Ludacris is rapping about games for you

by Justin McElroy { Dec 8th 2008 at 9:45AM }

Ludacris is willing to take the hit for you. He realizes its not cool for you or him to like video games, but frankly he's got the cool to spare, and it's unclear whether you could take the blow to your rep. So, Luda's going to take the hit with Norwegian-exclusive "Press the Start Button" from his new album Theater of the Mind. Not only is he going to rap about games in an effort to legitimize them as an actual cool thing to be into, he's going to rap about every game. This is the H-bomb of social hits, and Ludacris is taking it for you after the break. There are, it should be noted, several bad words.

If you're unable or unwilling to separate the game nods from profanity, our pals at Wambling Gamer are going to walk you through it.

Tags: ludacris

Related From Joystiq

More games released in 2009 than in 2008, barely
3 days ago
Study says word of mouth most important factor in games purchase intent
11 days ago
inFamous becomes almost-Greatest Hits game, drops to $40
25 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

xFenixKnightx @ Dec 8th 2008 9:48AM

Thats a jam! I been having it on mah Myspace. :)

Seanross @ Dec 8th 2008 2:04PM

The beat is hot regardless of whatever the hell he sayin. But yea, Ludacris just gets a pass for anything he raps just because of his structure and the way he spits it. You'd be hard pressed to really name anything lame (Music wise) from him.

deaftly @ Dec 8th 2008 9:52AM

Meh.

copa @ Dec 8th 2008 10:27AM

Worse than meh. I would be embarassed for a wannabe nerdcore blogger if he used lyrics like:

"I’m a God of War you’re a Guitar Hero"

or

"Call me the Master Chief my life is like Halo"

I'm not letting him off the hook just because he's Ludacris.

Erluti @ Dec 8th 2008 10:33AM

I'm embarrassed that Nerdcore exists, honestly.
But Ludacris gets away with stuff lyrically, that no one else could.
A few years ago he came out with a song where he says "Call me Mr. Wiggles" to describe how he can fondle women. But I was like, "Really? If anyone else in the world tried to convince you that it was cool to call him 'Mr. Wiggles' you'd make so much fun of them! Why is it cool out of the mouth of Ludacris?!"

r-deezy @ Dec 8th 2008 10:43AM

My favorite is when he said: "If it tickles in the middle from Mr. Pickles..."

Luda is the man.

John @ Dec 8th 2008 11:00AM

Have none of you heard of Del the Funky Homosapien? From Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood fame?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_owLgOBTng

And yeah, definitely meh.

The Fatass of Kickassness @ Dec 8th 2008 11:07AM

"From Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood fame?"

-_-

but yeah, dude is pretty awesome. Del, I mean. I like Luda but Del is the man.

danny. @ Dec 8th 2008 11:34AM

Yeah man, Hieroglyphics "play the games you can't rent at Blockbuster".

mrpeepants @ Dec 8th 2008 12:07PM

mr wiggles is a reference to break dancer from rock steady crew. fyi. the more you know

BayWii @ Dec 8th 2008 9:53AM

I believe I'll stick to MC Chris~

jxcgunrunna @ Dec 8th 2008 9:55AM

Thank God that Luda did this before solja boy did his thing and pissed a bunch of people off.

Btw, "Sippin on that endo, gamecube Nintendo"
-mike jones (another bad rapper)

SupaYoYoMan @ Dec 8th 2008 10:25AM

CORRECTION

slim thug. And his not bad (not the best but certainly not bad)

Gonzo @ Dec 8th 2008 11:06AM

I too am glad he got the jump on Solja and Del the Funk Homosapien got the jump on both of them years ago. Check out "Protoculture."

Side note: there are no "bad words" just words that some puritans would rather never hear again.

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. H. L. Mencken

The Fatass of Kickassness @ Dec 8th 2008 11:09AM

Protoculture is meh. Del is usually awesome but Protoculture isn't his best tune.

He's been using video game samples in his music for a while though. Listen to some of his older stuff, you'll hear Genesis and Saturn sound effects left and right.

Antagonist @ Dec 8th 2008 12:17PM

Endo is a slang term for (good) weed, so I'm curious as to how exactly would one sip on it. As far as I know, one would have to cook up some green dragon to sip herb, but nobody calls the green dragon endo.

Fresh Bryce @ Dec 8th 2008 1:32PM

That Wasn't Mike Jones, that was Slim Thug

jxcgunrunna @ Dec 8th 2008 3:06PM

awesome fresh bryce, i think yo yo man established that a few hours before you did. And yes i was wrong, damn southern rappers all sound the same.

Nick8708 @ Dec 8th 2008 9:56AM

It sounds like he just looked at a comprehensive list of game titles and descriptions and built off that. I don't really know much about him, so maybe he really is just a big fan of games.

To his credit though, it's gotta be tough to have a "life like Halo."

j.howlett @ Dec 8th 2008 10:02AM

luda ripped it

Sidebuster @ Dec 8th 2008 10:09AM

I want to like it, but it just sounds like he had a list of games to throw in the song and he said the game, compared it to something and then go to next game on list. I didn't like it but I didn't hate it either.

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 8th 2008 10:13AM

Norwegians listen to ludacris? What?

Dirty @ Dec 8th 2008 10:21AM

Those blond fools love them some chicken an waffuls.

