Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Born in Champaign, Illinois, he was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where he eventually made a name for himself as one of the most prominent Southern rappers.

Music career

Early years

Ludacris began his music career as a radio personality and DJ as Chris Lova Lova on Hot 97.5, an urban radio station in Atlanta, Georgia. He made his recorded debut on "Phat Rabbit," a track from Timbaland's 1998 album Tim's Bio: Life from the Bassment. Although both Timbaland and Jermaine Dupri showed interest in signing Ludacris, he decided to take matters into his own hands, and released the album Incognegro independently in 1999. The album sold over 50,000 copies, most of them sold out of the trunk of Ludacris' car. The same year he recorded the theme to the video game Madden NFL 2000. Scarface, an original member of the Geto Boys, signed Ludacris in 2000 to Def Jam Recordings, and created a new imprint, Def Jam South, around him. Ludacris went on to release his Def Jam and major label debut Back for the First Time the same year. It had the smash singles "What's Your Fantasy?" & "Southern Hospitality"

Word of Mouf

Ludacris promptly completed his next album, Word Of Mouf and released it at the end of 2001. Its lead single, "Rollout (My Business)" was boycotted in many American video stations. Despite the controversy, the video was nominated for a 2003 VMA, and Luda performed it live at the awards' pre-show. Ludacris also toured with Papa Roach in 2002 after the release of their sophomore album lovehatetragedy.

Chicken & Beer

During the spring of 2003, Ludacris returned to the music scene after a brief hiatus with a new single, "Act A Fool" off the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. At around the same time, he released the lead single from his upcoming album, Chicken & Beer, called "P-Poppin" (short for "Pussy Poppin'") Neither of his new singles was 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 & Beer opened strongly, but without a popular single, the album fell quickly.

However, in the fall of 2003, Ludacris rebounded with his next single, "Stand Up", which appeared on both Chicken & Beer as well as the soundtrack for the teen hip-hop/dance movie, Honey. Produced by Kanye West, "Stand Up" went on to become Ludacris' biggest mainstream hit to date, hitting the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and garnering heavy airplay on mainstream pop, rhythmic, and urban radio stations, as well as on MTV, MTV2, and BET.

The album's next single, "Splash Waterfalls", was released in early 2004. Though not a pop hit, it became a success at urban radio and BET. 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". Luda next released "Blow It Out", a gritty song that had a heavily low-budget, gritty, and urban-looking music video, which was a huge departure from the colorful, sensual, R&B leanings depicted in "Splash Waterfalls". "Blow It Out" acted as a scathing response to Ludacris' critics, namely O'Reilly, who is mentioned by name in the following lyrics:

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

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

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

Pepsi's the New Generation—Blow it out ya ass!

The Red Light District

The fifth studio album from Ludacris. Although entirely different from the usual antics of the previous albums, Ludacris had taken a more mature approach to his album. Ludacris openly boasted that he may be the only rapper able to keep the Def Jam label afloat. Ludacris had recently filmed and recorded the single "Get Back" in which he was featured a muscle-bounded hulk who was being annoyed by the media and warned his critics to leave him alone. The follow-up single was the Austin Powers-inspired "The Number One Spot". It was produced by 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. Ludacris also filmed the video in which he pokes fun at Bill 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 producer Timbaland, Lil' Jon, The Medicine Men and legendary rapper Doug E. Fresh. Featured on the album include rappers, Nas, DMX, Trick Daddy, 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. And most recently the rapper had used his opportunity to start his own foundation. The Ludacare Foundation started by Ludacris and Chaka Zulu is an organization that helps young middle and high school students motivate themselves in creative arts. Ludacris also has a daughter by the name of Karma. Ludacris had also participated at the Super Bowl and is the spokesman for the Boost Mobile Phone ad-campaign. Ludacris also received his first Grammy Award with Usher and Lil Jon for their hit single "Yeah".

Release Therapy

In a recent 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 has a tentative release date in August and has had a false advance copy on the Internet for several months.

Acting career

Ludacris has been acting in film since The Wash in 2001, but his big break came in 2005, where he received critical praise for his roles in Hustle & Flow and Crash. Crash includes an ironic sequence where Ludacris's character is dismissive of hip-hop music. He is occasionally credited as "Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges". On January 29, 2006 he was awarded with a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture for his work in the film Crash. Ludacris also starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious, and recently appeared in the March 28, 2006 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In a 2006 interview with Gentlemen's Quarterly, Ludacris dissed Oprah about his Oprah Show, appearance. He claimed that he was censored, and didn't think Oprah wanted him on the show. Ludacris was the fourth rapper ever to make a guest appearance on the talk show. Previous rappers were LL Cool J, Diddy and Kanye West. [1]

Discography

Solo albums

• 1999: Incognegro US #179
• 2000: Back For The First Time US #4 (Certification: 3x Platinum)
• 2001: Word of Mouf US #3 US (Certification: 3x Platinum)
• 2003: Chicken & Beer #1 US (Certification: 2x Platinum)
• 2004: The Red Light District #1 US (Certification: 2x Platinum)
• 2006: Release Therapy

Albums

Albums with Disturbing tha Peace

• 2002: Golden Grain
• 2005: Ludacris Presents: Disturbing tha Peace #11 US (U.S. Certification: Gold)

Singles

Grammy Awards history

Filmography

• The Wash (2001)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
• Lil Pimp (2003)
• Crash (2005)
• Hustle & Flow (2005)

See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of musical artists from Illinois

External links

• Official website
• Disturbing Tha Peace Records
• The Ludacris Foundation