Ludacris needs mouf-to-mouf resuscitation

Ludacris went all out with the chicken and beer theme for his newest album. The CD is wrapped in plastic that resembles a dirty South tub of chicken. \nThe actual CD jacket lists the songs under "Nutrition Facts." \nThe cover of Chicken-N-Beer is the ATL rapper himself putting salt on a woman's leg that he's rarin' and ready to take a big ol' bite out of. Chicken legs and beer bottles surround the sexiest and most stacked female chicken there's ever been. \nBut the fun ends there. \nLuda rocked the entire world with Word of Mouf in 2001. With hot singles like "Move," "Rollout," "Saturday" and "Area Codes," it's a wonder his latest doesn't have nearly the potential it should. He even made his fans "Act a Fool" this summer with no problem at all.\nChicken-N-Beer's first single, "Stand Up" has sweet, traditional Luda flava. His unmistakable voice and accent help make the song a serious hit -- right now.\nMeanwhile, some of the best elements of a Ludacris album are the skits, but this one lacks in anything really funny. Word of Mouf had listeners rolling on the ground laughing at the skits that involved white people doing his greatest hits and Luda graduating as Valedic"whore"ian of his class, all while talking on his cell phone at the Texa"hoe."\nChicken-N-Beer tries to be funny in a skit called "T Baggin'." 'Nuff said there.\n"P-Poppin'" (use your imagination for the first P) is about the strip clubs in the ATL. "Summersaults, cartwheels/ slide on down that pole," he raps in the song. It features Shawnna and Lil' Fate. \n"Hoes in My Room" is probably the funniest song on the album and features Snoop Dogg. "Who let these hoes in my room?" Luda asks Snoop throughout the song, which features melodies resembling a smooth R&B song or elevator music.\nBut the beats just aren't there this time. While "Stand Up" leaves crowds dancing and has a sweet hook and "Hoes in My Room" leaves listeners laughing, the rest of the album isn't anything spectacular. No other songs have a good hook. Murphy Lee would clearly ask, "Wat da hook gon be?" for almost every song on the album.\nLudacris says on his Web site that he's grown up in the last two years. If growing up means producing a lower quality album, this southern rapper needs to lose the maturity quick.