Ludacris Talks New Album

by **TREND$ETTER** Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:55 am

A lot of emcees claim to be the best. Others claim to be kings and others believe they are gods. Ludacris is an emcee who does not lack confidence. Recently, he spoke openly about his self proclaimed greatness and added more information on upcoming projects and his forthcoming album, Theater of the Mind.
"I feel there is no rap style I cannot do. Unlimited amounts of ways I can come on the microphone. I feel like I'm the best doing the damn thing," he told MTV.
"Album number six is on the way. It's called 'Theater of the Mind,'" he continued. "So with that said, we got the mixtape, The Preview — the preview to the damn movie. It's all about lyrical exercise. I been gone, opening up a restaurant [in Atlanta], doing a couple of movies [RockNRolla and Max Payne] here and there, just a little bit of everything. It's time to get back in the music game. It's been a long time, but we back on that ass."
In his quest to come back, he has enlisted assistance from DJ Drama, who appears throughout The Preview.
"You gonna get a mixture of freestyles, new songs, snippets from Theater of the Mind, [past] songs where samples couldn't clear and make the album, but they still crazy-ass records. And me and Barack O'Drama talking a gang of shit. It's as simple as that."

Drama is excited about the mixtape, as he went to on exclaim.
"The first-ever Luda/DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz! This shit is history. It's the preview, the coming attractions. Get your popcorn. This time, [the production of the tape] worked out through the conversation. Luda already had the concept of the tape, it being the preview ... for the Theater of the Mind. When I heard [the word] 'preview,' my mind started immediately racing of how we should put it together. I said, 'Every beat, everything you get on has to be a movie.' On the microphone, he's already a monster, so it's kind of an easy thing. I like to give everything a beginning, middle and end. With a concept like The Preview, ['Cris] kinda made it too easy."

Enough of the mixtape talk, what can fans expect from the album? Luda explained a little more about the concepts hiding behind the forthcoming LP.
"Just as the name implies, the album is theatrical. Conceptual-wise, every song you hear plays out like a scene from the movie. Whether it's storytelling, me giving you the real of what's going on in the world, you gotta look at it as your imagination is gonna run wild every song you hear."