Only Ludacris, dirty hip-hop’s cuddliest crook, could give an album a title as subversively wonderful as Chicken N Beer.
So clearly, the Atlanta rapper’s third album is not a collection of heartbreaking laments for loves lost. In a more oblique sense though, it is an album full of conflict. Traditional party hip-hop tracks choke for air as they are strangled by the sort of dark metallic bangers which have skulked around the charts since ‘In Da Club’. ‘Stand Up’, the lead single barks an authoritative order to the dancefloor. It’s more grind than grins, and darkly compelling to boot. ‘Eyebrows Down’ is another highlight, a truly futurist hip-hop track which illustrates just how much the genre has changed since the era of the James Brown sample. Chicken N Beer doesn’t have any terrible songs on it, but the truth is it’s devoid of the wit and playfulness which made Ludacris so much fun in the past. Only on ‘Hip-Hop Quotables’ do we get a glimpse of the old wacky Luda’ in action.
But then, Ludacris is a man with a lot to live up to. The second wave of the ‘Dirty South’ movement he helped popularise is storming the US charts with a sullen military swagger, and he seems to want to join the march. Chicken N Beer fits right into the mould of 03’ hip-hop. It’s uncompromising and original, but it often feels like you’re listening to a drill sergeant.
If you’re expecting laughs galore don’t bother: Chicken N Beer only brings the pain. An album to stomp to.