Ludacris - Word of Mouf
/The year was 2002, and I had just returned from a 25 day wrestling camp at Boston University, ran by Carl Adams. The camp was visited by special guests Olympic Champ Kendal Cross, as well as future Olympic Champ, Cael Sanderson. It was a blast, and myself, and the other 5 guys from my High School who went really got a lot out of it. I was getting ready for my Senior year of high school, and excited to head to Best Buy and pick out some music (this post will age me in a number of ways, starting with this one). Little did I know that I was about to pick out one of my all time favorite albums, Word of Mouf, by the enormously talented and criminally underrated, Ludacris. I still listen to that album from start to finish from time to time, and it always brings me back to playing Doom on the family computer while listening to this album that summer before my senior year began. In this post, I’ll go song by song through the album, and compare it to something wrestling related. It could be a match, a person, a team, whatever. This is my exercise, so I’ll associate things as I choose, but I trust it will be an enjoyable experience for all of us. Last point, I’m only going with the songs from the album, not the skits. Okay, let’s begin;
Coming 2 America - This song begins with a bang! “The royal penis is clean”, is how we get this going, followed by a song pulling much of its content from the great Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall film, Coming to America. It’s full of great lines like “coming up shorter than 5 Danny DeVito’s”, and “Jolly Green Giants cause we smoke so much Broccoli.” But the best part of the song is about two thirds in when he picks up the beat and goes double time, with a much faster pace than the rest of the song. It’s awesome. You don’t see it coming, but it’s perfect, and finishes out the entire song. The content is great, but the faster pace to close it out is what makes it for me. This song reminds me of the match between Jordan Burroughs and Jordan Leen from the CKLV finals in 2008. Leen was the defending national champ, and Burroughs would go on to win the title this season, but it was an immediate classic, just like Coming 2 America. Also, the pace and speed of both Leen and Burroughs seem to pick up as the match continues, and finishes out with precision and speed, like the song. You can watch the whole match at FloWrestling with a subscription. If you have one. FYI I tried to embed the link to the video here, but it wouldn’t post, which I assume is due to the paywall, but it’s worth checking out for sure.
Rollout (My Business) - I believe this was the main single released for this album. That’s how I remember it at least. The beat is immediately recognized, with the horns, paired with Luda yelling “ROLLOUT” until he gets to the hook - “Twin Glock 40’s, top back!”. In this song, Luda changes the pace up a lot. Starts off each verse of the song with some drawn out lines, closing the it with blinding speed. Slow playing your idea of what’s to come, only to pack in so much at the end. The song ends with Luda respectfully requesting that you “stay the fuck up out my biznaaass.” I also remember the music video was insane, and had Luda with a little body and giant head. Luda is crazy, but in the best way. Anyway, this song reminds me of Nick Suriano. The dude Rolled out of Penn State, then Rutgers (seemingly), and is just doing his thing. Also, stay the fuck up out of his business. He, like the verses of the song, seems to be able to pick up the intensity and speed at a moments notice, and execute his techniques with a ferocity only matched by Ludacris in this spectacular jam.
Go 2 Sleep - It’s an immediately recognizable beat (actually a lot of this album is) and it’s a song about ho’s going to sleep, or the suggestion that they do so. Many of Ludacris’ songs have immediately identifiable themes, and this one is no different. The first and only thing I think of when I think of this song is the picture of Daton Fix riding Austin Desanto. I tried to explain that picture to my non-wrestler friends. Basically the dude in orange is an age level world champ, and generally liked wrestler, and the other guy is kind of the opposite of that. But yeah, I just imagine Daton throwing the boots in and saying to Austin, “Go to sleep ho.”
Cry Babies (Oh No) - This song is one of my favorite things you get every so often on an album. Where the artist basically goes, “watch what I can do”, and just goes off. The song is basically about how Luda is awesome, and strong, and tough, and gets lots of ladies. It’s the “I’m awesome” track, but would never be released as a single, because it’s just not that song. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, in fact, it’s tremendous, but it’s not a single. But the best part of the song is this line; “I got big balls, I’m a SAC King like Chris Webber.” I laugh every single time I hear this line, and I hope that never changes. So because the line is the best part of the song, I’m going with Jason Welch for this song. A couple of main reasons for this. Dude is from California, and that’s where Sacramento is. The Kings wear Purple, and that’s Northwestern’s main color, as well as San Francisco State, where Welch is the Head Coach. And you’ve got to have big balls to try some of the moves that Welch would just throw out there in D1 college matches from day 1.
