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List Price: $13.98 | | Label: DTP/ Def Jam
Salesrank: 18935
Released: November 24, 2008 |
| Our Price: $4.74 |
| Used Price: $2.00 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Theater of the Mind Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Undisputed co-starring Floyd "Money" Mayweather
3. Wish You Would co-starring T.I.
4. One More Drink co-starring T-Pain
5. Call Up The Homies co-starring The Game and Willy Northpole
6. Southern Gangsta co-starring Rick Ross, Playaz Circle and Ving Rhames
7. Everybody Hates Chris co-starring Chris Rock
8. What Them Girls Like co-starring Chris Brown and Sean Garrett
9. Nasty Girl co-starring Plies
10. Contagious co-starring Jamie Foxx
11. Last Of A Dying Breed co-starring Lil Wayne
12. MVP
13. I Do It For Hip Hop co-starring Nas and JAY-Z
14. Do The Right Thang co-starring Common and Spike Lee
Editorial Review:
Ludacris is gearing up for a multi-tiered and mutli-faceted plan to introduce his newest release to his fans. There are plans to rollout consecutive new singles and videos leading up to the November 25th release of THEATER OF THE MIND, the most important album ever recorded by Disturbing Tha Peace CEO and DTP/Def Jam recording artist Ludacris.
The unprecedented schedule got underway last week (Oct. 14th) when the song "Undisputed," went up on iTunes, followed this week by the premiere of the video for "Undisputed," which co-stars boxing champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather. On October 20th, the second new single "One More Drink" co-starring T-Pain impacted radio formats, in advance of going up on iTunes. In between, on Oct. 23rd, Ludacris will perform on the annual syndicated BET's Hip Hop Awards '08 and on October 24th, Ludacris will perform on MTV's Veteran's concert live from Nokia Theater. The "One More Drink" video premiere will then take place on Election Day, Nov. 4th.
One week later (Nov. 11th, Veteran's Day) comes the third new single. The final element, a video podcast on Nov. 18th (details to be announced in the weeks ahead) sets the stage for the eagerly anticipated arrival of THEATER OF THE MIND in the physical and digital marketplace on Nov. 25th.
In between this mind-boggling schedule he has been busy continuing to build on his career as an actor. The new action film Max Payne, based on the popular video game, opened in the # 1 box office spot raking in over 18 million dollars in its weekend debut. Chris Bridges aka Ludacris stars as an internal affairs agent alongside Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Beau Bridges. Also on the movie front, after a successful limited release in NY, Toronto, LA and the UK (in which it debuted at #1 as well the 1st weekend) RocknRolla, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, will be released throughout the rest of the U.S on October 31st. Chris joins an ensemble cast including Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Idris Elba and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson for an exciting tale of the Russian mob setting up shop in London.
THEATER OF THE MIND is the long-awaited follow-up to Luda's RIAA platinum Release Therapy (released Sept. 2006), which debuted at #1 on first week sales of 309,000 copies - the same week that its first single, "Money Maker" (featuring Pharrell Williams) hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, Luda's first #1 hit in six years. A rare RIAA platinum single, "Money Maker" was followed at #1 by "Runaway Love" (featuring Mary J. Blige), whose video directed by Chaka Zulu/Jessy Terrero dealt with the issues facing runaway and homeless youth. Luda and Mary J. performed the song live with special guests Earth, Wind & Fire at the 49th annual Grammy Awards worldwide telecast - where Release Therapy won for Best Rap Album. "Runaway Love" went on to win Best Collaboration at the BET Awards '07.
2006 was a landmark year for Chris `Ludacris' Bridges. In addition to the success of Release Therapy - his follow-up to 2004's double-platinum The Red Light District - he also scored rave reviews for his star appearance in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the show's highest rated episode ever. His role in the critically acclaimed film, Crash (which opened May 2005) began to reap honors in 2006, including landing Bridges the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, the Critics Choice Awards for Best Ensemble, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporter Actor in A Motion Picture.
He teamed up again with Terrence Howard for John Singleton's critically acclaimed Sundance discovery Hustle & Flow. Ludacris also began hosting his own XM satellite radio show, Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Ludacris' Open Mic. Filming also took place in London for Fred Claus - in which "Fred Claus, Santa's bitter older brother, is forced to move to the North Pole" - starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, with Chris cast as `the DJ Elf' with issues. After an appearance in the indie film Ball Don't Lie, he went to work on RocknRolla and Max Payne, and finished up his seventh studio album, THEATER OF THE MIND.
THEATER OF THE MIND, Release Therapy and The Red Light District follow-up 2003's double-platinum Chicken-N-Beer, the #1 Pop/#1 R&B, success that gave Ludacris his first across-the-board #1 Rap/#1 R&B/ #1 Pop crossover smash hit single with "Stand Up." Ludacris' mega-selling streak began with his debut, 2000's triple-platinum Incognegro (aka Back For the First Time, with "What's Your Fantasy" and "Southern Hospitality"); followed by 2001's triple-platinum Word Of Mouf (with "Area Codes," "Move B***h," and "Saturday (Oooh Oooh!)").
Theater of the Mind Reviews:
3-1/2 stars -- Ludacris Presents Disturbing tha Peace 2 
2009-12-04 - Ludacris is one of the many rap artists that releases about 1-1/2 albums per year. Thus, I wasn't really surprised that he was releasing another one, and since I already own all his other recordings, I decided to check out Theater of the Mind.
