Ludacris emerged during Atlanta’s rise to hip-hop prominence in the late ‘90s and early 2000s as a rapper with a semi-serious vocal delivery, lyrics of the comedic/dirty/playful type and commercial appeal. He is known for many singles including the #1 hits “Stand Up” and “Money Maker,” as well as “What’s Your Fantasy,” “Area Codes,” “Get Back,” “One More Drink,” “My Chick Bad” and others.

Born in Champaign, Illinois on September 11, 1977, Christopher Brian Bridges moved to Atlanta as a teenager, with his pursuit of rapping taking off not long after. A stint as an intern and later DJ known as Chris Lova Lova at the city’s Hot 97.5 radio station led to him meeting Timbaland, leading to his appearance on the song “Fat Rabbit” for the producer’s debut album in 1998 under the alias Ludichris, a combination of the word “ludicrous” and his first name. Around the same time, he co-founded the label Disturbing tha Peace (DTP) with his manager Chaka Zulu and Jeff Dixon.

After changing the spelling of his stage name to Ludacris, he released his debut album Incognegro on August 17, 1999, which sold 50,000 copies from his word-of-mouth efforts and even managed to chart on the Billboard 200. The following year, Luda became the first signee to Def Jam South by its president and fellow rapper Scarface and also secured a distribution deal for Disturbing tha Peace. His major debut Back for the First Time arrived on October 17, 2000, which debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 and established him as a hot commodity on the rise out of ATL.

The next few years after would see him release the equally successful albums Word of Mouf (2001), Chicken-n-Beer (2003) and The Red Light District (2004), make featured appearances on songs such as Missy Elliott’s “One Minute Man,” Usher’s “Yeah,” Ciara’s “Oh” and Jamie Foxx’s “Unpredictable,” as well as becoming an actor with his most notable role being in the Fast and Furious series as Tej Parker. He explored more serious themes for Release Therapy (2006) and Theater of the Mind (2008) before returning to his old style for Battle of the Sexes (2010) and Ludaversal (2015).

Luda has won three Grammy Awards, nine BET Awards, an MTV VMA Award, a CMT Music Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance in Crash. Outside of music and acting, he is the founder of The Ludacris Foundation, owner of Chicken and Beer, co-owner of Conjure Cognac, former artist-in-residence at Georgia State University and a private pilot.