With all the love the New York crowd at the Highline Ballroom was giving last night, leave it to Ludacris to start off his show with "Everybody Hates Chris." He has a big sense of humor, if you haven't noticed. The Atlanta MC had the release party for Theater of the Mind, which culminated in a concert of collaborations and solo hits.

“Where the real Luda fans at?” he asked, before going into “Ho,” "Splash Waterfalls" and "Yeah!" Obviously T-Pain and Ludacris' relationship wasn't on the rocks after Luda replaced the singer with the Blizzard Man on "Saturday Night Live."

(More from the record release show, plus lots of photos after the jump!)

Mr. Penderazdoun came out for the remix to "I'm So Hood," then they went to 'Cris' "One More Drink." The duo turned their onstage pairing into a trio of songs, as "Chopped & Skrewed" ended that set.

Former DTP member Shawna showed that things between her and Luda are still cool. The two officially announced their battle-of-the-sexes album will be out sometime in 2009. DJ Premier came out during "MVP" to congratulate 'Cris on being such a dope MC, and LL Cool J flexed his skills on "Phatty Girl." After the Mouth of the South asked Cool J for some of that classic Uncle L, the Queens icon came with "Headsprung" and "Rock the Bells." He even pulled photographer Johnny Nunez onstage during the performance.

'Cris' friends kept coming out. Jadakiss showed up during the remix to "Made You Look" (No Nas, though), and the Diplomats' Jim Jones and Juelz Santana appeared for "Pop Champagne."

Like he did with Cool J, 'Cris insisted the Harlem collective throw on some of their hits. For Luda? No problem. Jones’ “We Fly High” was followed by Juelz’ “There It Go (The Whistle Song)." Then "I Really Mean It" came on, but no Cam'ron. Awkward. Oh well, the show continued. The Dips finished their guest stint with the "Dipset Anthem."

Luda's show ended with most of his friends coming back onstage and taking a bow. Everybody loves 'Cris.

"Check one, two," Luda said into the mic.

"Play 'Stand Up,' " he told his DJ during soundcheck. Luda was very normal and businesslike as he paced with his hand in his pocket while going over his bars.

"Turn it down a little," the Grammy winner directed. "On the monitor, not the vocals. That's perfect. So do it from the top? Good.

Read more and check out photos from the rehearsal after the jump.

"Could we make sure it doesn't feedback as I'm walking through here?" he asked as he made his way to the place where he plans to make a surprise entrance.

After the engineers took care of technical matters for a few minutes, Luda — who couldn't see anyone from his vantage point — reminded everyone it was time to rock.

"I'm ready when you guys are. Are you waiting on me?" he said very humbly.

The DJ cued up "Move," and 'Cris began his rap as he strolled to his place in front of the DJ booth. While making a transition to the next track, his DJ missed the cue.

"You gotta be a little bit tighter, bruh," Cris said with a grin, before actually pressing some buttons by the turntables himself.

"All the vets, we love you," Luda said as he closed out. "Did somebody time that?"

During his second walk-through, 'Cris and company were a lot tighter and actually were just seconds shy of their allotted time. After a short talk with the MTV crew, Luda contemplated switching up his lineup some — obviously a great set will be no problem. This is a guy who can go 90 minutes easy and still not run out of cherished hits.

Ludacris is one of the many stars that will take to the spotlight during "A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE." The show, which also includes performances and appearances by Beyoncé, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Kid Rock, Fall Out Boy and Will Ferrell, is an event organized to inform and promote backing of the Bill of Rights for American Veterans (BRAVE), a petition presented by MTV and several veterans' organizations. The concert airs on October 24, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.

The actor recalled a time back in 2004 when a fan was a bit too excited. "I was standing there," he recalled, "and some girl was coming [toward me], and I didn't think anything was a big deal but everyone went crazy [and thought she might attack me].

"The only thing that was disturbing was she had a pin on that said, 'God is not real,' " he said. "I still pray for her."

