Story By Jacinta Howard
images by Michael Melendy for Steed Media Service
Christopher
“Ludacris” Bridges is a little uncomfortable. He shifts in his chair,
his tone dropping. The inevitable question about politics has just
arisen and for a moment, he seems a little regretful.
Did you get a chance to see the debate last night?
Nah, I didn’t get a chance to see the debate — I heard about [it]. But they said [it] didn’t really affect anything.
Because they really keep talking about the same thing over and over again.
Right.
Obviously, you’ve been very vocal about politics and just social issues in general …
Wait, when does this come out?
The 23rd.
Of October?
Yes.
Oh,
OK. Well, respectively speaking, as far as politics is concerned I
would be very cool with answering stuff after the election. Only
because I’m not trying to distract either one of the candidates any
further than the issues they have to deal with.
Really,
you can hardly blame him. After Luda’s “Politics (Obama is Here)”
dropped a few months ago — the song that arguably caused the definitive
public distancing between rappers and presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack
Obama — he’s been trying to do the responsible thing, even if that
means being quiet.
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“You
know, when you look at the situation with Ludacris, I would not want my
support of someone to hinder their chances,” T.I. told CNN just last
week. “I think you have to know what helps and what hurts.” His
sentiment is shared by many rappers and Obama supporters alike. So
Luda, being the responsible citizen that he is, fell back. It didn’t
matter that a lot of people had the same gripes that Luda mentioned
about Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain. Timing is everything
and Luda unintentionally left the Illinois senator open for criticism
with his wordage. Now with the election looming, he’s going about
supporting Obama in a different way.
Really, I was just going to ask you what you think needs to happen in the black community over the next …
We
need to get out and vote! I actually voted already, people need to know
that you can vote early. That’s something that we need to do, we need
to vote. And people that are not involved in the political process —
you need to be involved because this is the election of our lifetime.
And honestly speaking, we need to have control over the next four years
of our lives.
Where would you like to see
the community as a whole over the next five years? I know you have the
Ludacris Foundation and you’ve been very involved.
I
would like to see us continuing to progress, and the way that we do
that is by one, voting; and two, helping each other out. If we don’t
help each other than no one else will. I heard about one thing [Obama]
was talking about which was having volunteers, because he said he knows
people want to volunteer. I think that’s definitely one way that we can
start getting ahead. People showing that kind of brotherly love, that’s
what it’s all about. We need to start acting like we’re all family and
not try to separate ourselves from each other.
And really, that’s what Christopher Bridge’s career has been about — family.
“The first person I think about when I wake up in the morning is
probably my daughter,” he says of his 7-year-old daughter, Karma.
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With
her in mind, Luda continues doing what he’s best at, multitasking with
the hopes of making things a little bit better for his child and his
future grandchildren. Like right now, he’s promoting his new movie with
Mark Wahlberg, the video game-based action flick, Max Payne (out now), as well as his seventh album, Theater of the Mind (due out Nov. 25). In between questions, he throws in that his other film, UK director Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla will hit theaters on Oct. 31.
“[I do feel like I have split personalities] when I’m out here
promoting all the different projects because Ludacris is a character in
and of itself, but it is what it is,” he says. “I have multifaceted
personalities and you get to see bits and pieces of my personality
through all of the arts that I express myself through — music and the
movie roles.”
While his movie roles have ranged from him playing an intelligent criminal in his breakthrough role in Crash, to a savvy internal affairs cop in Max Payne, his real-life character, Ludacris, has proven to be just as diverse over the years.
When he first emerged on the rap scene, with songs like the playfully
sexual “What’s Your Fantasy” and “Area Codes” and the jolly “Saturday
Night,” he was viewed as more of a character than a serious lyricist,
sort of like Def Jam’s mainstream version of Redman. But no more.
“I think as anyone continues to grow older they change,” he shrugs,
grinning. “You get wiser. I have a daughter, so I’m thinking along the
lines of not just myself but other generations to come.”
Slowly, he started slipping in more songs and verses that spoke to the
day and times, displaying his brash brand of lyricism at the same time.
Credit Bill O’Reilly. When the right-wing agitator from Fox News
hounded Pepsi until they dropped Luda from his endorsement deal, it
changed his perspective and even his tone. Suddenly, it wasn’t uncommon
to hear him commenting on his songs about social ills, while taking
jabs at O’Reilly and his perceived hypocritical tendencies. He
continues the trend in Theater of the Mind.
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The Preview,
Luda’s rallying mixtape which dropped in late July was exactly that, a
foreshadowing of what is to come on with his new project. “I think to a
certain degree I feel underrated,” the 31-year-old says, emphasizing
the lyricism he delivers on this project. Luda says that when it comes
to lyrical capability, he’s the last of a dying breed. “But it’s
funny,” he continues, “because over the past year, people are starting
to catch on [to my skills].”
In fact, his one-time
enemy (on wax at least), T.I., recently said that alongside him,
Ludacris and Killer Mike were the best lyricists in Atlanta, a strong
statement for a city that’s chock-full of rappers.
“He said that recently?” Ludacris asks, obviously slightly taken aback by T.I.’s comment.
Yeah. In a video interview that’s on the Internet. What do you think about that? Do you agree with him?
I
think [there are] a lot of great emcees out of Atlanta. OutKast — I’ve
been influenced by them for a long time. It just depends on how far you
trace back. Because [you have to include] Goodie MOB, Cee-Lo, and I
look at Jeezy like that. I think [there are] a lot of us, and it’s
great because Atlanta is like the Motown of the South. So when it comes
to putting out music, we’ve stayed very consistent and we continue to
put out great music for the rest of the world. I’m proud to represent
Atlanta and the great talent that we have there.
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That said, on Theater of the Mind,
which took about six months to record, Luda says that there are a lot
of “undeniable lyrics” on the album and that “every song is a movie.”
Unlike a lot of rapper-actors, he makes sure to focus on one thing at
time, so as not to lose momentum (or quality) in either of his crafts.
“When I’m doing movies, I focus 100 percent on movies. When I’m doing
music, I focus 100 percent on music,” he stresses. “I don’t really
blend the two together.”
Just like when Ludacris is
concentrating on building his businesses and his brand he doesn’t allow
anyone to distract him from his task. He knows that a lot of people
depend on him and he likes it that way. His business vision is just a
small reflection of his overall growth as a man. “I’m one of those
people that feels like if I can create jobs for different people, I
will,” he says. But don’t expect him to get all MC Hammer with it. He’s
wise about his ventures. “Being able to provide jobs for your own
community and family and friends is a beautiful thing.”
And so is being a father. More than anything, Karma has been the
motivation behind his mini-transformations; from going green publicly
on TLC’s “Battleground Earth” alongside rocker Tommy Lee, to biting his
tongue so that he can play his part in helping America elect its first
black president.
“The most important thing I do is give [Karma] time and love,” he says
of his fatherly responsibilities. “I make sure that she knows that I
love her and make sure she knows that she’s the most beautiful girl in
the world. She can come and talk to me about anything. I just spend
time with her. That’s something a lot of fathers don’t really do. We
need to spend more time with our children and a lot of the other issues
will go away.”
