Ludacris Songs

Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive.

Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age nine where he first began rapping. He formed his own record label, Disturbing tha Peace in the late 1990s, then signed with Def Jam South, after he went on to become one of the first Dirty South rappers to achieve mainstream success with countless album releases. For his music, Ludacris has won three Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. Starting out with a brief stint as a DJ, he independently released his first album ''Incognegro'' in 1999 to local success, but achieved national attention the following year when the album was repackaged and re-released as his major label debut, ''Back for the First Time''. It contained the hit singles "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell), which wasn’t on Incognegro, and "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna). In 2001, he released ''Word of Mouf'', followed by '' Chicken-n-Beer'' in 2003 and ''The Red Light District'' in 2004, all of which were certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He took a more serious approach with his next two albums, '' Release Therapy'' (2006), and ''Theater of the Mind'' (2008). His next album, '' Battle of the Sexes'', was released in 2010 and featured a return to the more lighthearted tone of his previous albums. His most recent album, ''Ludaversal'', was released on March 31, 2015.

As an actor, Ludacris is best known for his role as Tej Parker in the ''Fast and Furious'' film series, with his first appearance in the franchise coming in 2003. His other notable roles include ''Crash'' (2004), ''Gamer'' (2009), and ''New Year's Eve'' (2011). For his performance in the ensemble of ''Crash'', Ludacris was co-awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Cast. In 2021, Bridges created his own children's musical television series for Netflix known as ''Karma's World'', in which he also served as a voice actor. Ludacris is also a private pilot.

Early life

Born Christopher Brian Bridges in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Oak Park as a teenager. After attending Oak Park River Forest High School in ninth grade, Ludacris moved to Centreville, Virginia and attended Centreville High School for one year. He attended Banneker High School in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1995. From 1998 to 1999, he studied music management at Georgia State University. Ludacris' parents are both African American, and he also has more distant English and Native American ancestry. He is a distant cousin of late comedian Richard Pryor. Ludacris wrote his first rap song at age nine when moving to Atlanta, Georgia, and joined an amateur rap group three years later.

Music career

1998–2000: ''Incognegro'' and ''Back for the First Time''

Ludacris served as an intern and then a DJ at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 (now Hot 107.9) under the name "Chris Lova Lova". During his radio career, Ludacris met music producer Timbaland, whose album '' Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment'' would feature Ludacris on the track "Phat Rabbit" (credited as Ludichris).

Speaking with MTV's hip hop show ''Direct Effect'' in 2000, Ludacris explained his stage name was a play on the word "ludicrous".

In 1999, Ludacris released his debut album ''Incognegro'' through his independent label Disturbing tha Peace. Def Jam South would later repackage ''Incognegro'' with some new songs added into Ludacris's major label debut ''Back for the First Time'' in 2000. The album reached number four on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and included the singles "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna) and "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell Williams), which respectively reached the nos. 21 and 23 spots on the Billboard Hot 100.

2001–2003: ''Word of Mouf'' and ''Chicken-n-Beer''

In 2001, Ludacris contributed the hit single Area Codes" (featuring Nate Dogg)” to the soundtrack to the film ''Rush Hour 2''. It was also included on his next album, ''Word of Mouf'', released later that year. The ''Word of Mouf'' lead single "Rollout (My Business)" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance in the 2003 Grammy Awards. Two other singles reached the Hot 100 in 2002: " Saturday (Oooh Oooh)" featuring Sleepy Brown" peaked at no. 22, and "Move Bitch" featuring Mystikal and I-20 peaked at no. 10.

Ludacris also had guest spots on hit singles throughout 2001 and 2002, such as Jermaine Dupri's "Welcome to Atlanta" that peaked at no. 35 on the Hot 100 and no. 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Ludacris was among multiple featured rappers on "Bia' Bia'" by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, which peaked at no. 47 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in August 2001. In the last week of 2002, "Gossip Folks" by Missy Elliott featuring Ludacris was released as a single. It peaked at no. 8 on the Hot 100 in March 2003.

In April 2003, Ludacris released single " Act a Fool" from the soundtrack of the movie '' 2 Fast 2 Furious'', where Ludacris played Tej Parker.
In the fall of 2003, Ludacris released his next album ‘’ Chicken-N-Beer”. Guest appearances included Playaz Circle, Chingy, Snoop Dogg, 8Ball & MJG, Lil' Flip, I-20, Lil Fate, and Shawnna. The single, " Stand Up" 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, an R&B remix that featured Raphael Saadiq and sampled Tony! Toni! Tone!'s "Whatever You Want". Ludacris received his first Grammy Award with Usher and Lil Jon for their hit single " Yeah!". Ludacris next released " Blow It Out", which was accompanied by a low-budget music video.

2004–2007: ''The Red Light District'' and ''Release Therapy''

Ludacris took a more mature approach to his fourth album ''The Red Light District''. 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 ''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 "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. Featured artists on the album include Nas, DJ Quik, DMX, Trick Daddy, Sleepy Brown and Disturbing tha Peace newcomers Bobby Valentino, Dolla Boi and Small World. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.

In an issue of '' XXL'', 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. Guest appearances include Pharrell Williams, R. Kelly, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige, Field Mob, Bobby Valentino, Pimp C, C-Murder and Beanie Sigel. The first single, "Money Maker", which features Williams, was released to U.S. radio outlets on July 17, 2006. "Money Maker" reached number one on the BET program ''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 the two are or ever were in a dispute. His third single, " Runaway Love", soon peaked at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Rap Tracks and won Best Collaboration in the 2007 BET Awards. ''Release Therapy'' won the Best Rap Album award at the 2007 Grammy 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 lighthearted 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. To promote the album, Ludacris returned to ''Saturday Night Live'' (as both host and musical guest) on November 18, 2006.

2008–2010: ''Theater of the Mind'' and ''Battle of the Sexes''

'' The Preview'', a mixtape to preview the album was released on July 28, 2008. ''Theater of the Mind'' was released on November 24, 2008, and in April 2008, the single "Let's Stay Together" appeared on xxlmag.com; supposedly from the new album ("Let's Stay Together" was expected to but was released as a bonus track on the CD). A song with Small World called "Pinky Shinin" was expected to be on the album, but it was dropped. In an interview with ''Complex Magazine'' he stated that Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, T.I., Plies, Common, T-Pain, Jay-Z, Nas and The Game will be on the album; Game is featured in a track with Willy Northpole titled "Call Up the Homies". T.I. was on the album on a track called "Wish You Would" squashing the long feud between them. 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 number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second single, "One More Drink

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