Lloyd Goes Around The Way

ARTIST: Lloyd featuring Ludacris TITLE: “How We Do It” WEB DEBUT: March 3, 2008

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: The Atlanta-raised singer Lloyd had two of my favorite singles last year, and I could listen to Ludacris twist the vowels and consonants of almost any words in any language, so to say that finding this song in my RSS feed made me excited may be a bit of an understatement. And yet there’s something about “How We Do It” that seems kind of off; I’m not too crazy about its syncopated beat (which sounds like a slowed-down “S.O.S”), especially since it doesn’t quite mesh with Lloyd’s sorta-frenetic vocal. And then there’s Luda-by-the-numbers guest rap on the break, which starts off with Ludacris flaunting a singsongy delivery that gives the whole thing an Andrew “Dice” Clay perverted-nursery-rhyme feel but just feels tacked-on, particularly with the “ayyy”s that have been on so many other Ludacris songs being forcibly weaved into the chorus. (I do like the crazy guitar that slices into the song’s end, though.) his song may define “meh” for 2008, and I’m hoping it isn’t a sign of what’s to come on Lloyd’s next album, which drops this summer.

WHERE TO HEAR IT: Toya’s World, who’s as lukewarm on it as I am.