Ludacris Bio

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Denis Loncaric

Denis is a drummer and full-time music content writer. His love of Hip Hop comes from the style of gospel drummers. His taste in artists varies from favorites like Eminem to Serbian rap artists like Edo Majkaa and Marchelo.

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Ludacris, or Christopher Brian Bridges, is a famous American rapper; however, he is also an actor and publisher that left a strong mark in the music world and the art of film.

The rapper has made an incredible mark on the world-rap scene with his boisterous lyrics. But Ludacris is maybe most known for his role in the Fast and Furious franchise, known as Tej Parker.

In addition to releasing music, he has also become an entrepreneur, restaurateur, and philanthropist since his breakthrough in 2000 with Back for the First Time.

Ludacris’s comedic flow, filled with punchlines, distinguishes him from others. This style fits his stage name perfectly.

Thus, I wanted to provide Ludacris’s Bio covering his early life, career, debut albums and songs, movie appearances, and everything that makes Ludacris himself!

Ludacris Quick Facts

Ludacris Birthplace

Chris was born on September 11, 1977. His birthplace is Champaign, Illinois, and he lived there until he was seven. At this point in his life, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he took his first rapping steps.

Ludacris Parents

His father is Wayne Brian Bridges, and his mother is Roberta Shields, with African American roots. Even though they were a lovely couple, when Chris was only 9, his parents split, so he moved with his mom to Atlanta.

Ludacris’s dad Wayne, unfortunately, passed away in February 2007 from an unclaimed cause of death. Ludacris devoted him to a song called “Oceans and Skies” to honor the memory of Wayne’s early death. As for his mother, Roberta is doing pretty well and is also present and active on Instagram.

He had a lovely relationship with his parents, especially with his father. Wayne was raised in the suburban area of New York City and was the fourth boy in his family. His parents and Ludacris’s grandparents are Mary and Otha Bridges. Wayne Brian Bridges was a great student who graduated in business administration at the University of Illinois.

As for Mr. Bridges, she was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, where she also finished her graduation. She was an economist and later a successful marketing manager. While at the university, she met her future husband-to-be, Wayne, with whom she has her only child  Christopher Brian Bridges.

Early Life 

As a teenager, he attended high school in Oak Park and later moved to Centerville, Virginia, where he continued his education. He graduated from Banneker High School in Atlanta in 1995 and then studied music management at Georgian State University.

He was in a rap group that was rather amateur than professional, known as Loudmouth Hooligans; however, the teenage band fell apart once Chris moved away.

While in Atlanta, which is also one of the centers of rap music, Ludacris wrote his first song at the age of nine. Times were not easy for the teenage boy and his mom, but he is forever thankful to her for being strict with him to ensure he stayed in school and studied hard.

Professional Career

Chris worked as an intern and, a little after, as a DJ known as “Chris Lova Lova” for Atlanta’s Hot 97.5. During his DJing career, he met a lot of famous rappers, including producer Timbaland.

A little bit later, his professional career started to develop. To be precise, in 1998, he rapped on Timbaland’s debut album, Tim’s Bio: Life From Da Bassment, on the tune “Phat Rabbit.”

At this time, Ludacris was working on his debut album, Incognegro. This album was released on his own Disturbing Tha Peace label in August 1999. When it comes to the production of the album, he had help from Jermaine Dupri, Bangladesh, and Organized Noize.

Incognegro was eventually repackaged by Def Jam South and included in Ludacris’ big label debut Back for the First Time in 2000. The album charted at number four on the Billboard 200 and was sold over 3 million copies. While the songs “What’s Your Fantasy” (with Shawnna) and “Southern Hospitality” (featuring Pharrell Williams) reached 21 and 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Ludacris Videos, Albums, and Records

One of the most popular YoutTube videos is “Baby” by Justin Bieber, where Ludacris was featured. This song is in the three top most viewed videos, counting over 2.7 Billion. The second place took the “Yeah” music video, where he collaborated with Usher and Lil John. This video counts 685 Million views. Finally, his third most popular video is “Break Your Heart,” where he appeared as a feature in Taio Cruz’s song.

When it comes to his solo songs and videos, his most popular one is “Get Back,” with 84 Million views.

Now, I think we can all agree that Luda made some amazing features. And if you do not know him as a solo artist, I do not doubt you know some of his greatest features, such as “Little Bad Girl” with Guetta and Taio and “Ride” with Ciara.

Now let’s dive in a little deeper into his albums and breakthrough songs and even dig into some controversies he had in the past!