She Said - Sometimes things aren’t what they appear. That’s pretty much what this song is about. I mean, it’s way more different than that, but I’m trying to make it through this without getting too graphic, but just trust me that this is the general theme to the song. So without getting too graphic, let’s use Anthony Robles here. Dude had one leg, and found a way to become an NCAA Champion. I’m not here to listen to people complain about any “advantage” he had by not having the leg and allowing him to be generally bigger than the rest of the 125 pound wrestlers, despite weighing the same. I would argue that his disadvantages greatly outweighed any advantages he had. But on the surface if you asked someone if someone with one leg or two legs should be a better wrestler, the answer is two legs. But things aren’t always what they appear, and Anthony reminded us of that by reaching the top of the NCAA 125 mountain. But yeah, maybe not the strongest comparison, but if you think about it, it kind of is.
Area Codes - This is a Karaoke staple of mine. I love this song. I once remarked “everyone should listen to Area Codes at least once a day.” Admittedly, I don’t do that, but I stand by the sentiment. This was possibly the second released single from the album, as it was on the Rush Hour 2 Soundtrack. Another fun fact about this song is how it’s described on it’s Wikipedia page; The song's lyrics focus on U.S. telephone area codes that denote the location of women with whom the rapper has had sexual relations in cities across the United States. I mean, that’s exactly what the song is, but it’s just funnier to read it. Anyway, this song is perfect, just like all of my trips to Big Tens. Each Big Ten Tournament I went to has its own set of tremendous stories. One of them involves finally meeting BDI. One involves Tommy falling off of a big statue of a Cow. One involves getting a picture with Cael Sanderson. One involves Tommy and I having to wear tOSU singlets, but then watching Michigan have one hell of a day while we wore the singlets, so it was worth it. Pretty sure that was when Myles doubled down by beating Bo Jordan again that season, and Logan Massa flexed on the Brands brothers after beating Marinelli. Plus there’s travel, which makes sense. I am a happily married man, so my exploits aren’t quite the same as Luda, but nonetheless enjoyable. Also, check out the music video. Back when you would make a music video and just throw in clips from the movie that the song is loosely attached to without any context. Enjoy;
Growing Pains - A change of pace from the rest of the album, but it’s a needed one at this point. After all the heat we just experienced, it’s time for some lyrical Tums. A genuinely chill beat, that actually manages to give you the feeling of nostalgia, even if it’s the first time you’ve listened to the song. Plus you get the perfect intro from the end of area codes with the kids telling “Yo Mama” jokes. It’s an anthem to how cool growing up can be when you’re fortunate enough to look back on it. “No matter what we went through, it was me and my crew.” It’s funny how perspective changes as you experience different things. I liked the song when I was 16, and I like it for very different reasons now that I’m 35 and have my own kids. Now I have to help them create some of these memories, and have something nostalgic to look back on. But I guess the main thing to connect this to is what we spoke with James Green about on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny how memories lie, like how you can look back on practices and battles with such fondness, when in the moment you’d have wanted to be anywhere but there. I remember one practice where our coach got super pissed at us for some reason, and we had to go to the weight room and grab some weights. So being a badass, myself and my buddy Marty grabbed 45 pound dumbbells.’. Then we were told to do 25 laps around the track while holding them, which seemed easy enough, but halfway through the first lap you realize that your arms are going to fall off, and that you’re completely screwed and yet, have to finish. Then we were finished, and were ready to bring the weights back to the weight room, but then we had to go up this set of steps 10 times. The steps went from the basement to the top balcony of the auditorium, so there were lots of them. It sucked, but I like telling that story for some reason, and Marty and I always remember it with a strange sense of accomplishment. In reality, we accomplished nothing, other than being more sore in my traps, hands, and forearms than I’ve ever been before or since, but whatever. That’s how it went when we were kids.
Move Bitch - “Oh NOOOO, a fights out! I’m about to punch your, lights out!” Luda lets you know right away how this anthem to road rage is going to go. Eventually you get to the chorus, which is as face value as you can get in a song. No coded messages here. Just get out of the way. I’ve got shit to do. Then you get Mystikal coming in off the top rope. This was before we all knew that Mystikal is a total piece of shit, so it was still cool. But yeah, this song lets you know right away what’s about to happen, and that one way or another, bitch, you will move. I like to think that Cody Brewer listened to this song before each of his matches at the NCAA Tournament in 2015. His epic run through that tournament is the epitome of this song. The classic beat from this song is unmistakable. Just like the Punisher tattoo and camo shoes that Brewer rocks. From now on we will refer to him as Cody “Move Bitch” Brewer. Here he is beating the #1 seed, Chris Dardanes, in the semi finals. Chris moved;
Saturday (Oooh Oooh!) - Should I wyle out? A much more chill song than the punch to the face that is Move Bitch. It’s a walk through Saturday with Luda, which seems pretty cool. Dude cruises in a variety of high end vehicles. Goes to the club. Great times here for Luda, and it makes me happy thinking of him having a chill day. So that made me think of a wrestler who just seems chill and happy a lot. Spencer Lee. He’s a dude who always smiles. It’s cool to see him pumped up and yelling at his teammates at duals, but isn’t it also kind of weird? I just want Spencer Lee to have a good time, and that’s what makes me happy.
