Ludacris

"Luda" redirects here. For the class of ships, see Luda class destroyer.

Ludacris

Christopher Bridges (born September 11, 1977), better known by his stage name Ludacris, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper, and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Ludacris is the highest-selling Southern hip hop solo artist of all time with over 15 million units sold in the United States and 20 million records sold worldwide. Ludacris is also a SAG award and Critic's Choice Award award winning actor.

Personal background

Ludacris was born Chris Brian Bridges in Champaign, Illinois. At age three, he began attending college parties with his parents. Bridges wrote his first rap song at age nine and joined an amateur rap group three years later. He attended Oak Park and River Forest High School and Banneker High School. From 1998 to 1999, he studied music management at Georgia State University. In 2007, Bridges lost his father Wayne to cancer. Ludacris has a daughter named Karma.

Music career

Radio DJ, Timbaland collaboration

He worked as a radio presenter under the pseudonym DJ Chris Lova Lova at Atlanta hip-hop station Hot 97.5. WHTA, now located at 107.9. Producer/rapper Timbaland made an offer for Ludacris to work with him at the radio station. Ludacris performed on the track "Phat Rabbit" as Ludacris on Timbaland's 1998 album Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment .

Back For The First Time (2000)

Main article: Back For The First Time

Ludacris released his major label debut, Back for the First Time, in November 2000. This album, which was actually a modified re-release of the album Incognegro,made in 1998. It was produced with the help of the underground producer Sessy Melia, whom he also dated for a short while. The album reached as high as #4 on the charts, and was a major success. Ludacris made his mark on the industry with singles such as "Southern Hospitality" and "What's Your Fantasy", which was heavily inspired by rapper Too Short, along with his first ever single the "Phat Rabbit", from two years prior. Guest appearances included 4-Ize, I-20, Lil Fate, Shawnna, Pastor Troy, Timbaland, Trina, Foxy Brown, UGK, and others. Ludacris stated in an interview on MTV's hip hop program Direct Effect that he came up with his stage name based on his "split personality" that he considered "ridiculous" and "ludicrous".

Word of Mouf (2001)

Main article: Word of Mouf

Ludacris promptly completed his next album, Word of Mouf, and released it at the end of 2001. The video for the lead single, "Rollout (My Business)", was nominated for a 2002 VMA, and Ludacris performed it live at the awards' pre-show. He also released singles "Saturday (Oooh Oooh)" with Sleepy Brown, "Move Bitch" with Mystikal & I-20, and "Area Codes" with Nate Dogg.

Chicken-n-Beer (2003)

Main article: Chicken-n-Beer

During the spring of 2003, Ludacris returned to the music scene after a brief hiatus with a new single, "Act a Fool", from the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. At around the same time, he released the lead single from his album Chicken-n-Beer, called "P-Poppin" (short for "Pussy Poppin'"). Neither of his new singles were as well-received by either the urban or pop audiences as his previous songs had been, and both music videos received only limited airplay. Chicken-N-Beer opened strongly, but without a popular single, the album fell quickly. Guest appearances include Playaz Circle, Chingy, Snoop Dogg, 8Ball & MJG, Lil' Flip, I-20, Lil Fate, and Shawnna.

In the fall of 2003, Ludacris rebounded with his next single, "Stand Up", which appeared on both Chicken-n-Beer as well as the soundtrack for the teen hip-hop/dance movie, You Got Served. Produced by Kanye West, "Stand Up" went on to become one of Ludacris' biggest mainstream hits to date, hitting the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 garnering heavy airplay on mainstream pop, rhythmic, and urban radio stations, as well as on MTV, MTV2, and BET. Ludacris was sued by a New Jersey group called I.O.F. who claimed that "Stand Up" used a hook from one of their songs, but in June 2006, a jury found that the song did not violate copyrights. "I hope the plaintiffs enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame," Ludacris said after the verdict.

The album's next single, "Splash Waterfalls", was released in early 2004. A huge pop hit (despite its steamy video and explicit, adult-oriented lyrical content and themes), it subsequently became a success at urban radio and BET, and is the only time he has produced two consecutive top 10 singles from a solo album, except for Release Therapy (an unedited version of the video could only be viewed on BET's Uncut program). It was Ludacris' most sexual video yet and an R&B remix that featured Raphael Saadiq and sampled Tony! Toni! Tone!'s "Whatever You Want". Ludacris also received his first Grammy Award with Usher and Lil Jon for their hit single "Yeah!". Ludacris next released "Blow It Out", a gritty song with an urban, low-budget music video. A departure from the R&B leanings of "Splash Waterfalls", "Blow It Out" acted both as a response to the criticism levied by Bill O'Reilly and an attack on Pepsi's role in the affair.