Word of Mouf and Chicken-n-Beer

In addition to his album Inconegro, Luda released another debut album in October 2000 named Back for the First Time. Almost all songs from his previous album were taken, except for a remix of “What’s Your Fantasy” and “Phat Rabbit” and additional two songs, “Stick ‘Em Up” and “Southern Hospitality.”

Word of Mouf was the second studio album, released in 2001 by Disturbing the Peace and Def Jam South. This LP was amazingly successful, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and selling 281,000 copies in the first week, which is, let’s be realistic, a great success for a 24-year-old rapper.

Three more singles were released after the lead single, “Rollout (My Business),” was nominated for a Grammy. The album, which made more than 3 million sales in the United States alone, was an amazing breakthrough that featured some amazing artists like Nate Dogg and Twista.

A little bit after, in 2003, Chris released his next album, “Chicken-n-beer,” which reached first place on the American Billboard 200 and was a tremendous and significant commercial success.

This record skyrocketed his career in America, selling just under seven million copies. In addition, he earned the reputation of “Ludacris” for his southern hip hop with many sexual implications, which was a massive hit among fans.

New albums and songs were constantly coming, bringing him certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Ludacris has released many albums and has won three incredible Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In addition, he has received five BET Awards, including two for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist (2002 and 2005).

Chicken-n-Beer’ Goes to No. 1

In its first week, the Chicken-n-Beer album sold over 400,000 copies, propelled by the hit singles “Splash Waterfalls” and “Stand Up” – a song he produced with Kanye West. As a result of Chicken-n-Beer, Ludacris’s first No. 1 album reached the top of the US Billboard Hot 100.

Ludacris Fourth and Fifth Studio Albums 

Chris’s fourth studio album, known as “The Red Light District,” was in a more serious tone than his previous ones. As a producer for this album, Sohail Khalid collaborated with various artists, including T.I., Lil Flip, and Bun B.

Ludacris bragged on the album’s first track that he could be the only rapper capable of keeping Def Jam afloat. And, to be honest, nobody couldn’t deny this since The Red Light District debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard charts.

Besides, Ludacris was nominated over a dozen times for the song “Yeah” with Usher and eventually received his first Grammy award in 2005.

His next album was “Release Therapy,” which was released in 2006. The CD was formatted to have two sides; the first side was “Release Side,” and the second one was “Therapy Side,” which was very original. The album also had a lot of guest appearances, such as Pharrell Williams, Young Jeezy, Bobby Valentino, R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, Field Mob, etc.

“Money Maker” with Pharell was a number one song on the BET program 106 & Park. The song became the rapper’s second number-one after six years. In the goal of promoting his album, Chris appeared as a musical guest and as a host on Saturday Night Live in 2006.

Thanks to the success of the single Money Makes and the album Release Therapy, Ludacris won two more Grammys in 2007. With such success, we really have to give him some credit. There is no doubt that these years were one of the most fruitful ones of his career!

Theater of the Mind and seventh studio album – Battle of the Sexes

Theater of the Mind is the sixth studio album released at the end of 2008, to be precise, on the 24th of November.

In its first week of release, the album reached no. 5 on the Billboard 200, with over 200,000 copies sold! This was another great success for Luda! However, Ludacris was not the only one who made some great hits at that time. Theater of the Mind was released the same day as Kanye West’s fourth studio album – 808s & Heartbreak, which took the number-one spot on Luda’s unfortunate luck.

The song “What Them Girls Like,” which was also the first single featuring Sean Garrett and Chris Brown, was at no. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, Ludacris’s second song, “One More Drink,” with T-Pain, reached no. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. A little bit later, the young rapper announced a “sequel” under the name of “Ludaversal,” which will additionally be released in 2012.

In 2010, Ludacris published his seventh album, “Battle of the Sexes.” His promotional single on the album was “Everybody Drunk,” which featured Callum Smith. However, when it comes to his first official song for this album, the single was “How Low,” followed by “My Chick Bad.”

His seventh studio album was number one, making the Battle of Sexes certified gold. In only one week, hence the first one, the album sold 137,000 copies.

Eight Studio Album

Ludacris’ songs “Representin” and “Rest of My Life” were dropped in 2012 when the tracks flopped, and the production process for his next album Ludaversal delayed.

A little bit after this, in 2013, Chris released a mixtape called #IDGAF. Every Friday, he would release a new song, which he refers to as IDGAF Fridays. This trend was quite popular at that time since many artists and influencers used this song to describe, e.g., their personalities.

From his Ludaversal album, the first single was “Good Lovin.” Soon, the songs “Intro,” “Not For Long” with Usher, and “Come N See Me” with Big K.R.I.T. were available to the public. Ludaversal was released in 2015, on the 31st of March, after a three-year wait, to generally good reviews and a Billboard 200 peak of number three.

