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Ludacris
- StudentCity.com Appearances:
- (Cancun '07) Performance at The City
Born Christopher Brian Bridges in Illinois, hip hop artist and actor Ludacris is one of today’s hottest stars. This multi-talented Georgia State graduate was discovered by famed producer Timbaland while working as DJ Chris Lova Lova in Atlanta, GA. The two paired up to record Ludacris’ debut album ‘Phat Rabbit’ and Luda’s meteoric rise to super-stardom began. Since then he has created Grammy-winning solo work in the album ‘Release Therapy,’ has collaborated on mega-hits with other artists such as Usher’s ‘Yeah,’ and had a major role in the Academy Award-winning movie ’Crash.’ All this, and Luda still made time to perform at MTV’s Spring Break ‘07 events in Cancun .
Music Career
At nine years old, Chris Bridges started rapping and was soon influenced to start his career as a hip hop artist. He first made an appearance as DJ Chris Lova Lova at Hot 107.9 in Atlanta, Georgia. His name Ludacris is based on the word “ludicrous” meaning foolish or unreasonable. After producer/rapper Timbaland heard him on the Atlanta radio station, Ludacris gained commercial exposure. The two worked together and got Ludacris his recorded debut on one of Timbland’s tracks called “Phat Rabbit” on Timbaland’s 1998 album. Following his debut, Jermaine Dupri was interested in signing Luda, however, Ludacris ended up releasing his independent album “Incognegro” in 1999. Working mostly out of the trunk of his car he was able to sell over 50,000 copies of the album. The next year, Luda was signed by Def Jam Records, who then created a new imprint, Def Jam South focusing around him. His independent album “Incognegro” was re-leased as a newer version called “Back for the First Time.” This launched Ludacris as a Southern rapper with a comedic rapping style. He currently owns a house where his mother lives in Centreville, Virginia, along with a house in LA, California, and his permanent address in Atlanta, Georgia.
Movie/Television Career
Ludacris has appeared in many movies showing off his acting skills as well as making appearances on some TV shows such as: “Eve,” “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” and personal appearances on “SNL,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and “Chappelle’s Show” just to name a few of the many. Luda has been in high-promotion movies like “2 Fast 2 Furious,” and most recently “Fred Claus,” as well as his movie debut in “The Wash” in 2001. He also has many album tracks on the soundtracks of close to twenty movies/shows.
Albums
Release Therapy (2006)
This album was released on September 26, 2006. The Cd was formatted to have two sides: a Release side and a Therapy side on one CD. The Release side has tracks that allow Luda to get things off his chest, where the Therapy side is just meant to be feel-good music. Many artists are on this CD including: Pharrell Williams, R. Kelly, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige, Field Mob, Bobby Valentino, Pimp C, C-Murder, & Beanie Sigel. "Money Maker", which features Pharrell Williams, was the first single released on July 17, 2006. "Money Maker" reached number one on the BET 106 & Park. It became Luda’s second number one single after six years. His second single, "Runaway Love", won Best Collaboration in the 2007 BET Awards and soon came to number one on the U.S. Rap Billboard. With sales of more than 300,000 in its first week, the album reached number one on the Billboard 200 album charts. During the 2007 Grammy Awards, his album as well as the lead single "Money Maker" were awarded Rap Album and song of the year.
The Red Light District (2004)
This is the fifth album from Ludacris. The album was released on December 6, 2004 and later certified double platinum by the RIAA. With 322,000 copies sold in its first week “The Red Light District” debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Word of Mouf (2001)
The third release from Ludacris and the second while under the Def Jam label was released early due to internet leakage. It was nominated at The Grammy Awards as Best Rap Album, but lost to “The Eminem Show” in 2003.
Back for the First Time (2000)
Luda’s second album was his major-label debut LP from Def Jam. Most of the tracks are taken from his first album, the independently released Incognegro. The album was released on October 17, 2000.
Incognegro (1999)
This was Ludacris’ first album, however, he released it independently and most of the tracks were later used for the second album under Def Jam Records.