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LUDACRIS
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Born Christopher Brian Bridges on September 11, 1977 in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris is an American rapper, actor, label executive and philanthropist. His nickname comes from his spirit personality, which is partly calm partly crazy. "My lyrics are ludicrous, my live shows are ludicrous - ludicrous like off the chain crazy," as he himself states.
Chart topper and hit maker, his achievements extend beyond the confines of his own albums. The Ludacris Foundation, a non-profit organization started by Ludacris and Chaka Zulu, helps young middle and high school students motivate themselves in creative arts, while his label Disturbing Tha Peace pushes artists like Fate, 1-20, Shawnna, Playaz Circle and Tity Boi to new heights.
Ludacris' musical career goes back to his infancy, as his parents were still in college and he found himself at many house jams, getting out in the middle of the floor and dancing for all the other students.
When he was 12, he joined a Chicago based hip-hop outfit called the Loudmouth Hooligans and moved to Atlanta. While attending College Park's Banneker High School, he started battling in the lunch room and performing at talent shows, at clubs, at any venue that had an open mic.
He eventually gained a job as a radio personality and DJ Chris Lova Lova on Hot 97.5, Atlanta's then-new hip-hop station. He used the opportunity to learn about the industry, and make a name for himself throughout the Atlanta area. Shortly after, Ludacris started aspiring toward a career as a rapper rather than as a radio jock. His recorded debut was "Phat Rabbit," a track from super-producer's Timbaland's 1998 album "Tim's Bio: Life from the Bassment."
By 1999 he had saved enough money to put out his debut album "Incognegro" independently, on hiw own Disturbing The Peace Entertainment. Thanks to the single "What's Your Fantasy," which got as many as 500 spins a week on radio in some southern markets, the album reached as high as #4 on the charts and caught the eye of many major labels including Def Jam and president Scarface.
Consequently, in 2000, the album was re-released by media giant Def Jam`s new imprint, Def Jam South, just created around Ludacris.
Ludacris quickly became one of the rap industry's most in-demand rappers. He appeared on hits like Missy Elliott`s "One Minute Man" and Jermaine Dupri`s "Welcome to Atlanta". He dominated the urban market with his hit "What's Your Fantasy?", an explicit duet about sexual fantasies from both the male and female perspective, and also toured the States with OutKast.
At the end of 2001, he released his second album, "Word Of Mouf". Even if its lead single, "Rollout (My Business)" was boycotted in many American video stations, the video peaked at number three on the Billboard album chart in October and was nominated for a 2003 VMA.
In 2002, TV's Bill O'Reilly expressed outrage that Pepsi had hired Ludacris as a spokesman. O`Reilly repeatedly attacked Ludacris's foul language and called for a nation-wide boycott of Pepsi, who then fired Ludacris and hired Ozzy Osbourne's family instead.
During the spring of 2003, Ludacris returned to the music scene 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 upcoming album, "Chicken -N- Beer", called "P-Poppin". Neither of his new singles were well-received by the urban or pop audiences and both music videos received only limited airplay.
However, 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, Honey. Produced by Kanye West, the single 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 and urban radio stations, as well as on MTV, MTV2, and BET.
The proper album, "Chicken -N- Beer", was released in October 2003, followed in 2004 by the bumpin' and bass blasted "The Red Light District", titled after Amsterdam's infamous open-air sex and drug market people.
A year later, Ludacris had his big break in films. Taking acting very seriously, so much so that for his cinematic endeavors Luda is billed under his real name, Chris Bridges, in 2005 he received critical praise for his roles in "Crash", for which he was awarded with a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture on January 29, 2006. Ludacris also appeared in the March 28, 2006 episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and narrated the 2006 Ward Serrill basketball documentary "Heart of the Game."
Recently, XXL, a hip-hop based magazine, has placed Ludacris in the number nine spot for the most anticipated albums of 2006, for "Release Therapy". The album will be released on September 26, 2006 and the first single "Money Maker" featuring Pharrell will be out in August.
A song titled "War With God" is o
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