Ludaversal

On March 13, 2012, Ludacris announced the album, titled Ludaversal, would be released on September 11, 2012 (which is on his birthday). One of the songs, titled "Ocean Skies", produced by Capsvl, originally featured vocals from singer Anita Baker.{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Christopher|title=Ludacris Adds Anita Baker to 'Ludaversal'|url=http://www.vibe.com/2013/08/vibe-exclusive-ludacris-adds-anita-baker-ludaversal/|work=Vibe|publisher=SpinMedia|date=August 3, 2013|access-date=April 5, 2015}}{{cite web|last=Alexis|first=Nadeska|title=Ludacris' 8th Album 'Ludaversal' Due In September|url=http://rapfix.mtv.com/2012/03/13/ludacris-ludaversal-album-due-september/|work=MTV|publisher=Viacom|date=March 13, 2012|access-date=April 5, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410020725/http://rapfix.mtv.com/2012/03/13/ludacris-ludaversal-album-due-september/|archive-date=April 10, 2015}} Baker's vocals were later replaced by singer Monica.

On October 9, 2014, Ludacris announced an EP, titled Burning Bridges will be released in December 2014, and then his album Ludaversal will be follow-up on March 31, 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/ludacris-announces-ludaversal-release-date-ep-for-december-news.12388.html|title=Ludacris Announces "Ludaversal" Release Date, EP For December|first=Trevor|last=Smith|website=HotNewHipHop|date=October 9, 2014|access-date=March 6, 2015}} On October 31, 2014, Ludacris released the lead single from his EP, titled "Good Lovin" featuring American singer Miguel.{{cite web|url=http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/ludacris-good-lovin-feat-miguel-prod-by-da-internz-new-song.1959008.html|title=Ludacris - Good Lovin' Feat. Miguel (Prod. by Da Internz)|first=Lloyd|last=Jaffe|website=HotNewHipHop|date=October 31, 2014|access-date=March 6, 2015}}

On March 3, 2015, Ludacris held a listening party for Ludaversal with Def Jam. The tracks "Ludaversal (Intro)", "Not Long" featuring Usher and "Come N See Me" featuring Big K.R.I.T. were revealed to the public.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE5Zz8q03rA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/fE5Zz8q03rA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Ludacris' Ludaversal Listening Party Recap |website=YouTube |date=March 6, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2015}}{{cbignore}}

On December 15, 2014, Ludacris released an EP, titled "Burning Bridges". The final track from the EP, titled "Good Lovin'" featuring Miguel, serves as the lead single from Ludaversal.{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153147869100513&set=vb.49581355512&type=2&theater |title=Ludacris |publisher=Facebook |access-date=June 24, 2015}} On March 10, 2015, Ludacris released 2 pre-order tracks from the album titled: "Call Ya Bluff" and "Beast Mode". "Come & See Me" and "Grass Is Always Greener" were both later sent to urban radio to further promote the album.

{{Music ratings

| MC = 63/100{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/ludaversal/ludacris |title=Reviews for Ludaversal by Ludacris |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=June 24, 2015}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|first=David |last=Jeffries |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ludaversal-mw0002824155 |title=Ludaversal - Ludacris |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=June 24, 2015}}

| rev2 = Billboard

| rev2Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/6517033/ludacris-ludaversal-album-review |title=Album Review: Ludacris' 'Ludaversal' Is His Moodiest Yet |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Eldridge Industries |date=March 31, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2015}}

| rev3 = Exclaim!

| rev3score = 6/10{{cite web | url=http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/ludacris-ludaversal | title=Ludacris - Ludaversal | publisher=Exclaim! | date=March 31, 2015 | access-date=April 20, 2015 | first=Samantha | last=O'Connor}}

| rev4 = HipHopDX

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Kellan |url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.2451/title.ludacris-ludaversal |title=Ludacris - Ludaversal |website=HipHopDX |publisher=Cheri Media Group |date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404213212/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.2451/title.ludacris-ludaversal |archive-date=April 4, 2015 |url-status=dead }}

| rev5 = Rolling Stone

| rev5Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Dolan |first=Jon |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/ludacris-ludaversal-20150331 |title=Ludacris Ludaversal Album Review |magazine=Rolling Stone |publisher=Wenner Media |date=March 31, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2015}}

| rev6 = XXL

| rev6Score = {{Rating|4|5}}(XL){{cite web|last=Robertson |first=Darryl |url=http://www.xxlmag.com/rap-music/reviews/2015/04/ludacris-ludaversal-album-review/ |title=Ludacris Delivers Again on New Album 'Ludaversal' |work=XXL |publisher=Townsquare Media |date=April 8, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2015}}

