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Christopher Bridges (born September 11, 1977), better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age nine where he first began rapping. Starting out with a brief stint as a DJ, he formed his own record label, Disturbing tha Peace, in the late 1990s, and his first album Incognegro (1999). The album was repackaged and re-released for his major label debut Back for the First Time, after he signed with Def Jam Recordings. The singles "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell) and "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna), became top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the following years, Ludacris released the albums Word of Mouf (2001), Chicken-n-Beer (2003) and The Red Light District (2004), all of which were certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His next two albums Release Therapy (2006) and Theater of the Mind (2008), explored more serious content than its predecessors. His seventh album, Battle of the Sexes (2010), featured a return to the more lighthearted tone of his previous albums. Throughout his career, Ludacris scored two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist, "Stand Up" (featuring Shawnna) and "Money Maker" (featuring Pharrell), in addition to three chart-toppers as a featuring act, on Usher's "Yeah!", Fergie's "Glamorous" and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart". In 2010, he was featured on Justin Bieber's single "Baby", which became one of the highest-certified singles of all time in the US and a defining song in modern-day popular music.

As an actor, Ludacris is best known for his role as Tej Parker in the Fast and Furious film series, with his first appearance in the franchise coming in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). His other notable roles include Crash (2004), Gamer (2009), and New Year's Eve (2011). In 2021, Bridges created his own children's musical television series for Netflix known as Karma's World, in which he also served as a voice actor. Ludacris is also a private pilot.

He is often cited as one of the first Dirty South rappers to achieve mainstream success in the 21st century, with several commercially and critically successful studio albums. Throughout his career, Ludacris has won three Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critic's Choice Award and an MTV Video Music Award.

A day before his Saturday Night Live musical guest debut, he made a cameo on May 1, 2004, the eighteenth episode of Season 29, hosted by actress Lindsay Lohan, where he joined Usher's performance of "Yeah".

He made his official musical guest debut, as well as his 2nd appearance, along with Sum 41, which is also made their second musical guest stint on January 22, 2005, the tenth episode of Saturday Night Live's 30th season, hosted by actor Paul Giamatti, where he performed "Get Back" and "Number One Spot".

He returned to Saturday Night Live and pulled up his double duty as both host and musical guest on November 18, 2006, the sixth episode and Thanksgiving show of Saturday Night Live's 32nd season, where he performed "Money Maker" and "Runaway Love" (where he was later joined by Mary J. Blige).

He returned to Saturday Night Live on November 22, 2008, the ninth episode of Season 34, hosted by country singer Tim McGraw, where he performed "One More Drink" and "Chopped & Skrewed" with T-Pain.

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