Ludacris "Release Therapy"

Ludacris "Release Therapy" (2006)
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mp3 vbr kbps / 92mb

Label: Def Jam
Projected release date: 26 September 2006
Producers: Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Kanye West, Rick Rubin, Trak Starz & DJ Toomp

ok one of the more anticipated hiphop albums to come out this year still rocks the basic 808 presets, leaving myself asking "is there something i should start using in my own productions here?" that, and screwed up vocal samples. instant-platinum shit right there.

the usual luda seems to still be around, albeit the new haircut. producer-wise, again, the usual suspects applies and it's good to see rick rubin (rage against the machine, red hot chilli peppers, mars volta; and more recently, lil jon, justin timberlake and this luda) back in the more major hiphop projects these days. and uh try guessing which track mr dupri did (hint: it sounds like his joints in usher's 2004 records ...and almost every other joints he made after that). track starz contributed the trademark chingy-esque synth, this time with that distinctive grindin' kick, which segues nicely into the obvious: the neptunes. you could almost never put a finger on the neptunes' style these days (just ask any hiphop producer kid at soundclick) but its nonetheless distinct and it does it job in Release Therapy.. luda's always been a fan of la musique des neptunes, regardless whether it's good or shit. oh well they're *only* us$250k a pop anyway.

to me, tracks worth mentioning here are; "girls gone wild" for its synth and drums programming; "ultimate satisfaction" because of its vocal fucking up; "mouths to feed", "tell it like it is", and "slap" for lyricability; "runwaway love" for its percussions and mary j; "freedom of preach" because of the rhodes; and "end of the night" for the poorly treated jazzy guitar recording - i just like imperfections in ultra-major album recordings. it gives wannabe music producers false impressions that they can get away with fucking everything.

i read somewhere in a ludacris interview, he wants to "tell like it is" in this album. i've always thought that's what he had been doin all these years.

all you could expect from a current modern hiphop release. not as modern as some of timbaland's recent works, but even so, current, to say the least. now that this one's out in the open, let's all wait for jay-z's album before we ultimately say which one's a better record this year. clipse's hell hath no fury, i hear you say? now that's an entirely different post, kids.