I love my children. Don’t get me wrong. They’re my pride and joy, and I adore them. But, sometimes I want to wring their little necks or, better yet, install permanent earplugs into their little ears so they can’t torment me with their musical tastes.
Especially Sarah (the one who wrote the first Ludacris review, which I just read). Great review, but I totally disagree with my adorable daughter. Ludacris is just plain WRONG!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t normally like rap music, of course. I prefer lighter, more audible things such as classic rock, alternative, and even classical music. But, with five children and six stereo systems in the house, plus a couple of transistor radios, it’s hard for me to choose what I want to listen to. Sarah here has a stereo system that’s almost as loud as the one belonging to the brother whose room is right next to hers. This means there are frequent ’’stereo wars’’ to see who can play the loudest, most bass-laden music. Or, maybe they just do it to see who can drive me totally crazy first. I don’t know yet.
Back to the subject at hand: I HATE THIS CD!!!!!!!!!!
Ludacris is smooth when it comes to rapping. He’s definitely talented. He can rhyme quickly and throw in puns and other wordplay to create intricate little patterns and chorus lines that flow like water. He’s good. He really is.
But I HATE THIS CD because it does NOT depict women in a friendly light. Ludacris refers to females as ’’hos’’ and other offensive names that I will not repeat here. I am not a prude by any means. In fact, I listen to Eminem a lot. However, Eminem is funny because he is absurd and ridiculous (nobody would REALLY take their toddler along to help murder Mommmy, for example. It’s that sort of ridiculous notion that makes me laugh when I hear Eminem.) Ludacris has several songs that annoy me to no end because they are NOT funny at ALL.
There’s the track in which he claims ’’I’ve got hos...in different area codes...’’ and other such nonsense. In the background, some rapper named Nate Dogg is heard repeating the different area codes that Ludacris frequently receives calls from. Los Angeles, Texas, you name it. He’s got ’’hos’’ all over.
The Cadillac Grille thing annoys me too. ’’With your bombass boots or your open toes when you get on the floor, roll roll.’’ In this smooth rap, he goes on to insult women, degrade them, and otherwise offend the hell out of me. This is HARDLY the type of message that I want to hear in MY house, where I am trying to raise a 12 year-old girl to be a decent member of society versus the easy, sleazy type of women that Ludacris rhymes about throughout ’’Back For The First Time.’’
He has raps about all the various places that he has had sex. The fifty-yard line on a football field, Bankok, etc...it’s sort of like a fantasy message, but it certainly does not make me indulge in any of my own. In fact, when I hear my youngest child (the twelve year-old girl) rapping along with this record, I want to throttle somebody!!!!!!!!!!
Ludacris is popular in my house not because of the messages, but because of his unique talent. He and his crew are skillful rappers, and are capable of fluent, easygoing styles that make the record worth purchasing. Or so my children think. I generally do not censor the music my teenagers (and the adult child Sarah) listen to, because they are old enough to make their own decisions. However, when they want to play this CD, I insist that they do it on low volume. I don’t want to hear this garbage, and I CERTAINLY don’t want their younger sister indulging in it at such a young age.
I could certainly give you examples of other songs on this record that I can’t stand, but you get the basic idea. It reeks of sleazy sexual messages, and is quite hard to ignore because you find yourself wanting to take the CD out of your child’s stereo and smash it into a million pieces. If Ludacris rapped about something besides sex, hos, drugs, and other such offensive and less-than-moral things, I would probably enjoy his work a lot. He is comparable to other rappers such as Trick Daddy for style, and Eminem or the Insane Clown Posse for vulgarity and overall ’’Filth Factors.’’
I’m not asking, of course, for this CD to be banned from the United States or what-have-you. All I want is for my children to play it at a lower volume so that I don’t have to be exposed to the messages that I find to be absolutely offensive.
My advice is to think twice before allowing younger children to listen to Ludacris. Most kids tend to repeat what they hear on their stereo systems, so be careful. Your younger ones just might start rapping a la Ludicris, which is every parent’s nightmare.