Back for the First Time

1	U Got a Problem? 4:55
2	Game Got Switched / Infamous 2-0 4:09
3	1st & 10 3:43
4	What's Your Fantasy 4:35
5	Come on Over (Skit) 1:03
6	Hood Stuck 4:21
7	Get off Me / Pastor Troy 2:45
8	Mouthing Off / 4-Ize 3:01
9	Stick 'Em Up 5:05
10	Ho (Skit) 0:42
11	Ho 2:50
12	Tickets Sold Out (Skit) 0:32
13	Catch Up / Infamous 2-0 4:14
14	Southern Hospitality 5:00
15	What's Your Fantasy Remix / Mix 4:37
16	Phat Rabbit 4:58

Barnes & Noble

The Dirty South scores once again with the infectious club anthem "What's Your Fantasy" by Atlanta rapper Ludacris. The Georgian MC is the premier artist on Def Jam's new Def Jam South imprint, and with Back for the First Time, he inaugurates the label with his mean Southern drawl and a bevy of deep, hard-knockin' beats, compliments of various top-notch producers. On "Game Got Switched," the production team Organized Noize (OutKast, Goodie Mob) provide Ludacris with video game-accented beats and a rapid-fire bass line. Meanwhile, Jermaine Dupri takes the reigns on the clamorous, angst-ridden "Get off Me," on which Ludacris and Pastor Troy trade rallying chants. The disc's true gem, however, is the percolating, bass-heavy, Neptunes-produced "Southern Hospitality," where Ludacris hollas catchy lyrics such as: "Overall country/overall jeans/overall Georgia/we overall clean." Displaying true thug passion and down-home charm, Ludacris joins Southern-flavored rappers Nelly and Mystikal in adding a pinch of hot pepper to hip-hop's spicy melting pot. Abby Addis

All Music Guide

When Def Jam signed Ludacris in 2000, the Atlanta rapper had already released a regionally successful independent album (Incognegro) with a hot single ("What's Your Fantasy"). So rather than send Ludacris back into the studio to record a follow-up album, Def Jam chose to repackage Incognegro as Back for the First Time (the title a play on the re-released nature of the music) and append some new material. The decision proved wise. Incognegro had been a strong album debut, produced largely by talented newcomer Shondrae, along with Organized Noize (who produce "Game Got Switched") and Jermaine Dupri ("Get Off Me"), and featuring a roster of hungry underground rappers (I-20, Fat Wilson, Shawnna, Pastor Troy, 4-Ize). Plus, "What's Your Fantasy" was already a proven hit, if perhaps too explicit for mainstream radio play. The real difference between Incognegro and Back for the First Time, however, is the newly recorded material -- four songs, each a standout: the Neptunes-produced club-banger "Southern Hospitality," the previously released Timbaland-produced "Phat Rabbit," the rowdy U.G.K.-featuring "Stick 'Em Up," and the provocative Trina and Foxy Brown remix of "What's Your Fantasy." The most significant of these additions is "Southern Hospitality," a feel-good party song that -- sequenced late in the album, at track 14 -- comes as a pleasant relief after the proceeding up-from-the-underground hardcore tone of Incognegro/Back for the First Time. Jason Birchmeier