John Albert Torres - Ludacris. Hip-Hop Mogul

Ludacris: Hip-Hop Mogul

Christopher Brian Bridges better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper, entrepreneur and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Among his achievements, Ludacris has won a Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice, MTV, and three Grammy Awards during his career.

Quotes, personal stories, and accessible features such as a discography and where to contact this hip-hop mogul make this biography of Ludacris a must read.

Movie fans may have wondered who the new actor was that landed one of the lead roles in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the second of the wildly popular Fast and Furious movie franchise. Music fans might have recognized him right away but were probably still surprised that one of musics most popular rappers, Ludacris, was on the big screen.

His hit single at the time, Act a Fool, which was on the movies soundtrack, was getting lots of radio airplay. Many people were familiar with the video. But it was still a surprise to see him in the movie.

Ludacris is shown with fellow cast member Luke Evans at the premiere of their film Fast & Furious 6.

Ludacris played Tej Parker, a former street racer who helped organize car races in the streets. And he did a terrific job, proving that he was a natural actor.

Its not uncommon to see music stars cross over and make an appearance in a movie. But it is uncommon to see someone like Ludacris do it and do it so well. He has appeared in several of the Fast and Furious movies, and moviegoers look forward to seeing what kind of trouble Tej Parker will get into next.

Ludacris has proven himself to be a superstar in the music industry and a real presence on the silver screen, while showing no signs of slowing down. In addition to hit records, he continues to act in award-winning films. He is so good at just about everything he tries that he is one of only a few people ever to win a Screen Actors Guild Award, for his work in the highly acclaimed drama Crash, as well as a Critics Choice Award, a Grammy Award, and an MTV Video Music Award.

He has also earned praise for his work on television. Ludacris has appeared in many television programs including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Not content to stand still, Ludacris is always on the go, trying his hand at new things. He even owns a restaurant that he has an active role in running.

Even though he had achieved popularity on urban and African-American radio stations, it wasnt really until 2003 that Ludacris really made it as more of a mainstream, or crossover, pop star. That wider stardom is what likely helped him land roles on television and on the silver screen.

His third album was out in 2003 and continued moving up the urban music charts. At the same time, he was also touring with Papa Roach. Some of the more adult and explicit lyrics in his songs were what kept them from being played on the mainstream radio stations or having the videos on MTV . But, with some creative editing, a song called Move became a breakout hit. Ludacris was even invited to sing the song at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony with the entire nation watching. His performance that night seemed to change the publics perception, or idea, about Ludacris. It became an important moment in his career. Mainstream success and popularity and movie roles would soon follow.

Ludacris and some of his closest friends arrive at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

One of the biggest moments for Ludacris came in 2012 when he performed at the Georgia Dome during halftime of an Atlanta Falcons game. It was special because Atlanta is his hometown.

Ludacris knew he wanted to make it in the music industry. But even he couldnt have imagined how big of a star he has become.

Even the popular soda company, Pepsi, used the song Move, in its commercials and showed Ludacris drinking a soda during the ads. Some people complained that Pepsi should not be using a Ludacris song because many of his songs have very explicit lyrics. Eventually the ads were pulled from airing on television. However, Ludacris was able to keep the money he earned when he originally signed with Pepsi. The song would go on to be recorded and sampled by many other artists including a Puerto Rican group and a hard rock group in the United States. The song even enjoyed a lot of success overseas. It was featured in at least two British television shows over in the United Kingdom.

The future was starting to look really bright for the star born Christopher Brian Bridges. Little did he know that he would soon be starring in movies.

Ludacris is one of those rare people who knew what he wanted to do with his life from a very young age. When he was only nine years old, he already knew that his life would be in music. But what he didnt know though was that it would take a few twists and turns to get there. Those included working as a DJ, selling records out of the trunk of his car, and even studying music management at a university.

Christopher Brian Bridges, who would one day be known around the world as the rapper and actor Ludacris, was born September 11, 1977 in Champaign, Illinois. His parents are Roberta Shields and Wayne Brian Bridges.

Champaign is a small city of about eighty-two thousand people. It is a two-hour drive from both Chicago and Indianapolis and about three hours from St. Louis. It is mainly a quiet city near a lot of farm land. There are two colleges within the city, and more recently the city has become known for a lot of start-up technology companies.

Shown in 2009, Ludacris and his mother Roberta Shields attend a White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington D.C.

For Ludacris, it represented a nice, safe place to grow up. From a very young age, he became exposed to music. His parents were very young when he was born. In fact, both of them were still in college at the time of his birth. They would often take their infant baby to listen to house jams and music groups that were performing on campus and in coffee houses.

They were always jamming to the old school stuff, like Frankie Beverly and Maze, Cameo, all that kind of music, said Ludacris. They used to take me to college parties and let me get out in the middle of the floor and dance for all the other students.