The Red Light District (2004)

Main article: The Red Light District

Ludacris at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards

Although not entirely different from the usual antics of the previous albums, Ludacris had taken a more mature approach to this, his fourth album. Sohail Khalid helped produce this album with various artists such as T.I., Lil Flip and Bun B. Ludacris openly boasted that he may be the only rapper able to keep the Def Jam label afloat on the opening track. Ludacris filmed and recorded the single "Get Back" in which he was featured as a muscle-bound hulk who was being annoyed by the media and warned critics to leave him alone. He first appeared on the long-running sketch show Saturday Night Live as a special guest performing with musical guest Sum 41 on a season 30 episode hosted by Paul Giamatti. He then recorded Get Back with Sum 41 to make a rock crossover single. The follow-up single was the Austin Powers-inspired "The Number One Spot". It was produced by New York City's Hot 97 personality DJ Green Lantern. It used the Quincy Jones sample of "Soul Bossa Nova" and sped it up to the tempo of Ludacris' rap flow. He also filmed the video in which he pokes fun at O'Reilly's problems with Andrea Mackris (Hi Mr. O'Reilly / Hope all is well kiss the plaintiff and the wifey). Production credits come also from veteran producers Timbaland, Lil' Jon, The Medicine Men. Featured artists on the album include Nas, DJ Quik, DMX, Trick Daddy, Sleepy Brown, and Disturbing tha Peace newcomers Bobby Valentino (of Mista fame) and Dolla Boi and Small World. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.

Release Therapy (2006)

Main article: Release Therapy

In an issue of XXL, a hip-hop based magazine, Ludacris was placed in the number nine spot for the most anticipated albums of 2006, for Release Therapy. The album Release Therapy was released on September 26, 2006. Ludacris formatted the CD to have two sides: a Release side and a Therapy side on a single CD. With the Release side having songs that allow him to get everything off his chest and the Therapy side being just feel-good music, on the flip side it's extremely dark in mood. Guest appearances include Pharrell Williams, R. Kelly, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige, Field Mob, Bobby Valentino, Pimp C, C-Murder, & Beanie Sigel. The first single, "Money Maker", which features Pharrell Williams, was released to U.S. radio outlets on July 17, 2006. "Money Maker" reached number one on the BET 106 & Park. It then went to become the rapper's second number one single after 6 years. His second single, "Grew Up a Screw Up", featuring Young Jeezy, dispels rumors that both Ludacris and Young Jeezy having beef toward each other. His third single, "Runaway Love", soon peaked at number one on the U.S. Rap Billboard and won Best Collaboration in the 2007 BET Awards. His album then reached number one on the Billboard 200 album charts with sales of 309,000 in its first week. With the release of this album, Ludacris marked a change in style in his career with his musical style. The new album itself features a departure of the light-hearted mood of his previous albums, and introduces a darker side. A change of hair accompanied this as he cut off his trademark braids for a more conventional "fade" cut. This was done to project a new image for the album. To promote the album, Ludacris returned to Saturday Night Live (as both host and musical guest) on November 18, 2006.

Theater of the Mind (2008)

Main article: Theater of the Mind

Ludacris recently revealed to BET Weekly that he has collaborated with rock group Good Charlotte for his upcoming sixth solo album titled Theater of the Mind. Ludacris also divulged that he also wants to work with Eminem on the album. The Preview, a mixtape to preview the album was released on the 28th of July 2008. Theater of the Mind, is slated for release on November 24, 2008, and in April 2008, a single named "Stay Together" appeared on xxlmag.com; supposedly from the new album ("Stay Together" was expected to but did not release as a track on the new CD). Also, a song with Small World called "Pinky Shinin" was also expected to be on the album. In an interview with Complex Magazine he states that Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and The Game will be on the album; The Game is featured in a track with Willy Northpole titled "Call Up the Homies" Swizz Beatz has also produced some songs for the album. T.I. will be on the album on a track called "Wish You Would". The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 with 213,493 sold first week. The album was released the same day as Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, which took the number one spot. His first single "What Them Girls Like", featuring Chris Brown and Sean Garrett, peaked at #33 on the Billboard 100. His second single, "One More Drink", featuring T-Pain, peaked at #24 on the Billboard 100. He also confirmed a "sequel" to the album due to be released sometime in 2009.

Ventures

Ludacris was featured on the cover of Beyond Race magazine for the publication's summer 2008 issue.

After the success of Back For The First Time, Ludacris then used his opportunity to start his own foundation. The Ludacris Foundation, started by Ludacris and Chaka Zulu, is an organization that helps young middle and high school students motivate themselves in creative arts.

In 2007 Matt Apfel, a reality TV producer, had an idea for a show about mashups between fans and rock stars. He sat down with Ludacris and Disturbing tha Peace CEO Chaka Zulu and discovered that they wanted to do something similar. Out of this partnership, they started a new media distribution company called wemix.com. Recently, WeMix.com announced a partnership with PhoneZoo to launch an innovative content distribution platform for new artists.

