Review: Ludacris – “Battle Of The Sexes”

Of all the adjectives that could describe Ludacris, “sensuous” has never been one of them. So from its very conception, you might guess that an album by Ludacris about relationships is going to be about some hard fucking rather than the art of making love. Past songs like “Splash Waterfalls” and “P-Poppin’” are not “Let’s Get It On” redux or anything. There’s nothing wrong with that -- Prince did tawdry successfully with Dirty Mind, as just one example. Ludacris’ new Battle of the Sexes, though, is still an unexpected turn that yields some disappointing results, even allowing leeway for a rapper stepping outside his comfort zone.

The whole affair is just tired-sounding and confused. So much of the album is about getting freaky, but the title of the album is Battle of the Sexes (seems to me that you might want to not be battling during sex, no matter how rough ‘n’ freaky you like it). Apparently, it’s a leftover from a time when this was a collaboration between Luda and Shawnna -- with the latter having been removed. If it’s an incongruous title for the album, the titles for songs themselves just reek of laziness: “Everybody Drunk,” “I Do It All Night,” “Sex Room,” “Hey Ho.” To be fair, those are the worst of the bunch, but that’s nearly half the album, not including bonus tracks. They also make up a huge block of music in the middle of it, and I dare you to get their subject matter wrong. The hooks that go with each of them aren’t any more inspired, either (“I do it all night do it all night do it all night…”). Granted, Prince’s “Do It All Night” has a very similar chorus, but Prince seems absolutely thrilled to be doing it all night. Luda treats it like an unimaginative slog.

Worse yet is “B.O.T.S. Radio,” which seems to come from the FOX News school of “fair and balanced,” as though a verse complaining about men makes up for verses filled with misogyny. That’s more or less the tone of the whole album, which is probably a side effect of its origins: 2/3 of it a man’s perspective, 1/3 of it women. So, too, the album’s braggadocio, its “I know you want this” attitude toward convincing the opposite gender to bed makes it more dispiriting than a make-out album should be. One might argue that to get hung up on sexual politics on a lot of hip-hop could make a person hate the genre; I’m only focusing on it here because sex and relationships are its raison d’etre.

So, I won’t review this strictly based on its handling of its subject matter. The problem is that musically, there really isn’t much to comment on. Much of it is given a laconic drawl that works for UGK or TI, but drags for this material. The production is fairly by-the-numbers Southern rap, a slow kind of throbbing  that lacks the life of the best moments from Ludacris’s past. Meanwhile, the concept gets in the way of his ability to come up with the punchlines and free-range jokes that are his best quality. He tries, to his credit, but nothing sticks. Everything seems to arrive with a slow inevitability.

It’s not all unmitigated boredom and half-assed conceptual laziness, though. “Feelin’ So Sexy” is a highlight, but it’s telling that it’s the twelfth track in the set and the first to attempt a sensual mood. The rest of the album depends on porno-style pile-driving. “Party No Mo’” is probably the best club track, with a hook that’s at least head-boppingly good, if not memorable. A bonus remix of “How Low,” featuring a whole bunch of female rappers isn’t bad, but it begs that question of why Luda didn’t sign all of them up for a verse or two on the other songs. The absolute best song -- “Sexting” -- is buried as a bonus track. It’s as funny and mischievous as anything on Luda’s career-high Chicken -N- Beer. The production is busy, fast-paced and funky. I guess that it is buried as a bonus because it relies heavily on a Tiger Woods reference. Still, it’s a funny track that shows Luda still has it. It’s just hard not to wish he had it all night.

Like this post? Bookmark it!

Email to a friend

About the Author

Jere is not from Chicago. Nor is he from Parts Unknown. But he sure loves to hear things. Follow him on Twitter!

Email this Author | All posts by Jere

Comments are closed.