Posted on March 11, 2010 - by Antoinette

REVIEW: Ludacris – Battle Of The Sexes

If I hear one more rapper rhyme Ducati with Bugatti…
Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges is back with his seventh studio album- Battle of the Sexes (released March 9 on Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam). With production from Swizz Beats, The Neptunes, Bangladesh, T-Minus, DJ Montay, Infinity, Khao and a few others, you would think there would be some …I don’t know…diversity, originality (musically speaking)…maybe something we haven’t heard before. Alas, Battle of the Sexes blends right in with the mindless drivel that’s flooding the airwaves and makes me wax nostalgic for the “Back for the First Time” and “Chicken and Beer” days.

Not that Ludacris has lost the style of delivery and sense of humor that have made him one of the most successful rappers the South has ever produced. The clever-phrase-slinging, fun-loving emcee can still flow with a beat better than most, and I found myself giggling once or twice at a couple of his…interesting observations. It’s just that this album feels more like the satisfaction of a contractual obligation than a labor of love.

Questionable collabos (Flo Rida?) and boring, overused subject matter drag Battle down and keep it from achieving what was supposed to be a sonic conversation between male and female: a tit-for tat debate that was meant to entertain and educate each side as to the other’s point of view. The abrupt departure of former DTP rapper Shawnna and her subsequent signing to Nappy Boy Entertainment apparently changed the game-plan. Ludacris decided to release the album as a solo joint, and enlisted the help of a random cast of folks to complete the project.

After the release of the single “Everybody Drunk”, which originally featured Shawnna (he replaced her with Lil Scrappy), came the typical (although apparently very popular) “How Low” and the most recent release, “My Chick Bad”, featuring the female rapper-du-jour, Nicki Minaj. In all fairness, the remix, which features Diamond, Trina and Eve is notable. Enjoyable even.

“B.O.T.S Radio” (featuring I-20) does manage to stick with the intended theme of the album, offering some helpful advice to the ladies: “Get your money right ladies/learn to sign your own checks/but don’t call me after midnight/unless we havin’ sex/don’t ever assume nothin’/a man gone be a man/a groupie gone be a groupie/a fan gone be a fan…” Thanks for the heads up.

“Can’t Live With You” (featuring Monica) contains some of the most sincere lyrics on the album: “I make my mind up thinkin’ I’m on the right track/so then I leave you/but then come right back/and I don’t like that/I swear I’m so confused/don’t know what I want or what’s the right thing to do/but the right thing is you/you’re my destiny/even at my worst, you still bringin’ out the best in me…” Nice. “Tell Me a Secret” (featuring Ne-Yo) provides the obligatory R&B flavored track necessary for the over-thirty crowd to take the album seriously. “Feelin So Sexy” is reminiscent of LL’s “Doin’ It”. Battle finishes up with “Sexting”, which seems to be inspired by the “jerking” movement all the crazy kids are so into these days…kinda makes me think of primary colored skinny jeans, high-tops and Axe body spray…

Party descriptions, sexual escapade chronicles and shameless Conjure Cognac plugs notwithstanding, Battle of the Sexes is a…decent album. It’s somewhat disappointing because we’ve come to expect more from the multi-talented (aside from the over 40 million records he’s managed to sell world-wide, Ludacris is an award-winning actor) emcee, and you just have this feeling that the album could have been so much more.
Still- I suppose everybody’s entitled to one free pass…this is that one.