Restaurateur

In April 2008, Ludacris was to have launched his latest business venture, Straits Atlanta, bringing Singaporean cuisine to the artist’s hometown. The restaurant is the fourth of its kind: Ludacris’ partner in the venture, Chef Chris Yeo, owns three other restaurants in the Straits brand in San Francisco, San Jose and Burlingame, California. Straits Atlanta will further incorporate Georgian ingredients into the menu. The upscale $2.7 million dollar restaurant will open in Midtown Atlanta, in a building purchased by Ludacris nearly one year ago. Ludacris has also invested almost $1,000,000 into renovating the building. Two more restaurants are in the works.

Television

Ludacris is also the co-host of a show with rocker Tommy Lee for Planet Green titled "Battleground Earth". The show premiered on August 3, 2008 and aired through September 2008. The show airs Sundays at 10 PM ET on Planet Green and Thursdays at 8 PM ET on TLC.

He also appeared in episodes as a relative of Finn (played by 9 Ice T) on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and hosted a season 32 episode of Saturday Night Live (it should be noted that Ludacris also appeared as a musical guest before and after the episode he hosted: on the season 30 episode hosted by Paul Giamatti where Ludacris first appeared with pop-punk band Sum 41, and again with rapper T-Pain on the season 34 Thanksgiving episode hosted by Tim McGraw).

Disputes

Bill O'Reilly

On August 27, 2002, Bill O'Reilly called for all Americans to boycott Pepsi products, due to O'Reilly's opinion that Ludacris' lyrics glamorize a "life of guns, violence, drugs and disrespect of women".

On August 28, 2002, O'Reilly reported that Pepsi had fired Luda. O'Reilly later denied his call for a boycott when challenged on his show, claiming that he merely said he wasn't going to drink any Pepsi products.

Furthering the Pepsi controversy, in response to the signing of the Osbourne family, popular hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons organized a boycott against the company. Simmons demanded an apology from Pepsi to Ludacris and a 5 million dollar donation to one of his charities. Eventually Simmons and Pepsi settled on an agreement to stop the boycott, right before it was to officially begin. While Pepsi did not formally apologize to Ludacris, they did agree to donate millions of dollars over several years to Russell Simmons Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.

Ludacris' song "Blow It Out" (from the Chicken & Beer album) acted as a response to his critics, namely Bill O'Reilly:

Shout out to Bill O'Reilly, I'ma throw you a curve

You're mad cause I'm a thief and got a way with words

I'ma start my own beverage, it'll calm your nerves

Pepsi's the new generation? Blow it out...

2008 Presidential Election

The song "Politics (Obama Is Here)" from Ludacris' mixtape The Preview has caused controversy due to lyrics in the song criticizing Reverend Jesse Jackson (”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”), 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”), and insulting Hillary Clinton (”Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant..”).

Discography

Main article: Ludacris discography

• Incognegro (2000)
• Back for the First Time (2000)
• Word of Mouf (2001)
• Chicken-n-Beer (2003)
• The Red Light District (2004)
• Release Therapy (2006)
• Theater of the Mind (2008)
• Battle of the Sexes (with Shwanna) (2009)

Filmography

Film

• The Wash as a customer¹ (2001)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious as Tej (2003)
• Lil' Pimp as Weathers (2003)
• Crash as Anthony (2005)
• Hustle & Flow as Skinny Black (2005)
• The Heart of the Game narrator (2006)
• American Hustle as himself (2007)
• Fred Claus as DJ Donnie (2007)
• Step Up 2: The Streets (2008)
• Ball Don't Lie as Julius (2008)
• RocknRolla as Mickey (2008)
• Max Payne as Jim Bravura (2008)
• Game (2009)

Television

• Eve as a cab driver (2004)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Darius Parker (2007)
• The Simpsons as himself (2007)

Video games

• Def Jam: Vendetta (2003)
• Def Jam: Fight for NY (2004)
• NBA Ballers Phenom (2006)
• Def Jam: Icon (2007)

¹ His role in the The Wash was extremely brief. He references this in his song "Hip Hop Quotables" from the album Chicken-N-Beer, with the lines: "The competition never just wanna admit that they lost, and that they last about as long as my part in The Wash."

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Ludacris

Trivia

• Christopher's birthday falls on September 11, the date the World Trade Center was attacked in 2001. Ludacris acknowledged this in his song More, More, More (feat. Jadakiss) on the album Pre Release Therapy.

Bitch get your time right, get your mind right,

It's 9/11, I'm a Virgo, get my sign right!

Born on the worst day, on the cursed day.

The towers crumbled on my mother fuckin' birthday!

Imagine how I felt, Imagine how I knelt

The towers crumbled on my mother fuckin' birthday!

Imagine how I felt, Imagine how I knelt

Down on my knees praying to God for knowledge to self.

How could you let it happen? While my niggas trappin'

Could die any minute so everyday I get it crackin'!

See also

• List of honorific titles in popular music

External links

• Template:MySpace
• The Ludacris Foundation
• Official website
• Complete Ludacris Discography