Ludacris biography
Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American 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 has won a Screen Actors Guild, Critic's Choice, MTV, and three Grammy Awards during his career.
Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia at age nine, where he began rapping. After a brief stint as a disc jockey, he released his debut album Back for the First Time in 2000, which contained the singles "Southern Hospitality" and "What's Your Fantasy". In 2001, he released Word of Mouf, followed by Chicken-n-Beer in 2003. He took a more serious approach with his next three albums, The Red Light District (2004), Release Therapy (2006), and Theater of the Mind (2008). His latest record, Battle of the Sexes, was released in 2010.
Early life
Ludacris was born Christopher Brian Bridges in Champaign, Illinois, the only child of Roberta Shields and Wayne Brian Bridges. He is of African American and Native American descent. Bridges wrote his first rap song at age nine when moving to Atlanta, and joined an amateur rap group three years later. He attended Banneker High School in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1996.
Music career
Radio DJ, Timbaland collaboration
Bridges served as an intern and then as a disc jockey at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 (now Hot 107.9) under the name "Chris Lova Lova".
Ludacris collaborated with Timbaland on the track "Phat Rabbit" from his album Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment. This song was a hit in many countries. It was later included on Ludacris's debut LP album Back for the First Time. In Ludacris' early music career he collaborated with Dallas Austin and Jermaine Dupri.
In 1998, Ludacris began to record his debut album "Incognegro". It featured a unique style for southern rappers, with his wild rapping. Timbaland handled part of the production. Despite its poor sales, it was never deleted and is still sold today. Ludacris also appeared on Timbaland's 1998 debut on "Phat Rabbit," a track that would later be used on his re-issue of "Incognegro" called "Back For The First Time". Then in 2000, Ludacris released his major label debut, Back for the First Time, in October 2000. This album was actually a modified re-release of the album Incognegro, made in 1999. It was produced with the help of the underground producer Sessy Melia, whom he dated for a short while. The album reached as high as #4 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was a major success. Ludacris made his mark on the industry with singles such as "Southern Hospitality" and "What's Your Fantasy", along with his first ever single the "Phat Rabbit", from two years prior. Guest appearances included 4-Ize, I-20, Shawnna, Pastor Troy, Timbaland, Trina, Foxy Brown, UGK, and others. Ludacris stated in an interview on MTV's hip hop program Direct Effect that he came up with his stage name based on his "split personality" that he considered "ridiculous" and "ludicrous".
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