Ludacris: Difference between revisions
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*Released: [[September 26]], [[2006]] |
*Released: [[September 26]], [[2006]] |
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*Chart positions: '''#1''' US |
*Chart positions: '''#1''' US |
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*[[RIAA certification]]: |
*[[RIAA certification]]: Gold |
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*Singles: "[[Money Maker]]", "[[Grew Up a Screw Up]]", "Runaway Love" |
*Singles: "[[Money Maker]]", "[[Grew Up a Screw Up]]", "Runaway Love" |
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Revision as of 22:41, 19 November 2006
- "Luda" redirects here. For a ship class, see Luda class destroyer
Ludacris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Years active | 1999-present |
Ludacris, aka Luda, (born Christopher Brian Bridges on September 11, 1977 in Champaign, Illinois) is a Grammy Award winning African American rapper and actor. Born in Illinois, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he eventually made a name for himself, first as a Radio DJ and then as one of the most prominent Southern rappers.
Acting career
Ludacris has been acting in film since The Wash in 2001, but his big break came in 2005, where he received critical praise for his roles in the Oscar-winning films Hustle & Flow and Crash. Crash includes an ironic sequence where Ludacris's character is dismissive of hip-hop music. Interestingly, in both films, he is physically beaten by characters played by Terrence Howard. He is occasionally credited as "Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges".
On January 29, 2006 he was awarded with a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture for his work in the film Crash. Ludacris also starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious.Ludacris narrated the 2006 Ward Serrill basketball documentary "Heart of the Game." Ludacris recently cut his trademark braids off to project a new image for his upcoming album, Release Therapy.
On March 28, 2006 he appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Ludacris portrayed Darius Randall, the nephew of Detective Fin Tutuola, portrayed by Ice T.
Disputes
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Furthering the controversy, in response to the signing of the Osbourne family, popular music hip-hop mogul, Russell Simmons, organized a boycott against the company. Simmons demanded an apology from Pepsi to Ludacris and a 5 million dollar donation to one of Ludacris' charities. Eventually Simmons and Pepsi settled on an agreement to stop the boycott, right before it was to officially begin-- while Pepsi did not formally apologize to Ludacris, they did agree to donate millions of dollars over years to Russel Simmons Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.[1] [2]
Ludacris' song "Blow It Out" (from the Chicken & Beer album), acted as a scathing response to his critics, namely O'Reilly.
In another song, "Hoes in My Room", he tells a story about anonymous prostitutes being left in his room, and at the end of the last verse he says:
Then it got to my head and Somethin' remind me
I know who let 'em in, it was Bill O'Reilly.
Then, in 2004, in "Number 1 Spot"
Respected highly, Hi Mr. O'Reilly.
Hope all is well, kiss the plaintiff and the wifey.
When Ludacris hosted Saturday Night Live in 2006, a sketch involved O'Reilly telling a Def Jam executive saying that he will boycott Def Jam if Ludacris isn't fired. O'Reilly, played by Darrell Hammond, tells that although his boycotts have had the opposite effect of his intention, Def Jam's sales will decrease dramatically.
In a 2006 interview with GQ magazine, Ludacris criticized Oprah Winfrey about his appearance on her show with the cast of the film Crash. [3] During the interview, the conversation veered from the movie and Winfrey chose to speak on Ludacris' lyrical content, which he felt was unfair as he was visiting her show in the capacity of an actor and not a rapper. Also, Ludacris was upset that some of his responses were later edited from the show's airing. He was later joined by other rappers such as 50 Cent, Ice Cube and Killer Mike who argued that Winfrey had an anti-hip hop bias.
Winfrey responded by saying that she's opposed to rap lyrics that "marginalize women," but enjoys some artists, including Jay-Z and Kanye West, who appeared on her show. She said she spoke with Ludacris backstage after his appearance to explain her position and said she understood that his music was for entertainment purposes, but that some of his listeners might take it literally. Ludacris later said the media had blown his comments out of proportion and said he respects Winfrey and considers her "a great individual."[4]
In 2004, before the release of his debut album Straight Outta Ca$hville, Nashville, Tennessee native and G-Unit member Young Buck would enlist the services of fellow Atlanta emcee T.I., also known as T.I.P. in his native Bankhead neighborhood of westside Atlanta. They would create a track entitled "Stomp" amid growing tension between Buck's good friend Ludacris and T.I. On the track, T.I. takes subliminal shots at Ludacris including the line "me gettin' beat down, that's ludicrous." Buck, immediately sensing the tension, decided before releasing the track to notify Ludacris that T.I. had mentioned him since he didn't want to position himself as encouraging T.I.'s actions. Ludacris heard the track and asked Buck if he could add his own verse; to which Buck agreed. The results end up being costly for T.I., as he is berated throughout Ludacris' verse and called out by name in his last line. Representatives from T.I. notified Buck that T.I.'s vocals would not be cleared for the album unless T.I. is allowed to change his verse, and also have Ludacris change his. Buck refused this offer and T.I. prohibited his vocals from being used. Buck had hypeman and fellow rapper D-Tay replace T.I. on the song; D-Tay himself was eventually replaced by The Game on the official release.
