WE DO THE MASHED POTATO AND THE FUNKY CHICKEN

Ludacris

Release Therapy

  • AMG Review of Release Therapy

    Amg
    Marisa Brown
    All Music Guide

    Maybe it's the new haircut, maybe it's the budding acting career, or maybe it's just the inevitable step toward maturity that an artist takes after six years of making records, because there's definitely something on Ludacris' fifth release for Def Jam, that makes him move away from the funnier rhymes that made him famous and toward something that's trying to be a little more meaningful. Release Therapy, which, according to Luda, is supposed to be divided into a "release" and a "therapy" side, begins with club-friendly songs about money and getting it on (and often the two are interconnected). "End of the Night," with Bobby Valentino, sits nicely between being a slow jam and a dancefloor track, while "Girls Gone Wild" is about everything the rapper is, wants, and can do for women, and has him spitting, "Just figured out that I'm ahead of my time/With a flow so fast I'm ahead of my rhyme/You clock is off-beat, better set it to mine" (which are about the only non-X-rated lines from the track). "Money Maker," the album's first single, features a bouncy hook from Pharrell (who also, with Chad Hugo, provides the beat) and, while it's fun and catchy, is probably the first time Luda sounds like he was trying really hard to make something fun and catchy. Maybe this is to offset the rather serious nature of the second half of the record, which finds the rapper addressing depression (in "Slap," where he sings, "I know it's strange but my brain's gone really insane/And I'm off the chain, sipping on a fifth of the golden grain," and criticizes Bush and senseless violence, among other things) and the importance supporting friends in jail ("Do Your Time"). He even tackles violence against women in "Runaway Love," which features Mary J. Blige and a pretty, melancholic beat from Polow (who most recently gave the world Fergie's "London Bridge"), and while this is a fairly normal underground hip-hop theme, it's nice to see a new side to Luda. However, it would also be nice to see some of the humor that made him so popular and that he's so good at dishing out. Yes, there is "War with God," the requisite dis track, which, despite the fact he never addresses his subject by name, is hard-hitting and sharp (though he recycles his line about tampons from "Hip Hop Quotables"), but the witty rhymes that made Chicken -N- Beer so great are in short supply. It's understandable that Ludacris wanted to show off different parts of himself, but in doing so he didn't have to forget about what fans already knew.

I feel like slappin' Bill O'Reilly todaaaaaaaaaay (beware contains much profanity)
over 2 years ago

Anybody else think that Bill O'Reilly should eat a few yards of dick and shut the fuck up? In the clip above, he takes a snippet from a Ludacris song, plays it completely out of context, then condemns hip-hop as a whole for it. Given, the snippet in question is easily misunderstood. Actually, the first time I heard the song (Slap by Ludacris), I thought to myself "Self" (Cuz that's what I ca...

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I feel like slappin' Bill O'Reilly todaaaaaaaaaay (beware contains much profanity)
over 2 years ago

Anybody else think that Bill O'Reilly should eat a few yards of dick and shut the fuck up? In the clip above, he takes a snippet from a Ludacris song, plays it completely out of context, then condemns hip-hop as a whole for it. Given, the snippet in question is easily misunderstood. Actually, the first time I heard the song (Slap by Ludacris), I thought to myself "Self" (Cuz that's what I ca...

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yay the office is on tonight.
over 2 years ago

and my title has nothing to do with my post... of course.i'm making a little stretch for hip hop day. but it's all in the name of good music.mary j. blige absolutely kills this song. and i mean kills in a good way of course.i can't wait for the holiday season to start. everyone just seems so much cheerier. it's worth enduring the endless cycle of carols. hope everyone has a great thanksgiv...

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New Ludacris Video: Slap
over 2 years ago

Luda's new video for "slap" hit the internet today. Sure to be an anthem for folks around the country who just had a bad day... and you feel like taking it out on someone. This is the 4th video from his album Release Therapy.Ludacris - SlapUploaded by keepinitgangsta

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War with God, Jeezy or T.I.?
over 3 years ago

Without question the new Luda song is hot, but of course the question is-who's he talking about? He had beef with T.I. back in the day and I'm hearing rumblings that he might be goin' after tha snowman on the track. Luda is one of my favorite mainstream MC's but so is T.I. Jeezy's cool, I dig the laid back style and he can ride a beat, but lyrically he can't see Luda.http://xxlmag.com/online...

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Release Therapy: Original Samples
11 months ago

I almost didn't put this set together. First, cuz it's my least favorite Ludacris album and second, cuz there weren't many samples to be found. If anything else, pick this one up for the Billy Paul sample "War of The Gods". I really got nothing to say about this album though… "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" by [...]

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My bad Ludacris and Mary J. Blige
over 2 years ago

The first time i heard this song on the radio at work...i said, "What?...does Ludacris think he's Tupac now...? i heard this song already, and can Mary J. Blige stop singin about drama if she has a song called, 'No More Drama'"? I was just about to go to sleep tonight, and i saw the music video for the first time and actually listened to the lyrics closely for the first time. This is some re...

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Ludacris on SNL
over 3 years ago

Did anyone else see Ludacris on SNL this weekend perform "Money Maker"? It was pretty awesome. I haven't listened to Ludacris in a while but that was good. He had some crazy horns playin and some smokin' hot dancers. It was, to say the least, highly entertaining.

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