Ludacris Future Work

In an interview he conducted in 2017, Ludacris announced that he was working on his next studio album. Besides that, he made a collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign and released a new track, “Vitamin D,” in the same year.

A little bit after, Ludacris got three nominations and one victory at the 2018 CMT Music Awards. He made an appearance on Carrie Underwood’s single “The Champion” in 2018. Additionally, this song was the opener for the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LII in 2018. Besides that, “The Champion” reached no. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In October 2020, two years after the Super Bowl opening, Ludacris’s got his animated musical kids series, authorized by Netflix.

The series, produced by 9 Story Productions and Brown Bag Films’ Bali studio subsidiary, draws inspiration from an educational website launched in 2009 by Karma’s World Entertainment. Ludacris’s entertainment series was inspired by his eldest daughter Karma Bridges, who also carries the same name as the show.

On the strength of the positive response, Karma’s World was renewed for a second season, which was released on March 10, 2022. The series’ first season was launched on Netflix on October 15, 2021, along with an official soundtrack record created by Def Jam Recordings. In addition, the series was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards on January 17, 2022, including Outstanding Children’s Program and Ludacris’ voiceover performances.

First Acting Steps

In 2003, Ludacris played his first role as Tej Parker in The Fast and Furious franchise. He appeared in 2 Fast 2 Furious movies, which was the second one after Fast and the Furious in 2001. This was due to Ja Rule, who was cast for the first part of the movie, “got too big for himself” and turned the role down.

After showing his great acting skill, Ludacris appeared in this incredible franchise’s fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth movies.

After his first appearance in Fast and Furious, Ludacris was cast for many other movies and TV shows. Aside from roles as a rapper (2005’s Hustle & Flow) and thief (2005’s Crash), he has appeared in romantic comedies such as No Strings Attached (2011) and in 2018’s Show Dogs as a leading voice.

Ludacris Family

When we talk about Ludacris’s role as a father, he is a proud dad of five girls. His first three girls are from his former relationships, while his youngest ones are from his current wife Eudoxie Mbouguiengue.

As mentioned above, Luda is the only child of Wayne Brian Bridges and Roberta Shields. There were some speculations that he had a sister, a businesswoman Alani Vazquez, also known as La La Anthony. However, this information is not true, and to put it simply, they are just great friends whom they met when Luda was an intern.

Moreover, Ludacris is related to popular American beauty, singer, and rapper Monica Denise Arnold. Her mom married Luda’s uncle, and thus they’ve become cousins. Besides that, Chris is also a second cousin to an American movie-legend Richard Pryor. It is so unbelievable how the world is actually so small!

Ludacris Dating and Relationship History

Ludacris was in a relationship with Christine White, an Atlanta attorney, somewhere in the ’90s. They were not married or engaged; however, they got their first child together in 2001, named Karma Bridges. In the aftermath of their breakup and relationship, they kept all the details to themselves. Even after their separation, they built a healthy relationship in order to give their daughter the best childhood. That is something we all appreciate!

Since 2009 Ludacris dated a model Eudoxie Mbouguiengue and married her in 2014. A little bit later, in early June 2015, the couple confirmed they had welcomed a baby girl named Cadence Gaelle Bridges. Around six years after, in May 2021, Eudoxie revealed that she and Ludacris were expecting their second daughter together, and on July 28, they welcomed a baby girl named Chance Oyali Bridges.

But their relationship was not always so smooth, which is, to be honest, expected. In 2013 Luda re-connected with his old friend Tamika Fuller, which soon became a love relationship. Not long after they saw each other again, Tamika got pregnant. This was not so good for his reputation and his relationship with Eudoxie; thus, he wanted Tamika to have an abortion which she refused.

Cai Bella Bridges, Luda’s second child, was born on December 9, 2013. He decided to accept his child and fight for her custody which he won in 2015. I cannot deny that this wasn’t cheating on his then-girlfriend Eudoxie; however, they were still not married nor had any kids. Eudoxie decided to forgive him, and a year after Luda’s second child was born, she decided to marry him on December 26, 2014.

However, there are some statements that Ludacris is the dad of another beautiful young woman. Apparently, Shaila Scott, born in 1996, is the first and the eldest Chris child from his unidentified ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately, there is very little information about this, so it is still a matter of question whether this information is true or not.

Besides these beauties, Luda dated a lot of girls throughout his career. One of his most popular relationships of his was with Christine White, Kenya Moore, Azja Pryor, and many more.

