Ludacris [ tickets ], who is gearing up for the late-September release of his new album, "Release Therapy," will start working the road before the disc hits stores.

The Atlana-based rapper will kick things off with a Friday (9/1) night show in New Orleans, and has about a dozen shows lined up that are scattered through mid-October. Details are included below.

Couched amid the tour dates is the Sept. 26 street date for "Release Therapy," which follows 2004's "Chicken-N-Beer." The new disc features the Pharrell-produced single "Money Maker," which is streaming at Luda's Def Jam website. Also posted at the site is the song's music video.

"Music is therapeutic," Ludacris said in a press release. "When I say 'Release Therapy,' I just mean in what I do and speaking out. It is my release therapy, music, period. Every album I get more and more personal, start talking about issues that people would be surprised about or maybe didn't think I would say. I'm about to release."

"Release Therapy" has a tough act to follow; "Chicken and Beer," which features the Grammy-nominated cut "Stand Up," sold about 400,000 copies during its first week in stores, and debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart.

Ludacris will warm up for his late-summer/early fall tour with a Thursday (8/31), invitation-only performance at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom.