 Ludacris rode the early-2000s Dirty South explosion to widespread popularity, as his songs
enjoyed an enormous embrace, mainly by urban media outlets but also MTV and pop radio. The Atlanta-based
rapper went from local sensation to household name after Def Jam signed him to its Def Jam South subsidiary
in 2000. Def Jam gave Ludacris remarkable marketing push. Ludacris thus quickly became one of the rap
industry's most in-demand rappers, guesting on hits for everyone from Missy Elliott ("One Minute Man") to
Jermaine Dupri ("Welcome to Atlanta") when he wasn't dominating the urban market with his own hits, most
notably "What's Your Fantasy?," "Southern Hospitality," "Area Codes," and "Rollout (My Business)."
Before he became the Dirty South's most successful rapper, Ludacris DJed at an Atlanta
radio station. He used the opportunity to hone his craft on the mic, learn about the industry, and make a
name for himself throughout the Atlanta area, which had become the South's rap mecca starting in the
mid-'90s. Eventually, he began aspiring toward a career as a rapper rather than as a radio jock, and after
working with Timbaland -- appearing on the super-producer's Tim's Bio album (the original version of "Fat
Rabbit") in 1998 -- Ludacris began taking his rap career seriously. He recorded an album, Incognegro (2000),
and released it on his independently released Disturbing tha Peace label. Ludacris primarily worked with
producer Shondrae for the album, though also with Organized Noize to a lesser extent. Incognegro sold
impressively in Atlanta, where Ludacris was well known for his radio work.
Soon after Incognegro became the talk of Atlanta and "What's Your Fantasy?" became a
regional hit, Scarface came knocking. Def Jam had given the veteran rapper the go-ahead to scout for talent
in the South, since they wanted to start a Def Jam South subsidiary. Ludacris became Scarface's first
signing, and Def Jam re-packaged the tracks from Incognegro, along with a few new productions: a U.G.K.
collaboration ("Stick 'Em Up"), a Neptunes production ("Southern Hospitality"), and a remix of his previously
released song with Timbaland (retitled "Phat Rabbit"). Def Jam then gave the resulting album, Back for the
First Time (2000), substantial marketing push, choosing "What's Your Fantasy?" as the first single. "What's
Your Fantasy?" became an enormous success, opening the door for countless other truly "dirty" Dirty South
songs that would soon become the norm rather than the exception.
Following his initial breakthrough with "What's Your Fantasy?," Ludacris remained
ubiquitous. He toured the States with OutKast and released a flurry of successive hit singles. His second
album for Def Jam, Word of Mouf (2001), peaked at number three on the Billboard album chart in October and
hovered at the top of the charts for a long time. The proper Ludacris follow-up, Chicken -N- Beer, was
released in October 2003.
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