Ludacris: The Red Light District

What's that you say? "Adam's listening to Ludacris, he must have lost it?" No, no, no. Luda's "The Red Light Dirstrict" is actually a solid hip hop/rap album. I like his voice, its very smooth I feel.

Again, I was attracted to this album by the VH1 video. The single "No. 1 Spot" has background samples of the Austin Powers' theme, mixed hip-hop style. Well done, but not hugely original.

What I enjoy about this album, and a lot of things from the genre, is that its both serious and silly, and I think they Ludacris knows this. He trades off from "traditional" (ie pop/rock) music's very descriptive and elaborate writing to be more rhythmic and less double speak. (If you can't tell, i'm having wording issues today.)

Hip Hop and Rap, it seems, is less about painting some literary masterpiece and more about a great rhyme and good backbeat. You get a story, but it feels more like an honest story. A story just about some small piece of his life, as opposed to yet another crappy love song. I find it interesting.

My favourite track of this disc is "Get Back." With lyrics like "Get Back mofucker, you don't know me like that," its beautiful.

In the end: Not everyone likes this, I get it. But this is a great album, well done, quite enjoyable, and if you were thinking about venturing into Hip-Hop or Rap, this may be a wonderful gateway album.