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{{redirect|Luda|the class of ships|Luda class destroyer}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
|Name = Ludacris
|Img = Ludacris-2.jpg
|Img_capt =
|Landscape =
|Background = solo_singer
|Birth_name = Christopher Brian Bridges
|Alias =
|Born = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1977|9|11}}
|Origin = Champaign, Illinois, United States of America
|Instrument = [[Vocals]]
|Occupation = [[rapping|Rapper]], actor
|Years_active = 2000-present
|Label = [[Disturbing tha Peace]], [[Def Jam Recordings|Def Jam South]]
|Associated_acts = [[Disturbing tha Peace]]
|URL = [http://ludacris.defjam.com Ludacris.DefJam.com]
}}

'''Christopher Bridges''' (born September 11, 1977),<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Birchmeier|first=Jason |url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fxfuxq9kldte~T1 |title=Ludacris: Biography|author=MSN|accessdate=2008-07-11 |date=2008 |publisher=allmusic }}</ref> better known by his [[stage name]] '''Ludacris''', is a three-time [[Grammy Award]]-winning American [[rapping|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.<ref>[http://riaa.org/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=3&table=tblTopArt&action= Gold & Platinum]</ref><ref>Melody K. Hoffman (December 11, 2006). [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_/ai_n17134162 Ludacris: hit-maker shares personal side with community and fans] ''FindArticles''. Accessed October 21, 2008.</ref> Ludacris is known for his rapid fire delivery and versitality in his verses and hooks. (After Diddy, with five number-one singles) Ludacris is also tied with [[Nelly]] for having the second-most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles as a hip-hop solo artist: [[Stand Up (Ludacris song)|Stand Up]] (with [[Shawnna]]), [[Money Maker]] (with [[Pharrell Williams]]), [[Yeah! (Usher song)|Yeah!]] (with [[Usher (entertainer)|Usher]] and [[Lil Jon]]) and [[Glamorous (song)|Glamorous]] (with [[Fergie (singer)|Fergie]])<ref>http://www.lycos.com/info/ludacris.html</ref>.

==Biography==
Ludacris was born on September 11, 1977 in [[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]], [[Illinois]]. He lived in [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]], [[Illinois]] and attended [[Oak Park and River Forest High School]]. During his high school years his family later moved to [[College Park, Georgia|College Park]], a suburb of [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. He attended [[Banneker High School (College Park, Georgia)|Banneker High School]] there and then studied Music Management at [[Georgia State University]].<ref name="allmusic"/>

===Early music career===
He worked as a radio presenter under the pseudonym DJ Chris Lova Lova at Atlanta hip-hop station 107.9[[WHTA]].<ref name="allmusic"/> Producer/rapper [[Timbaland]] made an offer for Ludacris to work with him at the radio station.<ref name="YT">{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Y9duwOmRA|title=Today on 3 Live Interviews Ludacris|accessdate=2006-12-19}}</ref> Ludacris performed on the track "Phat Rabbit" as Ludacris on Timbaland's 1998 album ''Tim's Bio''.<ref name="allmusic"/>




===''Back For The First Time'' (2000)===
{{main|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, 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 "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.

===''Word of Mouf'' (2001)===
{{main|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. Word of Mouf became Ludacris' best selling album to date. Guest appearances included Nate Dogg, Mystikal, I-20, Shawnna, Lil Fate, Three 6 Mafia, Twista, and Jagged Edge.{{Fact|date=August 2008}}

===''Chicken-n-Beer'' (2003)===
{{main|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'"), which is heavily inspired by [[Too Short]]. 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 (Ludacris song)|Stand Up]]", which appeared on both ''Chicken-n-Beer'' as well as the soundtrack for the teen hip-hop/dance movie, ''[[Honey (film)|You Got Served]]''. Produced by [[Kanye West]], "Stand Up" went on to become one of Ludacris's biggest mainstream hits to date, hitting the top spot on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''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.<ref name="sued">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1532400/20060524/ludacris.jhtml|title=For The Record: Quick News On Luda, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Avenged Sevenfold, Social Distortion & More|work=MTV.com|accessdate=2006-05-24}}</ref>

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 [[contemporary R&B|R&B]] remix that featured [[Raphael Saadiq]] and sampled [[Tony! Toni! Toné!]]'s "Whatever You Want". Ludacris also received his first Grammy Award with Usher and Lil Jon for their hit single "[[Yeah! (Usher song)|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 (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] and an attack on [[Pepsi]]'s role in the affair.

