A classic album is the equivalent of a championship ring to a basketball player in hip-hop: you're just never as legendary without one.  While Ludacris has a lot of time left, it is rather inconspicuous that someone who is so respected has made three albums without one approaching classic status.  Essentially, he is not the MJ of this rap thing; moreso, he's the Kevin Garnett of it.  As Luda must see this strange abscence of a classic, he reaches for that ring on his fourth solo album, Red Light District.

While this album appears to try to break boundaries every once in a while, it basically falls into the same category his last threee albums have.  Red Light takes elements from each of his albums to make a sound-alike amalgam: he has an excellent intro that shows off his flow an punchline abilities (Hmmm...Chicken & Beer anyone?), he has a single-ready Timbaland collaboration ("The Potion" is basically a less-spectacular "Roll Out"), and he goes back to his sparse-beats Southern single roots( "Get Back" wouldn't sound out of place on Incognegro or Back For the First Time).  However, as recyled as it may be, what Ludacris does, he does extremely well.  However, Luda does find the time to try out some new tricks.  "Number One Spot" is an excellent pop culture-referencing song that samples the theme to Austin Powers and uses numerous mome nts to speak on Goldmember, Fat Bastard, and Mini-Me.  "Child of the Night" is the reflective track he's done before, but this time around, he actually sounds remorseful, plus the Nate Dogg chorus adds to the song's fell of somberness.  "Large Amounts" has one of 2004's best samples, with a hook that sounds so utterly fun & evil at the same time that Luda's vocals become an afterthought.  Luda does not stop making pure saccharin songs for the females or overly-intimidating cunkish tracks though, which can be seen in "Pimpin' All Over The World" and "Pass Out", respectively.  He also doesn't always work on the star-studded collaborations, as "Put Your Money" with annoyingly-macho DMX proves.  He does find a way to end the album on a sensational note though, as he and Trick Daddy make a perfect hopeful song ironically titled "Hopeless".  Trick gets brutally truthful in his verse with lines like "You'll fall for anything if you don't stand for somethin/ That's for certain/ But niggas don't be listenin and that shit be hurtin/ Not all of us/ but some of us/ And if we don't hurry up, they'll bury each and everyone of us".  That's the stuff classics are made of.

Luda definitely failed in his attempt to make a classic, but maybe he wasn't really trying in the first place.  If this was a lazy attempt, than this proves that Luda may just be another untapped source of talent in the hip-hop world.  In the words of Luda himself, "And last album they don't like me to tell this/ debuted at number one and sold more records than Elvis"; it takes more than sales to be the King.

iPod Worthy: "Number One Spot", "Intro", "Child of the Night", "Hopeless", "Large Amounts"

Skip 'Em: "Spur of the Moment", "Put Your Money", "Pass Out", "Two Miles An Hour"

Overall: 4 Out of Six Shots