One thing I noticed right away after looking at the track listing is that there are a lot of guest stars -- oops, I mean CO-stars on here; the only song where Luda is by himself is "MVP" (and you can tell DJ Premier produced it because of the scratching during the chorus). There are two possible explanations for this: one is because he's on Def Jam, and the other option is, well, maybe Luda himself realizes that all his albums pretty much sound the same so he just threw a whole bunch of other people on here to try to liven things up. But the guests do help with the tracks, like T.I. on "Wish You Would" and Jay-Z and Nas on "I Do It for Hip Hop" (but of course Nas has the best verse).
But there are times when even help from his friends can't save the songs, especially the first two singles ("What Them Girls Like" and the corny "One More Drink" -- although that WAS a good Saturday Night Live performance of the latter). The necessary song for the ladies, "Contagious" (featuring Jamie Foxx), doesn't help or hurt the album, and "Nasty Girl" has Plies being wack as usual. The obligatory song featuring Lil Wayne, "Last of a Dying Breed", is fine except for Wayne's verse; and as much as I love Common, he sounds out-of-place on "Do the Right Thang".
Speaking of that, that song also supposedly features Spike Lee, and I don't think a movie sample of a person put into your song should really count as a guest spot (see also "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Southern Gangsta"). Anyway, Theater of the Mind is far from being a bad album, but only Luda's biggest fans can really appreciate it.
Anthony Rupert
4 Stars! Dope Dope Dope! 
2009-09-17 - Luda is one of my favorite rappers to emerge in the last ten years or so - period. The dude is a kind at word play and commanding the mic - a true emcee in any form - he's got versatile styles and can write songs and hits with the best of them.
Just like his last CD, I wasn't thrilled by the lead single - but the man is a blind buy for me each time so I took a chance and it was dope as expected. With this one Luda did a little concept album, but not all the way and had some real dope songs. The DJ Premier produced song was some real raw hip-hop which was a nice change of pace for Luda.
One of 2008's best and definitely worth a purchase.
Worth the ticket price!
2009-07-22 - In 2008, Ludacris returned with his sixth effort "Theater of the Mind," and it's well worth the ticket price.
For this album, Luda steps up his lyrical ability and brings in some of the best to assist him.
What I enjoy most about this album is Ludacris provides well thought out lyrics, while still adding a splash of comedy to each song. More importantly, he is able to provide solid lyrics with solid beats, something I think Luda often failed to do with some of his previous albums.
Collaborations are decent, as T-Pain shows up for the smash second single "One More Drink," while T.I. assists 'Cris on "Wish You Would." I give him credit for also branching out and working with some different artists, like Common. Collaborations with Lil' Wayne and Plies are some of the album's best. However, sometimes too many collaborations can hurt you and this album falls victim to that. NaS and Jay-Z show up for "I Do It For Hip-Hop," and while all three emcees go hard, the beat was a little lacking and unoriginal for such an epic collaboration. The collaborations with The Game and Rick Ross are unmemorable, and Floyd Mayweather is the most random/forced collaboration probably ever. Not to mention the cut with Jamie Foxx. Like the one with NaS and Jay-Z, I thought it would have been much better. The song feels like it should have been on Foxx's album rather than Ludacris'.
Overall, this is a solid album Ludacris wise. Luda shines throughout the album, but the guest appearances fall a little flat. If you're looking for a good hip-hop album, I suggest you pay the ticket price for this release.
"I HOLD HIP HOP FOR HOSTAGE, SINCE 2000, I PUT A GUN TO IT"
2009-07-07 - What does it take to be considered a great rapper these days? Is it platinum plaques? Is it No. 1 singles? Is it ringtone sales? The standards vary. So how come people don't consider Ludacris a great rapper? He has platinum albums. He has chart topping singles. He is one of the smartest lyricist today. He sells just as much as T.I. but dosent receive the same praise."Theater of the Mind", is Luda's newest CD in his underrated career.
Luda`s "Theater of the Mind" flows like a movie. It has a beginning, middle and an end. It even has `special guest appearances' by Jamie Foxx, Chris Rock, Ving Rhames, Common and Spike Lee. The hit single "One More Drink", ft T-Pain is funny.(Plus you can't go wrong with T-Pain singing your hook these days) "Nasty Girl" ft Plies is a solid Swiss Beats track. It seems that Luda has squashed his beef with T.I. on the collabo song "Wish You Would". And he got Jay-Z and NaS together on "I Do It For Hip Hop". Somehow Luda resurrected DJ Premier on "MVP". And got 9th Wonder on the album closer "Do the Right Thing" ft Common & Spike Lee. These are two of my favorites on the album.
However, this is not a flawless album. "Everybody Hates Chris" ft Chris Rock is a corny call-and-response track. The first single "What Them Girls Like", ft Chris Brown is a club song and not much else. And "Southern Gangsta" is an attempt at recreating BET's "American Gangsta". It even features narration from Ving Rhames but the song goes nowhere.
When rappers crossover into acting they seem to struggle with the balance of acting and rapping. The better actor they become, the harder it is for them to maintain the same motivational level for the studio. Ludacris has shown that he has not lost a step. He cut off his braids to appeal more to movie audiences but has not lost the hunger to make bangers. No other rapper right now can transition like that easily.
Great Album 
2009-07-07 - Masterfully Done, great chemistry between TI & Luda. The album flows from one track to another, and all have given Luda's full lyrical attention.
Good Buy!
