It says a lot about an album when the best track on the entire album is titled “Sex Room.” Unfortunately, such is the case with Ludacris’s seventh studio album, Battle of the Sexes.
Ludacris has stated in interviews that Battle of the Sexes, which includes tracks featuring Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Eve, Trina, Shawnna, Ne-Yo, Flo Rida, Ciara and Trey Songz, among others, was created as a concept album that would explore both male and female opinions of various topics.
You have to give Ludacris some credit for attempting this concept. It’s not every southern male hip-hop artist that wants to explore the female perspective of the sex, partying and drug themes commonly featured in hip-hop songs. For this, Ludacris should be commended, yet the fact of the matter is most of the songs on this album are just not that original and just not that good.
Regardless of the album’s theme, one would hope that the rapper who gave us such hits as “Rollout,” “Move Bitch” and “Area Codes”– and don’t pretend you don’t still love those songs and put them on every couple of months at a party — would be able to produce an album that would still differentiate him from every other mainstream rapper we hear on the radio these days, but it appears he is not.
With the exception of several songs which actually merit discussion at length, many of the songs on the album, in particular “Hey Ho,” “Party No Mo'” and “Sexting” are just so painfully emblematic of the crap that manages to frequent the radio waves these days. And yes, this means you, Drake, and any other new members of Young Money.
“Sexting” and “Party No Mo” are particularly bothersome tracks because they resort to the same meaningless pop culture lyrics that have become a trend in mainstream music lately. For example, the line “Lets take a shot, take a shot, take a shot, take a shot” is repeated over and over again in the song “Party No Mo’.” The first line of the chorus of “Sexting” is “ha ha OMG LOL KIT Smiley faces X and O’s LMFAO.” C’mon, Luda, really? Please stop being LMFAO!
Granted, Ludacris has built a successful career rapping not only about trivial topics but also about legitimate relevant issues. Perhaps the track on the album most similar to Ludacris’ past work is “B.O.T.S Radio,” a grittier song that features Ludacris’s Def Jam prot?g?, rapper Shawnna. The song works well with its back-and-forth verses between Ludacris and Shawnna that caution both men and women to learn how to handle their money better.
As previously stated, the best song on this album is surely “Sex Room.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the song is about; “power down your inhibitions, and power up your inner freak,” demands the ever-suave Ludacris. The addition of Trey Songz, however, is a key component of why this track is so catchy. Songz’ slow, melodic chorus verse complements Ludacris’ typically quick rapping style, and the combination delivers a surprisingly sultry tune.
Battle of the Sexes, though not anything exceptional, is not a total failure of an album. Listeners, and especially those who enjoy what mainstream hip-hop is turning into these days will find many songs enjoyable. Ludacris, however, is capable of better, and will hopefully not continue this mediocrity on his next album.
3 stars out of 5.