But the 37-year-old dad admits that being a guest on "TRL" does have one major perk. "Anytime I come here, it makes me feel young again," he said. "I'm sad to see it go."

Luda wasn't doing interviews, and while my Mr. October reference at least made him stop for a moment to tell us that his album is dropping November 25, he didn't tell us why — or anything else about it. I did, however, see him at the afterparty. I was enjoying some lo mein and champagne when he walked over and asked us to step aside while he did some press at his station. But we forgot we'd left our food and drinks there and I think they made it into the press shot. Oops!

We also talked to the always funny and beautiful Kristen Bell about "Veronica Mars" possibly enjoying a jump to the big screen, and I let her know about that fanatic Australian who has put her in his own fantasy Batman cast. She was psyched!

Sophia Bush — who won a style icon award last night — talked to us about the recession, and she's actually extremely well-spoken and articulate. She also couldn't stop talking about going home with her best friend, putting on pajamas and watching "Sex and the City" all night. Stars: They're just like us!

Eve told us about her upcoming movie and music plans — it was the first I'd heard of anything since "Barbershop," so that's good news.

Besides an encounter with a very angry publicist, the carpet was a smooth ride.

The afterparty was less star-studded than the carpet, with the exception of Ludacris and the cast of "Mad Men," but we made it worth our while in the champagne room. (Yes, I did just say "champagne room," and yes, they literally had a pink-walled, white-curtained champagne room.)

The high point of my night came at the end when I found myself in a hotel room getting a sneak peek of some of the tracks off Kanye's new album, 808s and Heartbreak. More on that later...

The good news: No one was injured when a fire destroyed the pool house at Ludacris' home outside Atlanta. Luda was out of town when the fire broke out on Wednesday, and a relative who was in the basement of the main residence was unharmed, according to The Associated Press. Firefighters put out the blaze within 30 minutes.

The really shocking news: Fulton County Fire Department spokesman Gregory Chambers said Luda's pool house was bigger than "most homes." Ouch.

Nope, we're talking about a new freestyle from Ludacris over Young Buck's "Get Buck" called "Politics (Obama Is Here)," in which the "Get Back" MC gives props to the freshman Illinois senator while throwing dirt on his rivals and, of course, giving himself a bit of shine as well.

Unlike Will.I.Am's uplifting Obama anthem from earlier this year, "Yes We Can" — which featured rousing quotes from the senator's speeches recited by a bevy of stars — Luda takes it to the streets.

In his grimier take, the Atlanta rapper — who has actually broken bread with Obama — first carves out a minute to big-up himself (and his Bentley), then gets down to business.

"Never should have hated, you never should have doubted him/ With a slot in the president's iPod, Obama shouted him/ Said I handle my biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers/ Well, give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer/ Better yet, put me in office, make me your vice president/ Hillary hated on you, so that b---- is irrelevant."

The two-minute track also blasts Reverend Jesse Jackson for his recent controversial remarks about Obama ("Now Jesse talkin' slick and apologizin' for what?/ If you said it then you meant it"), McCain ("McCain don't belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed") and President Bush ("Yeah I said it, 'cuz Bush is mentally handicapped/ Ball up all of his speeches and throw 'em just like candy wraps/ 'Cuz what you talkin' I hear nothin' even relevant/ And you the worst of all 43 presidents").

To top it off, self-designated pollster Luda all but guarantees that Obama will win in November: "All you other politicians tryin' to hate on my man/ Watch us win majority vote in every state of my man/ You can't stop what's 'bout to happen/ We 'bout to make history, the first black president is destined and it's meant to be."

And while the freestyle won't likely win him a spot on the dais at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, Luda does end the rhyme with an uplifting, get-out-the-vote message: "Get out and vote or the end will be near/ The world is ready for change 'cuz Obama is here!" 

So, tell us: Which Obama song do you prefer?