Back For The First Time [PA] - Ludacris

..."Incognegro" independantly out of the back of his car until halfway through the year, he was discovered by the big Hip Hop label Def jam, who created Def Jam South as a new project, for which he was the main attraction, so they decided to re-release most of what came from the original, but also include some extra things for those who had followed him from the start.

1. "U Got A Problem?"

I really ...
...Switched"

Looking back to this specaific track, I felt that it was a turning point in Hip hop where it was clear that everything was going to change up, and this is the subject of this particular tune.

He talks on how all of the what are usually considered to be weaker forces in the music indusrty now tend to be coming up and getting the most popular, and with the case of the Dirty South, this was the case as somewhere ... more

"Back For The First Time" is the 2000 album by Ludacris, it can be called his debut, but technically it isn't as he released the album "Incognegro" earlier on in the year, and the tracks from there are largely the same as here, apart from the addition of a couple onto this album. Luda released "Incognegro" independantly out of the back of his car until halfway through the year, he was discovered by the big Hip Hop label Def jam, who created Def Jam South as a new project, for which he was the main attraction, so they decided to re-release most of what came from the original, but also include some extra things for those who had followed him from the start.

1. "U Got A Problem?"

I really enjoyed listening to the Shondrae production, which used the piano alongside a hard beat, creating such a harsh contrast that you are forced into a cold and highly angered mood in which you are ready to explode. Luda does this here with some furious lyrics, in which the rapper seems relentless in forcing his point upon the listener.

**Four Stars**

2. "Game Got Switched"

Looking back to this specaific track, I felt that it was a turning point in Hip hop where it was clear that everything was going to change up, and this is the subject of this particular tune.

He talks on how all of the what are usually considered to be weaker forces in the music indusrty now tend to be coming up and getting the most popular, and with the case of the Dirty South, this was the case as somewhere between then and now, It has become the leading sub-genre of Hip Hop music.

**Five Stars**

3. "1st & 10" (feat. I-20 and Lil Fate)

This track features some of the members of Luda's DTP label, Lil' Fate, his life-long friend and Infamous-20, who has appeared on much of his material up to current times. The pair are using Luda to get their names up, but nothing has really come of this yet.

Here the pair who feature as guests don't really seems to bring much to the table in comparison to Ludacris, and one he comes in, you realise this immediately, but I don't think they're that bad, it's just that Luda's sick.

**Four Stars**

4. "What's Your Fantasy?" (feat. Shawnna and Sessy Melia)

This was Luda's breakthrough single, and got him big exposure. I felt that he really made the 'Dirty' South stand ot here with his different take on rapping about "Doin' the nasty", but he is so creative and talks about his ideal places to do things,; fantasising about having sex in the centre of his favourite American football team's field, but one he gets towards the end, he opted for the ol' skool back of the car method.

This was a risky track to briing the artist into mainstream attention, because it could have prevented people from going back again to listen to a rapper who is all about rapping about sex (when he had so much more to offer), so it was good that he followed up this single with other ones which contrasted from it to show how varied he can be.

**Five Stars**

5. "Come On Over" (Skit)

6. "Hood Stuck"

Luda comes with a beat composed by himself and no guests, just to give us a chance to see what he can do by himself, and he really is able to offer a lot with a strong, rough-soundng beat to build up his rhymes from.

It seems as though the rapper has so much to tell us here that he can't keep it all in, and the choruses are just an opportunaity for him to calm down, but as a listener I couldn', you're just excited to find out what he is going to come out with next, because even at this stage in the LP, you haven't got a clue.

**Five Stars**

7. "Get Off Me" (feat. Pastor Troy)

The beat for this track is very experimental as it used many strange sounds which seem to create a chaotic atmosphere, which I feel were essential for the track to fully work, complete with the context of the rap. We find ourselves in the middle of an argument here, and I really enjoyed listening to the rapid switch from one character, to another mid-line, taking it on another angle from where the other left off.

