Customer Reviews

Battle of the Sexes (Clean)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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).

After his 2006 album "Release Therapy", Ludacris seemed to get a lot of criticism for a deeply personal album that wasn't really that bad. He bounced back with his best effort to date- 2008's "Theater Of The Mind" and things seemed to be going well- at least that's how Ludacris tells it. He talked about a concept album called "Battle Of The Sexes"- a duet album between himself and Shawnna (best known for appearing on his song "What's Your Fantasy" and her hit "Gettin' Some"). Unfortunately, Shawnna abandoned the project midway through completion, and rather than shelve the album, Ludacris soldiered on with the project. The end result is Shawnna appearing only on three songs- "I Do It All Night", "B.O.T.S. Radio" and the phone sex inspired "Feelin' So Sexy".

There are other guests who fill the absence left by Shawnna. Nicki Minaj steps in for the song "My Chick Bad", Ne-Yo appears on the Swizz Beatz produced "Tell Me A Secret", and Trey Songz makes a cameo on the rather dull "Sex Room". The songs "Everybody Drunk" and "Party No Mo'" are horribly out of place on this album. In fact, the only song that actually is in line with the concept of the album is "B.O.T.S. Radio". Things come to a close with the final track, The Neptunes produced "Sexting" which makes light of the Tiger Woods scandal. The problem with this album- aside from the production- is the album overall is misleading regarding the concept of "Battle Of The Sexes". The album title should have been "Pandering To The Sexes" being that is what's done on the entire album. If you're a Ludacris fan, you may want to sit this one out.

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!

Top Songs:

Cant Live Without You
Tell Me a Secret
Sexting
Feelin Sexy
Hey Ho

I like Luda although my main type of music is R&B. Luda finds a way to mix R&B with Hip/Hop and Rap and for the most part this CD is hot!

i love rap music and ludacris is one of fav artists, but i had to get the clean version because i can really do without all the "colorful" language...great cd!

One of the good Ludacris CD's. Has his usual good rhymes along with some funnies and some references to relavent current events.

I'm so digusted with this album. I should've previewed the songs before buying it. I've been a long time fan of Luda, and I'm surprised at how low he went this time. All his other stuff is great, and I have all his previous albums too. But I gotta say this album is one of the worst I've ever heard... he goes way too soft on this one, he has the worst collaborations, and his flow just plain stinks! Definitely not the Luda that I'm used to listening to :(

Ludacris' past albums have all been great. Word of mouf is probably my favorite but this album is nothing but straight bs! The only songs I can tolerate are hey ho and b.o.t.s. radio. I hope ludaversal isnt anything like this!

I ordered this and have not received it yet, nor have I been contacted by the seller. I order from Amazon often and this is the first seller that I am dissatisfied with