news archive

March 17, 2003 - Experience as a DJ has helped Ludacris navigate the politics of the music business, he tells Doug Elfman of the Las Vegas Review Journal. "It balanced me out. Before, I couldn't stand songs that were played on the radio. I was all about being underground," he says. But now "I understand what went into rotation, and things of that nature." Does that mean Ludacris developed a formula for making a hit song? "Not necessarily a formula," he says. "But I do know what people want to hear." Read more.

March 17, 2003 - Asked about O’Reilly, Ludacris at first seems bemused. "Who? Dale Earnhardt?" he asks Richard Abowitz of Las Vegas Weekly, before adding, "It was crazy that he singled me out. I figured it comes with the business. But I also took it personally since he didn’t know anything about me. To me, it seemed like he was a racist." Read more.

March 17, 2003 - Ludacris tells Jim Harrington of the San Francisco Examiner that he values his opportunities to perform before an audience. "Playing live is really important," he explains. "It's the equivalent of me having someone to talk to about all my problems. I feel like I vent when I get on stage. Whether I am in front of two people or 20,000 people, it's my way of venting out. All my music is basically what is going on in my life and how I feel. There are a lot of emotions that I throw out on stage -- especially when I am doing an hour's worth of songs. It's like a release. It makes me feel better." Read more.

March 15, 2003 - Russell Simmons was on Last Call with Carson Daly on Friday where after pimping his Phat Farm merchandise, he talked about his businesses, the controversy with Pepsi, Ludacris and Bill O'Reilly, his anti-war commercial that because of its graphic nature (dead Iraqi children) hasn't found a network to air it, and his thoughts on the war. Read on for a transcript.

March 13, 2003 - The Atlanta Braves baseball team is looking to bring in more fans this season. Therefore, they've invited some local celebrities to help out. Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys, Usher, and Ludacris, all living in Atlanta, have each recorded their own version of the classic baseball song 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame.' The players on the team will join in with the celebrities on the songs, which will air in TV ads on ESPN, MTV, VH1 and Atlanta's own TBS and Turner South. It doesn't stop there. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., D.L. Hughley, and Charles Barkley will all be guest pitchers for the Braves this season. Read more.

March 8, 2003 - Jimmy Magahern of the Phoenix New Times caught up with Ludacris for his thoughts on the Pepsi / Bill O'Reilly controversy and his reason to enlist Def Jam founder Russell Simmons to stand up for his cause. "Y'know, all this time I coulda been yappin' my mouth and saying bad things about them," Ludacris admits. "But I didn't. I just had a plan. I thought this issue was bigger than me, so I had to get somebody bigger than myself, you know, who had a voice on a whole 'nother level." Read more, including his thoughts on the edited versions of his albums here.

March 1, 2003 - The Dallas Observer spoke with Ludacris about how Pepsi dropped his ad deal the day after O'Reilly suggested a boycott over the cola company hiring a foul-mouthed pitchman. "Was I surprised?" Ludacris said. "Yeah, I was surprised, only because, you know, Pepsi knew about my lyrics before they signed me to the contract. And then all of a sudden, when the man came on television, that's when they decided to drop me. So yeah, that kind of surprised me. They didn't even talk to me. It just happened. Right after he did it, you know, I had to hear it on the news." Read more.

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