Ludacris

Ludacris is often cited as one of the first Dirty South rappers to achieve mainstream success in the 21st century.

Throughout his career, he has won three Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critic's Choice Award and an MTV Video Music Award.

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

Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age nine, where he first began rapping.

Starting out with a brief stint as a DJ, he formed his own record label, Disturbing tha Peace in the late 1990s, closing the decade with his debut album Incognegro (1999).

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.

His great-great-grandfather was a Choctaw.

In an interview with A. J. Jacobs, Ludacris learned that his great-grandmother had said one of his great-great-grandfathers, who is a white Englishman, was probably Jewish.

Ludacris is also a distant cousin of the comedian Richard Pryor.

He wrote his first rap song at age nine when moving to Atlanta and joined an amateur rap group three years later.

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).

In 1999, Ludacris released his debut album Incognegro through his independent label Disturbing tha Peace.

The album was re-released as his major label debut, Back for the First Time (2000) upon signing with Def Jam Recordings.

Its singles, "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell) and "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna), became top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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

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.

In the following years, Ludacris released the albums Word of Mouf (2001), Chicken-n-Beer (2003) and The Red Light District (2004), each receiving multi-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

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.

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.

Two other singles reached the Hot 100 in 2002: "Saturday (Oooh! Ooooh!)" featuring Sleepy Brown peaked at no. 22, and "Move Bitch" featuring Mystikal and I-20 peaked at no. 10.

In the last week of 2002, "Gossip Folks" by Missy Elliott featuring Ludacris was released as a single.

Outside of music, he has portrayed the character Tej Parker in the Fast & Furious film series—first appearing in its second film, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).

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.

It peaked at no. 8 on the Hot 100 in March 2003.

Throughout his career, Ludacris scored two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist, "Stand Up" (featuring Shawnna) and "Money Maker" (featuring Pharrell), in addition to three chart-topping singles on the chart as a guest performer with Usher's "Yeah!" in 2004, Fergie's "Glamorous" in 2007, and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart" in 2009.

The following year, he was featured on Justin Bieber's single "Baby", which became one of the highest-certified singles of all time in the United States.

His other notable acting roles include Crash (2004), Gamer (2009), and New Year's Eve (2011).

In 2021, he created and starred in the children's animated series Karma's World for Netflix.

Ludacris is also a private pilot.

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.

His fifth and sixth albums, Release Therapy (2006) and Theater of the Mind (2008), explored more serious subject matter than its predecessors.

His seventh album, Battle of the Sexes (2010) featured a return to the more lighthearted tone of his previous albums.