CD Reviews

Ludacris

LUDACRIS PRESENTS . . . DISTURBING THA PEACE | Def Jam

By CHRIS NELSON | February 2, 2006

1.5 Stars

DISTURBING THA PEACE Still hit or miss, no matter how many new faces show up.

Not a lot has changed in the three years since Ludacris first introduced his extended Disturbing Tha Peace crew on Golden Grain. Yes, the line-up has tripled in size (even after shedding the dead weight of “Right Thurr” one-hitter Chingy), but the hit-to-miss ratio here is about the same as when it was just Luda and a handful of protégées. The bossman himself connects with Field Mob — easily the best of the DTP newcomers — on the menacing “Georgia,” which also features Jamie Foxx doing his Ray Charles impression for the millionth time. And Shawnna samples Too $hort to great effect on “Gettin’ Some.” But the album loses steam after that, which is only the fifth of 17 tracks. Although there’s nothing blatantly atrocious here, even the most discerning Southern-rap connoisseur would be hard pressed to tell the minor players apart. Anyone who makes it to the final track is in for an inexplicable blast of rap metal from the band Lazyeye; it may be jaw-dropping, but not in a good way.