Mike @ Dec 8th 2008 10:15AM

I wonder how many times he says "like".

kaneda @ Dec 8th 2008 11:14AM

Surprisingly, only 11 times.

Mike @ Dec 8th 2008 11:18AM

That's about 1 "like" per 21.8 seconds. Not too bad.

DonkeyBarf @ Dec 8th 2008 10:15AM

"Tell the hose to press the start button"? He must play Halo 3 in his garden.

Fresh Bryce @ Dec 8th 2008 1:59PM

I lol'd hard

matt @ Dec 8th 2008 10:23AM

I don't think I need to drop the Proto Culture reference, do I?

Proto Culture, Del tha Funkee Homosapien.

Duke @ Dec 8th 2008 10:24AM

That was a pretty damn bad rap. Most of it made absolutely no sense. So much so that it's almost impressive.

BoBoTheChimp @ Dec 8th 2008 10:25AM

I stopped listening to that clown after his Obama song. Such a shame, "Hoes In Different Area Codes" was such a classic

Levi @ Dec 8th 2008 10:26AM

I wonder when we'll get a game with Xzibit in it...

"YO DAWG I HERD YOU LIKE GAMES SO WE PUT A PLAYSTATION IN YOUR PLAYSTATION SO YOU CAN GAME WHILE YOU GAME!"

Erluti @ Dec 8th 2008 10:36AM

Xzibit is actually in the Chronicles of Riddick game, FYI.

deaftly @ Dec 8th 2008 10:49AM

http://bum.net/pics/xzibit.jpg

butaneko @ Dec 8th 2008 10:56AM

Xzibit was all up in NFL Street 2

xFenixKnightx @ Dec 8th 2008 10:28AM

Wow, c'mon now give the guy some credit, he put some work into it. Or do you think he went into the studio and just did it in 20 minutes? I doubt anyone FORCED him to make the song. I think he really is a genuine gamer. When you see most rappers on CRIBS what do 99.9999% of them have in their homes? Videogames! Also, how else would you make a song about videogames without making a list of which ones you want to include? o_O Don't hate on it just because it's rap and you don't like rap. Talk about closed minded...

I'm not too big on most of the rappers out now a days but Ludacris is definately one of the TOP rappers I still like.

Lord Negatron @ Dec 8th 2008 10:38AM

Well i dont think this was great because the "Blizzard Man" wasn't on it...

(LMAO@ myspace vid's : SNL -Blizzard Man.)

Andy Samberg is a fool!

jxcgunrunna @ Dec 8th 2008 10:51AM

Yea i like luda too but i think some of his older shit was better. I love T.I. Who else do you listen too?

xFenixKnightx @ Dec 8th 2008 11:07AM

Yup his old stuff is better but I like the beat to this one. It will sound good in my cars Bose system. I jam Luda, TI, Kanye, Jeezy, Weezy, Triple Six M, all my H-town rappers, a lot of oldschool, and that SKREW! ;) Music in general I listen to everything with the exception of those punk rock bands who usually dont last. Die, Fallout boy DIE!!!

The Fatass of Kickassness @ Dec 8th 2008 11:12AM

I like Ludacris too. I tend to stick to stuff like Mr. Lif/Cyne/Abdominal but Luda is one of the better mainstream artists.

Duke @ Dec 8th 2008 11:49AM

Bro, I am hating on this rap because its just bad. Not because its rap, not because of him, not because the games mentioned - just because its bad.

kbomb1upc @ Dec 8th 2008 12:42PM

I bet no one remembers that before Luda blew up he rapped the intro to Madden 2000....
http://www.jamglue.com/tracks/66758-Ludacris-Madden-2000-NFL-Theme

Leo McKelvin @ Dec 8th 2008 12:55PM

listen I like luda, 36 mafia, lil wyte, david banner, 50 cent, kanye, TI, snoop dog, dr.dre, eminem and all that commercial stuff when i go out to a club or when i just feel like listen to something hard and soul less. however, that stuff is all just gimmick rap. if you want to hear actual good hip hop that is relevant you need to go way outside the pop-culture and marketing gimmick of big rims, gold teeth and selling drugs. not saying that the music from these artist is bad but just giving what I think.

anyone who like good hip hop or rap need to check out immortal technique (below), apathy, sick jacken, ras kass (best rapper of all time - ever!), diabolic, poison pen, louis logic, da circle, brooklyn academy, del the funky homosapien, scarface, J-Live, Common, outer spaxe, jedi mind tricks, Wu-tang, ADLM, killah priest, nas, block mccloud & akir to name off the top of my head.

Dont get me wrong bvecause some of my favorite rapper are commerical like young jeezy. It's just that most popular rap is commercial BS that give a bad image of the black and latin community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1iP66a97IQ (calling out modern day rap)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jARCmWeZTu4 (golpe de estada)

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=tD5WlQ54Sg0&feature=related (dance with the devil)

Bobby @ Dec 8th 2008 10:30AM

I'm a fan of luda, but this track is pretty meh. That second to last verse was on point, though.

But the ultimate game rap is still Del's Proto Culture (2000):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_owLgOBTng

Erluti @ Dec 8th 2008 10:45AM

While that song is very well done, it's actually about playing video games. Which is actually rather boring.
Ludacris however, is still talking about his "gangsta" activities, framing it with video game references. Which I think is much more clever and artistic.