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Ludacris Biography
Ludacris rode the early-2000s
Dirty South explosion to widespread popularity, as his songs enjoyed an
enormous embrace, mainly by urban media outlets but also MTV and pop
radio.
The Atlanta-based rapper went from local sensation to household name after
Def Jam signed him to its Def Jam South subsidiary in 2000. In addition to
connecting him with super-producers like Timbaland, the Neptunes, and
Organized Noize, Def Jam gave Ludacris remarkable marketing push. Ludacris
thus quickly became one of the rap industry's most in-demand rappers,
guesting on hits for everyone from Missy Elliott ("One Minute
Man") to Jermaine Dupri ("Welcome to Atlanta") when he
wasn't dominating the urban market with his own hits, most notably
"What's Your Fantasy?," "Southern Hospitality,"
"Area Codes," and "Rollout (My Business)."
Before he became the Dirty
South's most successful rapper, Ludacris DJed at an Atlanta radio station.
He used the opportunity to hone his craft on the mic, learn about the
industry, and make a name for himself throughout the Atlanta area, which
had become the South's rap mecca starting in the mid-'90s. Eventually, he
began aspiring toward a career as a rapper rather than as a radio jock,
and after working with Timbaland -- appearing on the super-producer's
Tim's Bio album (the original version of "Fat Rabbit") in 1998
-- Ludacris began taking his rap career seriously. He recorded an album,
Incognegro (2000), and released it on his independently released
Disturbing tha Peace label. Ludacris primarily worked with producer
Shondrae for the album, though also with Organized Noize to a lesser
extent. Incognegro sold impressively in Atlanta, where Ludacris was well
known for his radio work.
Soon after Incognegro became the talk of Atlanta and "What's Your
Fantasy?" became a regional hit, Scarface came knocking. Def Jam had
given the veteran rapper the go-ahead to scout for talent in the South,
since the Dirty South movement was gaining steam at the time and Def Jam
wanted to start a Def Jam South subsidiary. Ludacris became Scarface's
first signing, and Def Jam re-packaged the tracks from Incognegro, along
with a few new productions: a U.G.K. collaboration ("Stick 'Em
Up"), a Neptunes production ("Southern Hospitality"), and a
remix of his previously released song with Timbaland (retitled "Phat
Rabbit"). Def Jam then gave the resulting album, Back for the First
Time (2000), substantial marketing push, choosing "What's Your
Fantasy?" (an explicit duet about sexual fantasies from both the male
and female perspective) as the first single. Though some radio stations
were hesitant to air such a provocative song, "What's Your
Fantasy?" became an enormous success -- as did, to a lesser extent,
its even more provocative remix featuring Foxy Brown and Trina -- opening
the door for countless other truly "dirty" Dirty South songs
that would soon become the norm rather than the exception.
Following his initial breakthrough with "What's Your Fantasy?,"
Ludacris remained ubiquitous. He toured the States with OutKast and
released a flurry of successive hit singles: the Neptunes-produced
"Southern Hospitality," the Timbaland-produced "Phat
Rabbit," the Nate Dogg collabo "Area Codes," the Timbaland-produced
"Rollout (My Business)," the Organized Noize-produced
"Saturday (Oooh Oooh!)," the KLC-produced "Move
Bitch." His second album for Def Jam, Word of Mouf (2001), peaked at
number three on the Billboard album chart in October and hovered at the
top of the charts for a long time. Furthermore, he contributed to hits for
other artists during this same time, most notably Missy Elliott's
"One Minute Man" and Jermaine Dupri's "Welcome to
Atlanta," and also released another album, Golden Grain (2002), which
featured his Disturbing tha Peace posse. The proper Ludacris follow-up,
Chicken -N- Beer, was released in October 2003.
Ludacris Links
Ludacris
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