Ludacris launches best LP yet

Ludacris, or Chris Bridges to his Hollywood fans, is on the crux of a rare occurrence for most emcees. He has created a successful movie career and managed to stay relevant while still keeping his stock in hip-hop, even though he’s still overlooked by many other artists in the game today.

Luda embraces this idea on “Theater of the Mind,” fighting back his detractors while successfully merging the double-headed monster of movies and music into a conceptual album. Taking a page out of a musical script, Ludacris sprinkles guests (affectionately referred to as co-stars) throughout “scenes” that tell a different story, and for the most part, it works.

“Everybody Hates Chris,” produced by DJ Don Cannon, features legendary comedian Chris Rock as Ludacris. Rock demonstrates his ability to be lyrically impressive and hilarious at the same time (“rappers still talkin’ [expletive] like they was rhymin’ in farts”), while Luda flexes his muscle with Nas and Jay-Z on “I Do It For Hip-Hop” and stands his ground against the former foes-turned-friends.

If there is one thing the album does have against it, is that at times it feels bloated. There are only two songs where Luda rocks solo, and a few of the “co-stars” are head scratchingly random (Spike Lee? Floyd Mayweather? OK . ) or don’t accurately match up to Luda lyrically.

“Theater Of The Mind” is Luda’s most enjoyable LP yet, and it stands as one of the top ten albums of the year, adequately proving that he’s possibly one of the most slept-on artists in the game right now.

Grade: B

Download (don’t steal): “I Do It For Hip-Hop” by Ludacris featuring Nas and Jay-Z.