Ludacris unveiled four tracks from his new album, “Theater of the Mind,” for fans last night (Sept. 25) at New York’s Tribeca Cinemas, ahead of its Oct. 21 release via Def Jam.
MTV’s Sway moderated the audience Q&A portion of the evening, which found Ludacris addressing a surprising collaboration with long-time rival T.I. on album track “On Top of the World.” He also mentioned plans for a tour, but said details weren’t finalized.
“We had been talking under the radar for a long time,” said Ludacris of teaming with T.I. “We were just trying to figure out the right opportunity to surprise everybody. With that being said, we live in Atlanta and Atlanta is small as hell, compared to New York and we’ve got the same circle of friends. It was never really beef between me and him. We felt, with everything going on in the business, there was no better time to make it happen.”
Tracks played during the session included “MVP,” produced by DJ Premier and sporting the producer’s trademark strong drums, and the bouncy, Clinton Sparks-produced “Call Up the Homies,” featuring the Game and Willy Northpole.
“Last of a Dying Breed” features Lil’ Wayne, while T-Pain guests on “One More Drink.” “I did this song because when you’re at a club, the more drinks you have the better them mutherf*ckers look,” Ludacris said of the latter.
Following the music, the audience was ushered into a screening room to watch a behind-the-scenes video of Ludacris’ current single and clip, “What Them Girls Like” featuring Chris Brown and Sean Garrett. The video for another track, “Undisputed,” followed and featured boxer Floyd Mayweather as Ludacris’ coach.