Chicago Sun-Times review

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(STAR) (STAR) (STAR). LUDACRIS, "CHICKEN-N-BEER" (DEF JAM SOUTH) Here's a case where success has made a rapper amp up his game: The wildly inventive clown prince of hip-hop is in cracklin' form on his third release, spinning inventive, all-over-the-map beats while spitting his ridiculously comic rhymes like he's an open-mike night: "One of Mini-Me's shoes got more soul than you," or "My competition lasts about as long as my part in 'The Wash,'" or addressing his choice of jewelry, "Feels like a midget's hanging from my necklace." Sure, Ludacris plays the bling card, but his enthusiasm is so shamelessly infectious that it's hard to take any of it too seriously (except, of course, for the frequent shots at Fox News Channel blowhard Bill O'Reilly, with whom Ludacris feuded earlier this year). "Stand Up" is already an enormous hit, but check out "Hip Hop Quotables" (grittily produced by Erick Sermon) for some of the best one-liners to drop on record this year. "Chicken-N-Beer" is one of the rare discs that sounds like it was as much fun to make as it is to listen to.

— Jeff Vrabel