}}

Ludaversal received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 63, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 11 reviews. Darryl Robertson from XXL called the record "no different" from Ludacris' previous projects, praising his balance of "personal, comical, lyrical, inspirational and socially conscious raps" throughout the track listing, concluding that "[I]f Ludaversal is a reminder that he hasn’t fallen off lyrically, the game should pay attention." AllMusic's David Jeffries said that, "Hip-hop has a towering pile of "the game needs me" albums where an artist returns to stake their claim, but Ludaversal still feels fresh, alive, and needed, and maybe just because it comes from the unique voice that is Ludacris." Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone said of Ludacris on the album: "he's still the same elastically flowing shout-rap dirty bird — gleefully wilding out on Southern party jams like 'Get Lit' and 'Beast Mode'." In a mixed review for Exclaim!, Samantha O'Connor wrote that Ludacris finds himself in between "owning up to the voracious hunger needed to reach a new level of fulfillment and being trapped by the desperation to regain a title that is no longer his."

The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 with 73,000 album-equivalent units; it sold 62,000 copies in its first week, and boasted over 4.8 million streams.{{cite web |url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.33312/title.hip-hop-album-sales-wale-ludacris-kendrick-lamar |title=Hip Hop Album Sales: Wale, Ludacris & Kendrick Lamar |last=Balfour |first=Jay |website=HipHopDX |publisher=Cheri Media Group |date=April 8, 2015 |access-date=April 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409105934/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.33312/title.hip-hop-album-sales-wale-ludacris-kendrick-lamar |archive-date=April 9, 2015 |url-status=dead }} It was the second best-selling album of the week.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/top-album-sales/2015-04-18 |title=Top Album Sales: Week of April 18, 2015 |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |access-date=April 22, 2015}} It marked Ludacris's eighth top-five album.{{cite magazine|first=Keith|last=Caulfield|title=Wale Rules With Second No. 1 Album, 'Furious 7' Soundtrack Drives to No. 2|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6524424/wale-second-no-1-album-furious-7-soundtrack-no-2|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Eldridge Industries|date=April 8, 2015|access-date=April 8, 2015}} In its second week, the album fell to number 18 on the Billboard 200, selling 23,000 equivalent album units; it sold 18,000 copies and boasted over 3.4 million streams.{{cite web |url=http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.33419/title.hip-hop-album-sales-kendrick-lamar-drake-wale |title=Hip Hop Album Sales: "Furious 7," Kendrick Lamar & Drake|last=Balfour |first=Jay |website=HipHopDX |publisher=Cheri Media Group |date=April 15, 2015}} For a two-week total, Ludaversal sold just under 82,000 copies and streamed 8 million times domestically.{{cite web|title=Charts Don't Lie: April 18|last=Smith|first=Trevor|url=http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/charts-dont-lie-news.14953.html|website=HotNewHipHop|date=April 18, 2015|access-date=April 18, 2015}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing =

| headline = Ludaversal{{nobold| — North American standard version}}{{cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ludaversal/id974115539|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425064016/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ludaversal/id974115539|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 25, 2015|title=iTunes - Music - Ludaversal by Ludacris|publisher=iTunes Store. Apple (US)|access-date=May 9, 2016}}

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Ludaversal Intro

| length1 = 3:35

| writer1 = {{hlist|Christopher Bridges|Lavell Crump}}

| extra1 = David Banner

| title2 = Grass is Always Greener

| length2 = 3:15

| writer2 = {{hlist|Bridges|Marcos Palacios|Ernest Clark}}

| extra2 = Da Internz

| title3 = Call Ya Bluff

| length3 = 3:07

| writer3 = {{hlist|Bridges|Joshua Scruggs}}

| extra3 = Syk Sense

| title4 = Lyrical Healing

| length4 = 1:16

| writer4 = {{hlist|Bridges|Adam Feeney|Maneesh Bidaye|Ramon Ibanga, Jr.}}

| extra4 = {{hlist|Illmind|Frank Dukes}}

| title5 = Beast Mode

| length5 = 3:36

| writer5 = {{hlist|Bridges|Larrance Dopson|Christopher "Brody" Brown|John Wesley Groover|Michael Ray Cox, Jr.}}

| extra5 = 1500 or Nothin', Mike & Keys

| title6 = Viagra

| note6 = skit

| length6 = 1:44

| writer6 = {{hlist|Bridges|Carla Henderson}}

| extra6 =

| title7 = Get Lit

| length7 = 3:59

| writer7 = {{hlist|Bridges|Palacios|Clark|Ronnie Jackson}}

| extra7 = {{hlist|Da Internz|Lil Ronnie}}

| title8 = Come and See Me

| note8 = interlude

| length8 = 1:16

| writer8 = {{hlist|Bridges|Aldrin Davis}}

| extra8 = DJ Toomp

| title9 = Come and See Me

| note9 = featuring Big K.R.I.T.

