Ludacris’ favourite verse in hip-hop history: ‘How do you rap better than that?’
Before he was simply a comic relief character in the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, Ludacris was a well-respected, highly thought-of trailblazing rapper. Born in Illinois but hailing from Atlanta, Ludacris has seemingly done it all in his career; climbing the charts, collaborating with some of the biggest names in music and being the butt of the Rock’s jokes.
Ludacris started out as a DJ and even formed his own record label; Disturbing tha Peace in 1998. When he transitioned into hip-hop, he released his debut studio album, Incognegro, through his label in 1999. Eventually, he was picked up by the powerhouse Def Jam Recordings who rereleased Incognegro along with facilitating the release of his second studio album Back for the First Time in 2000.
The release of his sophomore record shot Ludacris into the limelight as it, alongside its single ‘What’s Your Fantasy’ broke into the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. As his notoriety continued to grow Ludacris saw sustained success with his later albums ‘Word of Mouf’, ‘Chicken-n-Beer’ and ‘Red Light District’ receiving multi-platinum certifications.
Ludacris also saw a couple of number 1 hits in his time as an artist. His singles ‘Stand Up’ and ‘Money Maker’ brought him individual success but he also graced the top a couple more times as a featured artist. The most notable of these features is undoubtedly Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’.
Following all this success Ludacris’ calculated next step was to become an actor, because of course it was. His first appearance came in 2 Fast 2 Furious but he has also appeared in other movies that have seen mixed critical reception. 2004’s Crash was received quite well by critics, but movies such as 2009’s Gamer and 2011’s New Year’s Eve… not so much.
Nevertheless, Ludacris is a hip-hop artist at heart, so when asked about his favourite verse in hip-hop history, he gave an impressive answer. Ludacris explains that his favourite verse comes from legend Cam’ron’s track ‘The ROC’, though this might be out of appreciation for his “Fast and Furious’ costar.
The verse that Ludacris chose is the third verse of the track and goes on to express his love for the verse stating, “How do you start up a verse and rap better than that?! I fucking love this verse, man”. Listening to the verse, it’s understandable to see where Ludacris’s passion comes from. Cam’ron, known famously for his lyricism, does some heavy wordplay and incorporates genius rhyme patterns in ‘The ROC’s third verse.
Lyrics like “I’m the third little piggy, I’ma fuck wit’ them bricks” and “get your shit rocked mon like Haseem Rahman” are of the type that makes you sit back and think for a second, only to welcome a grin to your face when you realise their meaning.
It seems too easy for Cam’ron, an indisputable member of the hip-hop hall of fame, he connects genius line to genius line to swiftly flow through the song. He incorporates significant dates in the calendar like Valentine’s Day and April Fool’s Day to simply make a point, only to end that portion with “It could be March 2nd, sound like July 4th”.
The combination of seamless flow and masterful lyricism is tantalising, you’d be insane not to enjoy Cam’ron’s gift of 16 genius bars. Hats off to Ludacris, game clearly recognises game.