===''The Red Light District'' (2004)===
{{main|The Red Light District}}
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 (rapper)|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|Release Therapy}}
In an issue of [[XXL (magazine)|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.<ref name ="BB">{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002839638 |title=Ludacris Digs Deep On 'Release Therapy' |work=Billboard.com |accessdate=2006-07-14}}</ref> "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{{Fact|date=November 2008}}. His second 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 more than 300,000 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|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. Also, a song with Small World called "Pinky Shinin'" might be on the album.<ref name=xxlmag">{{cite web |url=http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=20680 |title='Stay Together' on xxlmag.com |work=xxlmag.com |accessdate=2008-04-03}}</ref>
Also, in an interview with Complex Magazine he states that [[Chris Brown (entertainer)|Chris Brown]], [[Lil Wayne]] and [[The Game (rapper)|The Game]] will be on the album; The Game is featured in a track with Willy Northpole titled "Call Up the Homies" <ref>[http://www.complex.com/CELEBRITIES/Web-Exclusive/Ludacris?page=2 Ludacris<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
[[Swizz Beatz]] has also produced some songs for the album.<ref>[http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1589419/20080616/swizz_beats.jhtml Swizz Beatz Addresses Alicia Keys Rumors - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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. <ref>[http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8192 HipHopDX.com - Hip Hop Album Sales]. ''HipHopDX.com''. Accessed December 3, 2008.</ref>

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

After the success of [[The Red Light District]], 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<ref>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1117348/</ref>, 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<ref>http://www.redherring.com/Home/24270</ref>. Recently, WeMix.com announced a partnership with [[PhoneZoo]] to launch an innovative content distribution platform for new artists.<ref>http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/wemix-com-phonezoo-com-announce-mobile-ringtone-distribution-partnership</ref>



===Restaurateur===
{{Refimprovesect|date=November 2008}}
In April 2008, Ludacris was to have launched his latest business venture, Straits Atlanta,<ref>http://www.straitsrestaurants.com/index.php?section=29</ref> 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]] entitled "[[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 (TV channel)|TLC]].

==Disputes==
===Bill O'Reilly===
On August 27, 2002, Bill O'Reilly called for all Americans to boycott Pepsi products,<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.slate.com/id/2078577/ Whopper of the Week: Bill O'Reilly. - By Timothy Noah - Slate Magazine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> due to O'Reilly's opinion that Ludacris' lyrics glamorize a "life of guns, violence, drugs and disrespect of women".<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28916 Singing a different tune<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

On August 28, 2002, O'Reilly reported that Pepsi had fired Luda.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> 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 [[The Osbournes|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 (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]]:{{fact|date=December 2008}}
:''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 ([[Barack Obama|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”)'', [[John McCain|McCain]] ''(”McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed”)'', President [[George W. Bush|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..”)''.<ref>http://newsroom.mtv.com/2008/07/28/ludacris-obama-freestyle-on-new-preview-mixtape-gets-politically-hardcore/ Ludacris controversy</ref>

==Discography==
{{main|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'' <small>(with [[Shawnna]])</small> (2009)<ref name=luda2009>[http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1249/title.ludacris-audio-cinematic/p.2 Ludacris: Audio Cinematic.] ''HiphopDX.com.''</ref>
* ''Theater of the Mind 2'' (2009)<ref name=luda2009/>

==Filmography==
===Film===
* ''[[The Wash (film)|The Wash]]'' <small>as a customer</small><sup>1</sup> (2001)
* ''[[2 Fast 2 Furious]]'' <small>as Tej Parker</small> (2003)
* ''[[Lil' Pimp]]'' <small>as Weathers</small> (2003)
* ''[[Crash (2004 film)|Crash]]'' <small>as Anthony</small> (2004)
* ''[[Hustle & Flow]]'' <small>as Skinny Black</small> (2005)
* ''[[The Heart of the Game]]'' <small>narrator</small> (2006)
* ''[[American Hustle]]'' <small>as himself</small> (2007)
* ''[[Fred Claus]]'' <small>as DJ Donnie</small> (2007)
* ''[[Ball Don't Lie]]'' <small>as Julius</small> (2008)
* ''[[RocknRolla]]'' <small>as Mickey</small> (2008)
* ''[[Max Payne (film)|Max Payne]]'' <small>as Jim Bravura</small> (2008)
* ''[[Game (film)|Game]]'' (2009)

===Television===
* ''[[Eve (TV series)|Eve]]'' <small>as a cab driver</small> (2004)
* ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'' <small>as Darius Parker</small> (2007)
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' <small>as himself</small> (2007)

===Video games===
* ''[[Def Jam Vendetta|Def Jam: Vendetta]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Def Jam: Fight for NY]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Def Jam: Icon]]'' (2006)
* ''[[NBA Ballers Phenom]]'' (2006)

<sup>1</sup> <small> 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''." </small>

==Awards and nominations==
{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Ludacris}}

==See also==
* [[Honorific titles in popular music]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
* {{MySpace|ludacris}}
* [http://www.theludacrisfoundation.org/ The Ludacris Foundation]
* [http://ludacris.defjam.com/ Official website]

{{Ludacris}}

[[Category:1977 births]]
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:Atlanta, Georgia rappers]]
[[Category:American television actors]]
[[Category:Def Jam Recordings artists]]
[[Category:Georgia State University alumni]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Freestyle rappers]]
[[Category:People from Champaign, Illinois]]
[[Category:People from Oak Park, Illinois]]

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Revision as of 18:07, 18 December 2008

TITS

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