Ludacris Lives His Dream

Def Jam Records was a major force in rap in the 1980s, releasing music by such genre-defining acts as LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slick Rick and the Beastie Boys. Its current roster includes DMX, Jay-Z and Ja Rule.

Def Jam is a New York label with a focus in New York acts, but that didn’t stop an Atlanta kid named Christopher Bridges from imagining himself being signed to the company as he grew up listening to its artists.

“Def Jam meant hip-hop to me,” he says. “When people said Def Jam, you just knew that it was the real. They don’t sugarcoat anything. Anybody that’s signed to Def Jam is coming straight from the heart with their music.”

Bridges, better known as Ludacris, is now living that dream. The rapper, 21, is the flagship artist on Def Jam South, a subsidiary of the legendary label. His album “Back for the First Time,” which features the hit singles “What’s Your Fantasy” and “Southern Hospitality,” has sold more than 1.7 million copies, according to SoundScan.

The signing of Ludacris--who shares the bill with fellow Atlantans OutKast at the Universal Amphitheatre on Saturday--marks Def Jam’s first foray into the South, a region that was a proving ground for hip-hop talent in the 1990s. OutKast and New Orleans’ Master P, Juvenile and Silkk the Shocker were among the Southern rappers to release at least one platinum album last decade.

In fact, Atlanta was once third only to New York and Los Angeles as hip-hop hot spots, thanks to OutKast, Goodie Mob, Jermaine Dupri and others. New Orleans had taken over by the late 1990s, but Ludacris now may have redirected the curve.

“Right around the time before he came, people were just having local success,” says Curtis Daniel, studio manager of PatchWerk Recordings, where Ludacris recorded the majority of his album. “Ludacris’ success has lit a fire under people because he recorded it independently and had the labels coming after him. It’s motivated people again because things had kind of dried up.”

Got a Foot in the Door as a Radio Station Intern

It was during that dry time that Ludacris got his foot in the door, becoming an intern in the mid-1990s for the Atlanta rap radio station known as Hot 97.

“I thought it would only be a matter of time before I could politic my way to where I wanted to be because of all the different artists and record company people that come through to the radio station,” said Ludacris, who eventually became an on-air personality known as Chris Lover Lover.

He also recorded a “drop” for each of the DJs, and these short songs became popular with listeners, including record producers Jermaine Dupri and Timbaland. Dupri then had Ludacris rap on the introduction for Sony Playstation’s “John Madden 2000” video game and Timbaland featured him on his 1999 album, but there was still no record deal.

So like many aspiring rappers in the South, he financed and released an album, titled “Incognegro,” himself.

“Going independent is the best thing that you could do because you learn every aspect of the music as far as putting yourself in the studio, mixing, recording and then pressing your stuff up on your own,” Ludacris says. “You’re acting as a record company.”

“Incognegro” sold more than 40,000 copies regionally when it came out early last year, and it caught the attention of Def Jam South president Scarface, who is also a solo artist and a member of the rap group Geto Boys. Scarface signed Ludacris and added some new songs to the album before re-releasing it last October as “Back for the First Time.”

Now that his album is a success, Ludacris is hoping to pass his platinum touch on to a group of artists called Disturbing the Peace. The collective’s “Golden Grain” album will be released within a year, as should the debut album from Shawna, who is featured on “What’s Your Fantasy.”

Ludacris has been staying busy, too, appearing on Funkmaster Flex’s recent album as well as a remix for Cam’ron. He will also appear on the forthcoming albums from Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Ginuwine and Method Man.

And now he can put himself in the company of his Def Jam colleagues. Said Ludacris, “I believe I’m on the same path as Jay-Z, DMX, Ja Rule.”

* Ludacris, with OutKast and Xzibit, Saturday at the Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 7:45 p.m. Sold out. (818) 622-4440.