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Battle of the Sexes (album)

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Battle of the Sexes is the seventh studio album by American rapper Ludacris, released on March 9, 2010 on Disturbing tha Peace and Def Jam Recordings. It was intended to serve as a collaboration album between Ludacris and rapper Shawnna, but proved to be a solo album by the former after Shawnna left Disturbing tha Peace in 2009. The album was recorded during 2008 to 2010 and its production was handled by several producers, including T-Minus, Bangladesh, Swizz Beatz, The Neptunes, and The Runners. Upon its release, Battle of the Sexes received generally mixed to positive reviews from most music critics.

Conception

Background

Originally due in 2009, Battle of the Sexes was tagged as a collaboration album by Ludacris and label-mate Shawnna.[2] A promotional single titled "Everybody Drunk" which features vocals from Shawnna was released in April 2009.[3] Shawnna reportedly split from Disturbing tha Peace in 2009 and signed to Nappy Boy Entertainment. It was later reported that Shawnna was removed from the album and became a solo album by Ludacris with guest appearances[4]

Recording

It was reported in 2008 that recording had started for the album.[5] After Shawnna was removed, Ludacris stated that he still wanted the album to highlight different view points from males and females, so he recorded tracks with Nicki Minaj, Lil' Kim, Eve,[6] Trina, Shawnna, Ciara, Ne-Yo, Monica[7], Flo Rida and Gucci Mane.[8] Pharrell has been recording with Ludacris and will contribute production and vocals.[9] It was confirmed in mid-2009 and in early 2010 that Bangladesh, Swizz Beatz and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League had all contributed production to the album.[2][8]

Release and promotion

After several projected release dates, the album was finally released on March 9, 2010 through Disturbing tha Peace and its distributing label Def Jam Recordings.[10]

In April 2009, Ludacris released a promotional single for the album, titled "Everybody Drunk", which featured Shawnna. The single failed to chart, and though it appears on the album. The album version features new Disturbing tha Peace signee Lil Scrappy, instead of Shawnna. Official promotion for the album began when Ludacris debuted the first single "How Low" on October 10, 2009, when he performed it at the 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards.[11] It was made available for digital download on iTunes in December 2009.[12] Ludacris next released three remixes to United States radio stations help promote the song. One of which features Ciara and Pitbull was made available on iTunes on February 9, 2010. He has also filmed a video for the album's second official single, "My Chick Bad", and the remix, which featured Eve, Diamond, Trina, and Nicki Minaj.[13] Shawnna provides "additional vocals" on the songs "I Do It All Night", "BOTS Radio" (featuring I-20), "Feelin' So Sexy", and the bonus track "Rollercoaster" (featuring Dru Hill).[14]

Singles

Apart from its official singles, "Hey Ho", which features Lil' Kim and Lil Fate, was released as a promotional single prior to the release of the album on February 16, 2010 as part of iTunes' countdown to Battle of the Sexes.[15]

  • "How Low" was released as the first official single on December 8, 2009. It became a huge mainstream success, peaking at number six in the United States. It also charted in Canada.
  • "My Chick Bad", which features Nicki Minaj, was released as the second official single on February 23, 2010.[16] The music video premiered on February 19, 2010.[17] A music video for the remix, which features Eve, Trina, and Diamond was released on March 26, 2010.[18]

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling 137,300 copies in its first week.This makes it Ludacris' fourth #1 album. [20] In its second week, it dropped two spots to #3, selling 61,200 copies. In its third week, the album dropped to #6, moving 45,000 units. In its fourth week the album sold 40,000 units. The album has sold about 335,000 copies thus far. The #1 single "How Low" is still soaring through the roof with over 1,600,000 units sold. [21]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[22]
The A.V. Club(B+)[23]
Entertainment Weekly(B-)[24]
Los Angeles Times[25]
Newsday(B)[26]
NOW[27]
RapReviews(5.5/10)[28]
USA Today[29]
The Washington Post(mixed)[30]
XXL (XL)[31]

