Ludacris

Ludacris’ style is ready for both the street and the bedroom, mixing nimble rhyming skills with the crowd-rousing ability. Ludacris dropped his major label debut, Back for the First Time , in 2000. After the hit “Southern Hospitality,” Luda was a full-fledged superstar. Since his debut, he has unleashed a long line of irresistible club smashes, such as “Area Codes,” “Move Bitch” and “Splash Waterfalls,” propelling subsequent albums to multi-platinum status. For Chicken & Beer (2003) and The Red Light District (2004), Ludacris stuck with his winning formula: witty, sexually charged rhymes delivered with a dexterity few could match. While both were hugely successful albums, the ATL emcee yearned to be taken seriously. When he reemerged in 2006, he trimmed his treasured rows and released an album, Release Therapy, that contained some of his most introspective material to date. It cemented Ludacris’ status as one of hip-hop’s most beloved figures.
- Sam Chennault