Keep it on the Hush - This is plainly a song about secret banging. Great jam where Luda gets another chance to express his sexual prowess lyrically. He’s so good that a series of women make it a habit to engage in secret sex with him. He shares this with us in great detail. This, to me, is basically about some of the underrated dudes headed into the NCAA tournament. Albeit, this isn’t the smoothest of transitions, but hang with me. Don’t talk about them, because that will jeopardize their chances at showing up and putting in work to out wrestle their seed. We’ll see what happens in conference tournaments, but to me, this is guys like Devin Schroeder and Rayvon Foley, Mosha Swartz, Dresden Simon, Ridge Lovett, PJ Ogunsana, Jacori Teemer, Keegan O’Toole, Bernie Truax, Brit Wilson, Rocky Elam, and Ethan Laird. Keep their names out of your mouth. Keep it on the Hush.
Get the Fuck Back - The push heard round the world. This took some maneuvering, but this song makes me think of pushing someone back, which made me think of when Brent Metcalf pushed Darrion Caldwell. I was there, and it was super weird. An entire arena watched superman get beat fair and square. It was even more weird because the year before we watched Bubba Jenkins get the first takedowns against Brent, only to have him come roaring back and win in traditional dominant fashion. Not only did that not happen this time, but Darrion kept the heat on, and won fair and square. Did he start running a little early? Sure. Was the flip a little extra? Maybe. But that shove was rough. Both athletes have had awesome careers since this, so it’s not the first thing to come up when you talk about either of them, but it’s not the last thing either.
Freaky Thangs - This song is also all about banging. Great song though. Twista is not appreciated enough, and is an incredibly valuable addition to this track. Clearly Luda is the main artist, being that it’s his album and all, but the song is better because of what Twista brings. That’s why Twista is like The College Dual Wrestling Championships. I miss that event. If Luda is the individual NCAA Championships, that makes Twista the Dual meet Championships. Super entertaining, and not appreciated enough in the moment. Also like Twista, it never disappointed, and both haven’t been seen since 2015. Here is the best moment from the last one of these events;
Cold Outside - You’ve gotta pull out all the stops sometimes to get where you need to be. It’s cold outside is basically the justification for doing what you need to do, because living outside isn’t an option. Life is hard sometimes, and we are all dealt a different hand in life. I recently watched a spotlight on Rayvon Foley for a Spartan Spotlight thing on Fox Sports Detroit. It was really cool to learn about Rayvon’s background coming into the sport, and I can confidently say, it showed that he had to overcome a lot. He spoke about growing up in a single parent home, and some of the economic struggles that his family battled through. Like he mentioned on the podcast with us, he talked about the influence his older brother had on him, and how the two of them recognized the opportunities that wrestling could give him. Rayvon made the most of every opportunity he was presented, and ended up winning a state title his senior year, being recruited to MSU, starting for them as a true freshman, and becoming an All American as a true sophomore. Rayvon recognizing how he could use the sport and his effort to get where he wants in life is amazing, and certainly worthy of the connection to this song.
Block Lockdown - So this is actually two songs really. It starts with Block Lockdown, which is really a great song, and starts with Ludacris talking about putting your Momma in a headlock, which is clearly wrestling specific. Ludacris is also one of those celebrities who was a wrestler in High School, so that’s cool. We had a dude named JD German who came out to wrestle in high school for just his senior year, and only knew headlocks, and he used it to help us win a District title against Saline (I hate Saline). So there’s immediately that connection, but mostly this song is about Kellen Russell. Kellen, like Block Lockdown, is great during regulation. It’s a great song, and starts and finishes strong. Then you get past regulation though, and into the second half of the track, Welcome to Atlanta. This is an even better song. It’s not really up for debate. It’s just better, and it’s the only instance I can think of where the second half of a track is actually the song they chose to make a music video of. But here’s why it’s Kellen Russell. Kellen lost a couple times in the regulation 7 minutes of college wrestling matches. He never lost in overtime. Like this song, the overtime is better than regulation, so that’s the connection.
That’s the whole album, and therefore, the end of this piece. Good news is though, that like Word of Mouf, you can revisit this whenever you’d like. Rock on.