**Four Stars**

8. "Mouthing Off" (feat. 4-IZE)

This is a great little track as it features Luda rapping over his own beatboxing rhythm (although it's not the best I've heard). Ludacris brings his usual comedic rhyes and indicates what we should be amused by as he includes laughter adlibs of himself in the background. This isn't too overbearing to lose the audience though, I felt that it's just engough to be seen as acceptable.

This type of track on the labum seems to display that he is willing to do anything, and he makes it all work, no matter how unconventional it may be. Luda just sounds as if he could go on forever with his jokes, which seem to indicate a vast range of subjects which don't sem to be related in any way, making him so unpredictable.

**Five Stars**

9. "Stick 'Em Up" (feat. UGK)

This one features Texas Hip Hop legends Bun B and, the late Pimp C, better known as UGK (The Underground Kingz), and with star power like this on a debut album, it's guarenteed to get it exposure.

We get a really hard beat on this one, showing the development of the Dirty South sound, and at this time, 2000, it was about a decade into its development, and certainly working towards the current unique sound which we heard now from artists raised in Atlanta, Houston and Miami.

The hardcore gangsta style of UGK allows Luda to be more beleiveable on this tune, because of a lot of his other material tends to be rather jokey. Therefore it's good to see that he has true backing from these OGs , which make him sound much colder than usual.

**Four Stars**

10. "Ho" (Skit)

11. "Ho"

You don't tend to listen to a rap album without hearing something which won't always be socially acceptable, and this is the one where Luda shows that he isn't concerned about what people may think; he's going to call females "hos" regardless.

I felt that by entitling the track "Ho", he made it so blantant about what he was doing, so it was clear that he wasn't trying to offend anyone by this, so by callign this misogynous, you would be quite harsh, but still there isn't any reason for him to call girls "Hos".

**Five Stars**

12. "Tickets Sold Out" (Skit)

13. "Catch Up" (feat. I-20)

In this track which the artist produced himself, a West Coast-influenced sound is unitised, showing the influence from Dr. Dre's production, which was key to the development of the Dirty South's unique sound, being born. So with G-Funk in the air, you get a track about living a liad-back lifestlye, most common out West in Cali.

Luda talks about the dangers of drinking, and smoking the good stuff, he then comments on how most just shouldn't care about this; it's all about lving for now, and worrying about hen they "Catch Up" in later life, and I feel that as a young rapper, it's fair that he should say this (although it may not be the best advise).

**Five Stars**

14. "Southern Hospitality" (feat. Pharrell)

The production here is unmistakebly that of The Neptunes, utilisng various spacey instruments, including some woodwind, which had worked in the past with other work which they did, but I feared that they wouldn't be able to pull it off again, espcially with Luda angry rap lyrics. I was pleasntly surprised to hear them work together without seeming forced, and as we have heard this combination up to current times, it's good to see that we probably won't have to wait long before another neptunes-luda collaboration comes around.

Luda introduces the Dirty South to the world as he was really the first rapper from Atlanta to g mainstream (OutKast, who were also from here were still on the underground scene at this time), so he basically showed us what it's like in the 'Dirty' abn dhow people do it here in comparison to out toward New York or Cali, who tend to be completly different to each other.

**Five Stars**

15. "What's Your Fantasy (Remix)" (feat. Trina, Shawnna and Foxy Brown)

This is the remix to his big hit, and it has a slighlty altered beat, which is heavily based upon the original. It features some of the baddest female rappers with the likes of Trina, Shawna and Foxy Brown, who don't really have limits to what they are prepared to do to Luda, or allow him to do to them.

It's good to see a female response for this track as many may have taking the Misogyny route with the original recording, won't be able o argue that he's degrading females with a selection of females who are willing to stand by him, and go further with what he brought in the first version.

I felt that Luda was very consistant throuighuot the album, not giving himsle fany time to calm down at all, he just came with furious lyrics throughout. This was a good thing at the time, and something which he would be bale to work on cooling the next time aound, but here it just felt right to keep coming with fire from start to finish.

I felt that as a Ludacris fan, you have to get this, because it's him at his most pure, he made this without any backing from a record label, until Def Jam interveined after the original release, so if you wish to get the best out of hearing Luda's work, i think you are going to find it here. 

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