Chicken-N-Beer (2003)

Image credit: Ludacris: George Holz/Corbis Outline

FRIED 'CHICKEN' Ludacris deserves a hand for making us chuckle

That Ludacris is a funny guy. Snaps, the dozens, cracks, or whatever you want to call them -- Luda's third album has gut-busting insults and boasts for days. And, as always, the Atlanta rapper ramps up his punchline potency with explosive enunciation (''BLAH!''). The problem with Chicken-N-Beer is that too many cuts are simply one-note jokes stretched out to three or four minutes.

You can certainly bank on ''Blow It Out'' for big laughs. And the minimalist, aptly titled ''Hip-Hop Quotables'' packs some pretty witty wordplay (''People think I'm bad, they say, 'Oh, he's so evil'/'Cuz I go on blind dates with actual blind people''). But Luda's more libidinous offerings -- ''P-Poppin''' and ''Teamwork'' -- are cringeworthy, misogynistic snorefests. The Snoop-featuring ''Hoes in My Room'' is an especially excruciating epic with a desperate and lazy denouement.

And while it's admirable that Ludacris opted against using big-name producers here -- Kanye West and Erick Sermon are the album's highest-caliber beatmakers -- the amateurs blow their shot with campy sampling and cartoonish composition. Sure, ''Chicken-N-Beer'' can sometimes make you chuckle, but then so did the Fat Boys.