Upon its release, the album received generally mixed to positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 68/100 from Metacritic.[32] Allmusic writer David Jeffries gave it 3 out of 5 stars and viewed it as a "porno-style album", stating "Limited and a little patched together, but if cheap thrills are what you’re after, this one puts the dirty back in dirty south".[22] The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin viewed its "R&B heavy" material as a weakness, but gave the album a B+ rating and praised Ludacris's lyricism, writing "Ludacris remains an underrated lyricist with unparalleled verbal dexterity. His liquid flow crams an awful lot of polysyllabic words into even the tawdriest sex jam, and no rapper alive conveys joy as effortlessly or infectiously".[23] Giving it 2½ out of 4 stars, Los Angeles Times critic August Brown called Battle of the Sexes "another welcome occasion to listen to Luda enjoying the real love of his life -- the sound of his own voice", and described its music as "fizzy pillow talk and respectfully tawdry club fodder".[25] Despite viewing Ludacris's lyrics as from the male perspective, USA Today's Elysa Gardner commended him for his humor and wrote that the album is "more appealing, and more artful, when Ludacris directs his crude, breezy rhymes where they're best suited: into unabashed displays of loopy lust and boneheaded bravado".[29] XXL writer Rondell Conway gave Battle of the Sexes an XL rating and shared a similar sentiment, stating "Luda may not have evened the playing field, but he certainly created an excellent musical forum for the sexes to air out their differences".[31] Newsday's Glenn Gamboa gave the album a B rating and commended Ludacris for his musical balance, writing "Not only does Luda know when a song needs an R&B crooner or a female voice, he knows when he needs to speed up a flow or rough up a rhyme".[26]

However, Sarah Godfrey of The Washington Post found its "sexed-up, party-oriented music - catchy but hardly groundbreaking" and viewed the female lyrical perspective as minimal, stating "There is plenty of fun happening on 'Battle of the Sexes', but still, the fellas clearly run it; the ladies are hardly even given a chance".[30] NOW's Jason Richards gave the album 1 out of 5 stars and wrote "Battle seems like an opportunity for the rapper to be more ignorant than ever".[27] HipHopDX writer Kathy Iandoli gave it 2½ out of 5 stars and shared a similar sentiment, calling it "an idea that lost momentum somewhere in the middle of its inception, and the result is a haphazard collection of cuts with no clear direction".[33] Jesal Padania of RapReviews gave Battle of the Sexes a 5.5/10 rating and perceived its lyrics as "instantly forgettable".[28] Despite noting that "there really isn't much of a battle at all", Exclaim!'s Neil Acharya commended Ludacris for his performance on the album, stating "he seems content to do what he does best: make a pretty run-of-the-mill topic enjoyable with his off-kilter humour and exceptional flow".[34] Entertainment Weekly writer Simon Vozick-Levinson gave the album a B- rating and expressed a mixed response towards its themes, but commended Ludacris for his rapping, stating "his gymnastic flow and irrepressible personality redeem more tracks than not".[24]

Track listing

The track list was confirmed by Def Jam official website.[35]

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Intro"Xcel1:28
2."How Low"T-Minus3:21
3."My Chick Bad" (featuring Nicki Minaj)The Legendary Traxster3:36
4."Everybody Drunk" (featuring Lil Scrappy)DJ Montay4:10
5."I Do It All Night" (featuring Shawnna)B Crucial & Tony Dinero4:41
6."Sex Room" (featuring Trey Songz)Kajun5:30
7."I Know You Got a Man" (featuring Flo Rida)Infinity4:03
8."Hey Ho" (featuring Lil' Kim & Lil Fate)Khao4:12
9."Party No Mo'" (featuring Gucci Mane)Bangladesh4:21
10."B.O.T.S.(Battle of the Sexes) Radio" (featuring I-20 & Shawnna)The Runners4:56
11."Can't Live With You" (featuring Monica)Khao4:19
12."Feelin' So Sexy" (featuring Shawnna)Omen3:29
13."Tell Me a Secret" (featuring Ne-Yo)Swizz Beatz4:18
14."My Chick Bad (Remix)" (featuring Diamond, Trina & Eve)The Legendary Traxster3:23
15."Sexting"The Neptunes4:43
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
16."How Low (Remix)" (featuring Ciara & Pitbull)T-Minus3:55
17."Rollercoaster" (featuring Dru Hill & Shawnna)Bangladesh5:18

