Ludacris has always been one of the most entertaining rappers to watch and listen to, more for his ridiculous lines and outrageous, sharp humor than any redeeming social qualities. Ludacris has always been the class clown of the Dirty South scene, and Theater of the Mind is nothing if not an absolute embrace of this image. Crass and vulgar, with beats that slam and bounce with no respect for dynamics or subtlety, Ludacris’ latest is popcorn entertainment at its finest.

Beginning with the intro, a “please-quiet-down-the-movie-is-about-to-begin” skit that sounds like Pirates of the Caribbean mixed with Atlanta’s hottest club cinema, Theater of the Mind pounds home its loose concept by calling each guest rapper a “co-star” and each song supposedly corresponding to a scene from a movie. The production is self-assured and more of what one has come to expect from a Ludacris record: thumping bass `n drums, an active horn section, and vintage R&B samples to complement the synths and occasional sound effects.

One More Drink” co-starring T-Pain (that guy must really like buying more drinks), is a fairly hilarious tale of Luda’s drunken adventures with less-than-attractive women combined with Pain’s lovely observation that “if I take one more drink / I’m gonna end up ******’ youuuuuu,” while the lyrical genius continues on “MVP,” with the rapper bragging that “women say I talk more game than John Madden” and advising that “she should blow me like candles on your b-day / `cuz I signed more lines than she’s passed on the freeway.” Deep Ludacris is not.

The “co-stars” are what you would expect from an artist of Ludacris’ caliber, ranging from T.I.’s fierce verse on “Wish You Would” to Chris Brown on the repetitive, standard club-jam “What Them Girls Like.” The best spots, however, are those that you don’t see coming, but fit perfectly into Ludacris’ hip-hop theater: boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. on the epic “Undisputed” is spot-on, and when Ving Rhames announces that Ludacris is a “true entreprenegro” and has “expanded his empire into multiple profitable businesses, including his Thai food restaurant,” you can’t help but admit that Ludacris is, indeed, a born entertainer.

Theater of the Mind, however, has some slow spots you’d just as rather skip through like in every movie. “Nasty Girl” is an increasingly outrageous sequence of prim and proper girls turning wild in bed without an interesting beat to back it up, and “Call Up Your Homies” is your typical “gather up the crew” anthem that you’ve probably heard a dozen times before. “Contagious” co-starring Jamie Foxx, however, is the worst offender here; the kind of slow-jam ballad that you cringe upon hearing; it’s the awkward sex scene spliced into the middle of an otherwise great picture.

The highlight of the record, however, the quite cinematically-titled “Do The Right Thang” co-starring Common and Spike Lee, is the exact opposite of much of the rest of the album; a plea to urban youth to stop and “use your brain,” making for one of Luda’s most immediate and meaningful songs and a sharp contrast to the other tracks. When the track blows up into a horn-laden `70s funk jam and Luda proclaims “I see the sunshine gazing through window pane / blazing like indo flame, it’s time to wake up,” it’s a heartfelt closer to a record that, while it does have its missteps, remains a guaranteed blockbuster.