Ludacris

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.