Ludacris, Bigxthaplug, and Rick Ross

After working as a disc jockey at the Atlanta-based station Hot 97.5, under the moniker DJ Chris Lova Lova, Bridges met producer Timbaland and earned a rapping credit on his song “Fat Rabbit”. The high profile contribution led Ludicrous to release his debut independent album “Incognegro” in 2000 on his own Disturbing tha Peace label. With the help of a production team of Shondrae and Organized Noize, the album reached the Billboard 200, and led to Ludacris signing with Def Jam Records.

Def Jam spruced “Incognegro” up with five more songs and released it as “Back for the First Time” in 2000, which spawned the hit single “What’s Your Fantasy”. The hit proved to be the first in a successful stream including the likes of “Southern Hospitality”, “Area Codes”, “Move Bitch”, “Stand Up” and “Splash Waterfalls”. “Back for the First Time”’s follow-up “Word of Mouf” was release in 2002, followed by the Disturbing tha Peace collaborative album “Golden Grain” in 2002.

Ludacris’ third official album “Chicken -N- Beer” was issued in 2003 and was his first album to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200. Its successor “The Red Light District” managed the same feat, aided by the hugely popular singles “Get Back”, “Number One Spot” and “Pimpin’ All Over the World”. In a follow up to “Golden Grain”, a second label collaborative album emerged in 2005, entitled “Disturbing tha Peace”.

After remaining quiet for almost a year, Ludacris returned in 2006 to release his most thoughtful and introspective album to date. “Release Therapy” proved to be another chart-topper led by the singles “Money Maker” and “Runaway Love”. On top of his own releases the rapper has become a tried and tested guest contributor to the likes of Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey, Fergie, LL Cool J, Usher and Jamie Foxx among a host of others acts, and has made inroads into the film industry with roles in “2 Fast 2 Furious”, “Crash” and “Fred Claus”. Ludarcris went on to release “Theatre of the Mind” in 2008, “Battle of the Sexes” in 2010, and the mixtape “Ludaversal” in 2013.

It’s difficult to quite put your finger on how conventional Ross’ pre-hip hop life was, by the genre’s usual standards; he certainly didn’t have the most comfortable of upbringings, but it’s also fair to say that serving as a prison officer - as Ross did for a couple of years in the mid-nineties - is hardly something that’s a common occurrence in a genre of music with a general lack of regard for law enforcement. After addressing that particular issue on his commercial breakthrough record “Deeper Than Rap” in 2009, though - he’d initially denied that the rumours were true - he’s gone on to make himself one of the best-respected and most widely-revered rappers in the world, having been named Hottest MC in the Game by MTV in 2012. He’s probably best-known in the hip hop community for having created his own label, Maybach Music Group; named after his favourite brand of luxury car, Ross has signed the likes of Meek Mill, French Montana and Wale to the imprint.

In terms of his own solo career, Ross’ lyricism has usually focused on the decadent lifestyle he enjoys, with money and material possessions clearly his primary motivation. He frequently offsets that kind of imagery, though, against his struggles as a youngster, both with the law and with his family; it’s this dichotomy that makes him one of his genre’s most compelling artists. 2014’s “Mastermind” met with critical acclaim, even if it didn’t have a single quite as big as his signature song, “Hustlin’” - it’s testament to Ross’ work ethic, though, that it’s not the only new album he’ll release this year, with “Hood Billionaire” being readied, too.