Everybody Drunk samples Don't Want Drama by 8Ball & MJG

Charts

Chart positions

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart 17
Swiss Albums Chart[36] 82
UK R&B Albums Chart[37] 14
U.S. Billboard 200 1
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums 1

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
March 27, 2010 		Succeeded by
Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

References

  1. ^ http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=05/03/2010&Format=9
  2. ^ a b Ludacris & Shawnna Prepare for ‘Battle’. Rap-Up.
  3. ^ Atlanta MC Ludacris Trades Lyrical Blows With Shawnna On Battle Of The Sexes. MTV News.
  4. ^ Ludacris’ Battle Of The Sexes Lives On After Shawnna. Hip-hop DX.
  5. ^ Ludacris: Audio Cinematic. Hip-hop DX.
  6. ^ Ludacris & Shawnna Reportedly Part Ways, "Battle Of The Sexes" Album To Move Forward. SOHH.
  7. ^ Ludacris Promises "Battle Of The Sexes" LP Still On Deck, "Ne-Yo Is On There Representing For The Dudes" [Video.] SOHH.
  8. ^ a b Ludacris Spars with Female Rappers on ‘Battle of the Sexes’. Rap-Up. Retrieved 2010-01-25
  9. ^ Ludacris and Pharrell In The Studio. Island Def Jam.
  10. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Sexes-Ludacris/dp/B0033YKCR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1265431031&sr=1-1
  11. ^ http://www.firstup.se/2009/10/bet-cypher-freestyle-nicki-minaj-joe.html BET Recap: Nicki Minaj Kills & Luda's 'How Low Can U Go'.]
  12. ^ Ludacris - How Low iTunes.
  13. ^ http://www.firstup.se/2009/10/bet-cypher-freestyle-nicki-minaj-joe.html BET Recap: Nicki Minaj Kills & Luda's 'How Low Can U Go'.]
  14. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2010/02/20/ludacris-battle-of-the-sexes-production-credits/
  15. ^ iTune's Countdown to Battle of the Sexes. iTunes.
  16. ^ http://www.allaccess.com/urban/future-releases
  17. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2010/02/19/video-ludacris-f-nicki-minaj-my-chick-bad/
  18. ^ http://www.rap-up.com/2010/02/05/on-set-of-ludacris-my-chick-bad-video/
  19. ^ http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=04/20/2010&Format=5
  20. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news?next=10#/news/ludacris-lands-fourth-no-1-album-with-battle-1004076267.story?tag=newstop1
  21. ^ http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.11085/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-4-18-2010
  22. ^ a b Jeffries, David. Review: Battle of the Sexes. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-03-10.
  23. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan. Review: Battle of the Sexes. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2010-03-18.
  24. ^ a b Vozick-Levinson, Simon. Review: Battle of the Sexes. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-03-10.
  25. ^ a b Brown, August. Review: Battle of the Sexes. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  26. ^ a b Gamboa, Glenn. Review: Battle of the Sexes. Newsday. Retrieved on 2010-03-18.
  27. ^ a b Richards, Jason. Review: Battle of the Sexes. NOW. Retrieved on 2010-03-18.
  28. ^ a b Padania, Jesal. Review: Battle of the Sexes. RapReviews. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  29. ^ a b Gardner, Elysa. Review: Battle of the Sexes. USA Today. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  30. ^ a b Godfrey, Sarah. Review: Battle of the Sexes. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  31. ^ a b Conway, Rondell. Review: Battle of the Sexes. XXL. Retrieved on 2010-03-18.
  32. ^ Battle of the Sexes (2010): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-03-11.
  33. ^ Iandoli, Kathy. Review: Battle of the Sexes. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  34. ^ Acharya, Neil. Review: Battle of the Sexes. Exclaim!. Retrieved on 2010-03-09.
  35. ^ Ludacris Battle Of The Sexes Album Tracklist. Island Def Jam.
  36. ^ http://acharts.us/album/53979
  37. ^ [1]
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