remix)."
Battle Of The Sexes Ends In A Stalemate
Q. Pair | USA | 03/12/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"World, brace yourselves, cuz Luda's back and he's bringin more heat then a supernova on this new album! Woo!! ....Or at least that's what I was hoping as a faithful Luda fan. Unfortunately, it seems that Battle of the Sexes, while a great concept at first mention, has about as much heat as a space heater.
First off let me say that I think Ludacris is one of the most brilliant, yet underrated and most underachieving hip hop artists of all time. Hands down he's in my top 10 dead or alive. That being said, I have great expectations for him as an artist, and he has shown he is more than capable of meeting those expectations when he put out Release Therapy and Theater of the Mind, not to mention dozens of individual songs he has done over the years that are exceptional displays of lyricism, wordplay, and wit. So now with the release of BOTS, I beg the question... "WTF Luda?" Anyway, I'm not gonna go into the song by song breakdown, but heres a general overview.
As one reviewer said before me, this is pretty much that "throwback Ludacris" kind of material, which was much more radio hit oriented. The majority of this CD seems extremely commercial, from its content, to its production, right down to the features (which there are quite a few of), focusing mostly on recent, more recognizable artists like Niki Manaj, Lil Scrappy and Trey Songz. To be terribly blunt, the first half of this CD is pretty mind numbing and lacking of any real substance, musically or lyrically. Luda has a few good lines here and there, but nothing that's very memorable. Basically, the first half of the disc is pure club music. And you know what, that's cool. The second half of the CD, however, seems to be where some effort was put in, or maybe it just happens to be more creative. Songs like "Tell Me A Secret", "Feelin So Sexy" and "Cant Live Without You" all seem to really stick with you and make you want to hear it again. "Cant Live Without You" is especially well done, and frankly, the best song on the entire CD in my opinion, as it easily relates to anyone who's ever been in a long term relationship. At the tail end of the CD, we're left with a remix of "My Chick Bad (Pussy Runs The World Version)" which as it suggests, features all female rappers on verses, and its ok, but nothing special. No real shine there. And lastly, the funniest track I have heard in years, "Sexting", a Tiger Woods parody that you have to hear to believe.
Overall, this isn't a great CD. Luda usually puts together a more balanced finished project, but this one seems very rushed, with many songs out of place, and no solid tangible theme that relates to the Title of the CD. Its like... yeah, we see what Luda was trying to do, but ultimately the execution was done so poorly, and the finished product seems kind of sloppy. From guest features, to production of half the CD, and a majority of the guest features, this could have been much better. On the other hand though, if you are a huge fan of music you can dance to, or just blast in the car, then this will probably rank higher then a 3 for you. But I value Luda's more heavy material. Bring on more "Runaway Love" type songs, and I will be all over it. But for now, enjoy BOTS!