Release Therapy : Ludacris : Review : Rolling Stone

As "Crash" and "Hustle and Flow" proved, Ludacris is by far the best actor in hip-hop; he's also a smart businessman with an ear for talent (see Shawnna, and before that, Chingy). But Luda the rapper has reason to be concerned. His early nickname "The Mouth of the South" seems almost quaint now: Southern hip-hop has more mouths than ever these days, and Luda can't even claim to be the hottest rapper in his hometown of Atlanta. (Young Jeezy would get that honor.)

In true businessman fashion, Ludacris has come with Release Therapy, an aggressive move to offset any career slippage. The idea behind this fifth Luda disc is that some songs are supposed to be "release" and some are "therapy." But Luda's heart doesn't seem to be in the party songs, notably "Money Maker" and "Girls Gone Wild," two tracks that sound like they were pulled from some dusty back shelf in the Neptunes' warehouse. The "therapy" tunes are more convincing, particularly "Runaway Love" -- a powerful song about women in bad situations that recalls Kanye West on "Roses." Luda also complains, tellingly, about his nineteen employees on "Mouths to Feed." But is this artistic growth or a sign that it's time to downsize?