| length9 = 4:25

| writer9 = {{hlist|Bridges|Justin Scott|Michael Williams II}}

| extra9 = Mike WiLL Made It

| title10 = Good Lovin

| note10 = featuring Miguel

| length10 = 3:43

| writer10 = {{hlist|Bridges|Miguel Pimentel|Palacios|Clark}}

| extra10 = Da Internz

| title11 = Ocean Skies

| note11 = featuring Monica

| length11 = 4:49

| writer11 = {{hlist|Bridges|Ian D'Sa Benjamin Kowalewicz|Crystal Nicole Johnson-Pompey|Alicia Augello-Cook}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|Capsvl|J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League}}

| title12 = Not Long

| note12 = featuring Usher

| length12 = 4:13

| writer12 = {{hlist|Bridges|Maurice Willis|Thomas Brenneck|David Guy|Leon Michels|Homer Steinweiss|Fernando Velez}}

| extra12 = Mel & Mus

| title13 = Charge It to the Rap Game

| length13 = 3:50

| writer13 = {{hlist|Bridges|Feeney|Bidaye|Ibanga, Jr.}}

| extra13 = Illmind

| title14 = This Has Been My World

| length14 = 6:30

| writer14 = {{hlist|Bridges|Justin Smith|Steve Porcaro|John Bettis}}

| extra14 = Just Blaze

| title15 =

| length15 =

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| length16 =

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| total_length = {{duration|m=49|s=18}}

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Ludaversal{{nobold| — North American deluxe version}}{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/ludaversal-deluxe/974136463|title=iTunes - Music - Ludaversal (Deluxe) by Ludacris|publisher=iTunes Store. Apple (US)|access-date=May 9, 2016}}

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| total_length = {{duration|m=67|s=08}}

| title15 = Money

| note15 = featuring Rick Ross

| writer15 = {{hlist|Bridges|William Roberts II|Clarence McDonald|Lowrell Simon}}

| extra15 = DJ Pain 1

| length15 = 4:53

| title16 = Problems

| note16 = featuring Cee Lo Green

| writer16 = {{hlist|Bridges|Tyler Williams}}

| extra16 = T-Minus

| length16 = 3:59

| title17 = In My Life

| note17 = featuring John Legend

| writer17 = {{hlist|Bridges|John Stephens|Douglas Lucas|Guy Delo|Ralph Benatar}}

| extra17 = {{hlist|Bigg D|Steven Q-Beatz|Cainon Lamb}}

| length17 = 4:52

| title18 = Burning Bridges

| note18 = featuring Jason Aldean

| writer18 = {{hlist|Bridges|Jamie Commons|Alexander Grant}}

| extra18 = Alex da Kid

| length18 = 4:06

}}

;Sample credits

• "Lyrical Healing" contains a sample from "Hubey" performed by Maneesh Bidaye.
• "Ocean Skies" contains a sample from "Diamond on a Landmine" performed by Billy Talent.
• "Not Long" contains a sample from "Tired of Fighting" performed by Menahan Street Band.
• "Charge It to the Rap Game" contains a sample from "Lonnie Blacksmith" performed by Maneesh Bidaye.
• "Money" contains a sample from "All About the Paper" performed by The Dells.
• "In My Life" contains a sample from "Changing Faces" performed by The J.J. Band.
• "This Has Been My World" contains a sample from "Human Nature" performed by Michael Jackson.

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{{reflist|30em}}

{{Ludacris}}

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Category:Ludacris albums

Category:2015 albums

Category:Albums produced by 1500 or Nothin'

Category:Albums produced by Alex da Kid

Category:Albums produced by Da Internz

Category:Albums produced by David Banner

Category:Albums produced by DJ Toomp

Category:Albums produced by Frank Dukes

Category:Albums produced by Illmind

Category:Albums produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

Category:Albums produced by Just Blaze

Category:Albums produced by Mike Will Made It

Category:Albums produced by T-Minus (producer)