The Red Light District

This article is about the Ludacris album. For the general term, see Red-light district. For other uses, see Red Light District (disambiguation).

The Red Light District is the fifth studio album by American rapper Ludacris. It was released on December 7, 2004, through Disturbing tha Peace/Def Jam South. The album's title refers to an urban tourist district where the standard industry is prostitution.^[4] The CD is accompanied by a 41-minute DVD made by Decon of Ludacris visiting the red-light district, a cannabis grow-room, an adult 'cam-house' and the recording of the Red Light District CD/DVD promo concert in Amsterdam, Netherlands.^[5]

The Red Light District
Studio album by Ludacris
Released	December 7, 2004
Recorded	2003–2004
Genre	Hip hop
Length	65:22
Label	Disturbing tha Peace Def Jam
Producer	Craig King DJ Green Lantern DJ Toomp DK All Day Donnie Scantz Heazy Icedrake LT Moe Needlz Organized Noize Polow da Don Salaam Remi The Medicine Men Tic Toc Timbaland Vudu
Ludacris chronology
Chicken-n-Beer (2003) The Red Light District (2004) Release Therapy (2006)
Singles from The Red Light District
"Get Back" Released: November 1, 2004[1] "Number One Spot" Released: February 15, 2005 "The Potion" Released: April 20, 2005 "Pimpin' All Over the World" Released: June 14, 2005 "Blueberry Yum Yum" Released: August 17, 2005

Professional ratings for The Red Light District DVD

Review scores
Source	Rating
PopMatters	5/10[2]
RapReviews	5.5/10[3]

Production was handled by Timbaland, Craig King, DJ Green Lantern, DJ Toomp, DK All Day, Donnie Scantz, Heazy, Icedrake, LT Moe, Needlz, Organized Noize, Polow da Don, Salaam Remi, The Medicine Men, Tic Toc and Vudu, with Chaka Zulu and Ludacris serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Bobby V, DJ Quik, DMX, Dolla Boy, Kimmi J., Nas, Nate Dogg, Sleepy Brown, Small World, Trick Daddy and Doug E. Fresh. A pre-famous Future co-wrote a track on the album, "Blueberry Yum Yum". The album was supported with four singles: "Get Back", "Number One Spot", "The Potion" and "Pimpin' All Over the World" and a promotional single "Blueberry Yum Yum".

In the United States, the album debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 album chart with 322,000 copies sold in its first week. On September 29, 2005, it received a double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 2 million units.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Cokemachineglow	68/100%[8]
Entertainment.ie	[9]
HipHopDX	3.5/5[10]
laut.de	[11]
Los Angeles Times	[12]
Now	[13]
RapReviews	8/10[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]

The Red Light District was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on sixteen reviews.^[6]

Soren Baker of Los Angeles Times wrote: "Ludacris includes thoughtful rhymes on "Child of the Night" and "Hopeless", but his humour is still his biggest asset and the reason he commands respect".^[12] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone named it "his most inventive album yet".^[15] Dom Sinacola of Cokemachineglow wrote: "so, Ludacris is still a distance from a definitive, unmatched hip hop statement, but I'm content with his glaciered pace and middling "a-a-a-a-b-b-b-b-etc" frame. It's just too much damn fun to pass up".^[8] In mixed reviews, AllMusic's Andy Kellman wrote: "Luda hasn't slipped into the complacent lap of luxury as deeply as some of his fellow platinum contemporaries, but it's evident that he's not as hungry as he once was".^[7]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[16]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Christopher Bridges Timothy Mosley	Timbaland	1:25
2.	"Number One Spot"	Bridges James D'Agostino Quincy Jones	DJ Green Lantern	4:34
3.	"Get Back"	Bridges Craig Bazile Craig Lawson O'Dell Vickers Dominic Bazile	The Medicine Men Tic Toc	4:30
4.	"Put Your Money" (featuring DMX)	Bridges Michael Guy	Icedrake	4:13
5.	"Blueberry Yum Yum" (featuring Sleepy Brown)	Bridges Patrick Brown Rico Wade Ray Murray Nayvadius Wilburn	Organized Noize	3:55
6.	"Child of the Night" (featuring Nate Dogg)	Bridges Nathaniel Hale Damon McDaniels Teena Marie Brockert	DK All Day	5:01
7.	"The Potion"	Bridges Mosley	Timbaland	3:54
8.	"Pass Out"	Bridges Khari Cain	Needlz	4:21
9.	"Skit"			0:55
10.	"Spur of the Moment" (featuring DJ Quik and Kimmi J.)	Bridges David Blake Todd Moore	LT Moe	4:15
11.	"Who Not Me" (featuring Small World and Dolla Boy)	Bridges Sheldon Bullock Earl Conyers Craig King Mark Morales Darren Robinson Damon Wimbley	Craig King	4:56
12.	"Large Amounts"	Bridges Matthew McAllister Lionel Bart	Vudu	4:33
13.	"Pimpin' All Over the World" (featuring Bobby Valentino)	Bridges Jamal Jones Darnley Scantlebury	Polow da Don Donnie Scantz	5:29
14.	"Two Miles an Hour"	Bridges Aldrin Davis Curtis Mayfield	DJ Toomp	4:45
15.	"Hopeless" (featuring Trick Daddy)	Bridges Maurice Young Fred Stamand	Heazy	5:05
16.	"Virgo" (featuring Nas and Doug E. Fresh)	Bridges Nasir Jones Douglas Davis Salaam Gibbs	Salaam Remi	3:31
Total length:				1:05:22

UK iTunes edition

No.	Title	Length
17.	"Get Back (Rock Version)" (featuring Sum 41)	4:13

Samples and interpolations

"Number One Spot"

• "Soul Bossa Nova" by Quincy Jones

"Get Back"

• Interpolation from “Fuck You Tonight” by Notorious B.I.G.

"Child of the Night"

• "Portuguese Love" by Teena Marie

"Who Not Me"

• Interpolation from “Stick Em” by The Fat Boys

"Large Amounts"

• “Pick A Pocket Or Two” by Clive Reville

"Two Miles an Hour"

• "Little Child Runnin' Wild" by Curtis Mayfield
• "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 54 Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[18] 8 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 91 UK Albums (OCC)[20] 98 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[21] 13 US Billboard 200[22] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[23] 1 US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[24] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position US Billboard 200[25] 22 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[26] 8

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28]	Silver	60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[29]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
United States (RIAA)[30] Video	Gold	50,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2004
• List of Billboard number-one R&B/hip-hop albums of 2004