Ludacris Controversy 

In 2002, Ludacris signed an advertising contract with Pepsi that became a minor controversy. Apparently, the host of Fox News, Bill O’Reilly, called for a boycott of the Pepsi beverage since they chose someone who had indecent lyrics.

Ludacris, shown performing and drinking Pepsi in the ads, is known for promiscuous lyrics from his Word of Mouth album.

Pepsi dropped Ludacris afterward, but following pressure from Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the business decided to donate $3 million to urban charities.

Ludacris Net Worth and Career Earnings

Ludacris’s current net worth is $30 Million as of 2022, while his annual salary is around $8 Million.

Believe it or not, Luda is one of the highest-paid actors and rappers in the United States. This is not surprising since he appeared in a few super-successful movies, including The Fast and Furious franchise and his own animated television series Karma’s World.

With such a fruitful career in both the music and movie industry, most of his earnings and income come from his music and entertainment shows. However, thanks to his role in The Fast and Furious series, Luda’s earnings are regularly growing.

Thanks to his successful music career that counts over 20 years, including 9 albums, 583 live concerts, 88 music videos, and a number of hits and features, Luda has earned a huge amount of money!

Chris also founded his own record label, Disturbing tha Peace (DTP). Today, his record house works as a branch of Def Jam South Recordings. Besides that, Ludacris has his own YouTube channel that counts over 2 million subscribers.

Ludacris Real Estate & Residence History

With great money comes great householding. Let’s check where Ludacris lives and what is his residence history.

Luda bought a penthouse near West L.A. and Century City about a decade ago. Six years after, the rapper decided to sell the house. The penthouse was sold in 2018 for $1.175 million, which was actually a loss.

After he decided to sell the house, Luda bought a mansion worth $4.8 million in 2014 in the Hollywood Hills. He is still the owner of this house, and it will remain like this, at least for now.

Even though he owns this beautiful mansion, Ludacris is not currently living there. Actually, he lives in his hometown in Atlanta, in the Buckhead area, with his wife and three kids, and he is not planning on moving anytime soon.

Ludacris Famous Quotes

As almost any rapper, Luda has some wise words to say. I decided to pick the top 5 that I liked the most. Let’s check them:

#1 “I’m battling with myself and every day it’s a war.” – in reference to https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/7744-ludacris 

#2 “Get through the agony and anger, the pain and strife, and take the necessary steps to try to change my life.” in reference to – https://quotes.thefamouspeople.com/ludacris-2194.php 

#3 “Life is short if you don’t notice it’ll pass you by, that’s why my head is in the clouds trying to pass the sky.” – in reference to https://quotes.thefamouspeople.com/ludacris-2194.php

#4 “Keep in mind, when you hit rock bottom, there ain’t nowhere to go but up, baby.” – in reference to https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/7744-ludacris 

#5  “I love technology. We can be our own DJs wherever we go.” – in reference to https://quotes.thefamouspeople.com/ludacris-2194.php

Ludacris Discography & Full Credits

Christopher Brian Bridges has released:

• Nine studio albums
• Two compilation albums
• One EP
• 6 mixtapes
• 88 music videos
• 38 singles and 51 songs as a featured artists
• And 9 promotional singles

All of this success was done in the last 20 years when he stepped into the world of rap music

Studio Albums

August 1999: Incognegro – independent album

October, 2000: Back for the First Time

November, 2001: Word of Mouf

October, 2003: Chicken-n-Beer
December, 2004: The Red Light District
September, 2006: Release Therapy

November, 2008: Theater of the Mind
March, 2010: Battle of the Sexes
March, 2015: Ludaversal

Compilation Albums

September, 2002: Golden Grain

December, 2005: Disturbing tha Peace

Extended Plays (EP)

December, 2014: Burning Bridges

Mixtapes

2006: DTP Takeover: It’s an Epidemic

2006: Pre-Release Therapy

2008: The Preview
2010: Conjure: A Hustler’s Spirit
2011: 1.21 Gigawatts: Back to the First Time
2013: #IDGAF

FAQs

Conclusion

Christopher Brian Bridges, better known as Ludacris, is one of the most popular rappers in the world. With his fruitful career of over 20 years, Luda managed to get 12 awards, release 9 studio albums, and get a role in one of the blockbuster franchise movies called The Fast and Furious.

Besides being a great rapper and actor, he is a lovely father of 5 beautiful girls that he is most proud of. Luda has backed up a little from the music world; however, Luda released a new song less than a year ago called “Butter.” We are all aware that he left a great mark on the music industry, and as we can all see, he is not retiring anytime soon!

Research Citations 

• Wikipedia
• Biography
• Inspiring Quotes
• The Famous People Quotes