Ludacris

Chris Bridges was born in Champaign, Illinois, and settled in Atlanta, where he worked as a radio DJ before recording his independent album Incognegro in 1999. The record caught the attention of Def Jam South, which reissued part of the material on Back for the First Time, from 2000.

Word of Mouf cemented his place in commercial rap the following year. After expanding his career into film and television, he released another solo album, Ludaversal, in 2015.