Although T.I. was removed, the street cut featuring him and Ludacris had already been leaked to DJs in Atlanta and New York. T.I. was unable to stop the track's distribution throughout the streets of the nation at this point. It is widely accepted that T.I. "lost" this battle with Ludacris easily being the victor. The beef between Ludacris and T.I. was then put to an end behind closed doors as T.I. said that the problems between them have ceased.
In 2006 however, T.I. would release his highly anticipated fourth solo album entitled KING. In his Just Blaze produced track titled "I'm Talkin To You," T.I. lyrically attacks one or more unknown targets who have widely been speculated to be either Ludacris, New Orleans emcee Lil Wayne, or Houston rapper Lil' Flip (whom T.I. also had beef with but has since ended their animosity behind closed doors) or a combination of all three. It is still unknown whether or not T.I. was in fact battling Ludacris again or anyone else for that matter at all. A closer listen to the song, however proves that T.I. isnt dissing Ludacris. In one of T.I.s lines he quotes "had it out with 'Cris, but he still my nigga...sat down civilized talked about it like niggas", alluding to the sit down that he and Ludacris had to end their dispute. As a matter of fact during the taping of MTV's My Block 'Atlanta', T.I. and Ludacris are shown greeting each other respectfully.
In July of 2006, a track entitled "War with God" would see Ludacris return after some time off in movies. In the track, Ludacris goes on the offensive against an unknown rapper who has sold drugs, and makes repeated references to shooting guns in his songs, isn't as rich as he (Ludacris) and likes to give himself titles - all very well known characteristics and facts directly relating to T.I and Young Jeezy (or countless other less popular rappers) or the newcoming rappers Yung Joc and Young Dro. In this instance it also unknown whether or not Ludacris is indeed aiming his disses at Young Jeezy, T.I. or if the track is even a song recorded recently. Ludacris recently stated that the song was deeper than just a diss, and the song is more about him than anyone else, it's showing that he isn't just the 'cartoon entertainer' type rapper that he has always been portrayed as, when asked about who specific rhymes were aimed at he said "The guilty will speak". The track has been confirmed to be a selection from Ludacris' upcoming album Release Therapy this September. The song is not aimed at Young Jeezy as he features on the latest album. Nor is the song aimd at Chingy as Ludacris mentions on BET's Rap City. "War with God" uses a beat written by Don Cheegro and Dirty Harry.
Discography
Solo Albums
| Album Cover | Album Information |
|---|---|
| File:LudacrisIncognegro.jpg | Incognegro
|
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Back for the First Time
|
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Word of Mouf
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Chicken -N- Beer
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| File:Ludacris-red-light-district.jpg | The Red Light District
|
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Release Therapy
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Ludacris is also set to release an album titled, "Theater of the Mind" in 2007
Disturbing Tha Peace Albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
| File:DTPGoldenGrain.jpg | Golden Grain
|
Ludacris Presents: Disturbing tha Peace
|
See also
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
Filmography
- The Wash (2001)
- 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
- Lil Pimp (2003)
- Crash (2005)
- Hustle & Flow (2005)
- The Heart of the Game (2006) [Narrator]
- Ballers (2007)
- Fred Claus (2007)
- Luda Camp (2008)
Grammy Awards
- Career Wins:1
- Career Nominations:12
| Category | Genre | Song | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Rap Solo Performance | Rap | "Number 1 Spot" | 2006 | Nominated |
| Best R&B Song | R&B | "Yeah!" | 2005 | Nominated |
| Record of the Year | General | "Yeah!" | 2005 | Nominated |
| Best Rap/Song Collaboration | Rap | "Yeah" | 2005 | Won |
| Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television Special | Motion Picture | "Act A Fool" | 2004 | Nominated |
| Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group | Rap | "Gossip Folks" | 2004 | Nominated |
| Best Male Rap Solo Performance | Rap | "Stand Up" | 2004 | Nominated |
| Best Rap Album | Rap | Word of Mouf | 2003 | Nominated |
| Best Male Rap Solo Performance | Rap | "Roll Out (My Business)" | 2003 | Nominated |
| Best Short Form Music Video | Music Video | "One Minute Man" | 2002 | Nominated |
| Best Rap/Sung Collaboration | Rap | "Area Codes" | 2002 | Nominated |
| Best Rap Album | Rap | Back For the First Time | 2001 | Nominated |
Trivia
- Ludacris' uncle is the stepfather of R & B singer Monica. Her son is his godson.
- Attended Oak Park River Forest High School for one year before attending Benjamin Banneker Alternative High School located in Atlanta. He later attended Georgia State University. [5]
- Ludacris is a pun on the term ludicrous. Presumably, it is a portmanteau between ludicrous and Chris.
External links
- American rappers
- American dance musicians
- Rhythmic Top 40 acts
- Grammy Award winners
- Rappers known by pseudonyms
- Disturbing Tha Peace artists
- American film actors
- American television actors
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actors
- African American musicians
- African-American actors
- People from Champaign, Illinois
- Illinois musicians
- People from Atlanta
- Portmanteaus
- 1977 births
- Living people