MUSIC: Changing his tune

Photo: Christian Lantry

Ludacris’s moniker suited his style when he barged onto the national music scene six years ago. The Atlanta rapper’s cartoonish hair and exaggerated drawl, combined with his outlandish lyrics, made him one of hip-hop’s wildest characters. Bill O’Reilly had a big problem with 2001’s Word of Mouf, but while the establishment argued about ho’s and guns, Luda kept laughing. He returned in 2003 with an even more outrageous album, Chicken -N- Beer. At 28, he’s a successful film actor and CEO of his own Def Jam subsidiary, Disturbing tha Peace, but he still found time to make a new album—and a new image. A funny thing happened when TONY visited Ludacris’s suite at the W Times Square: The South’s most outlandish MC got serious.

You cut your hair! What happened to your big ’fro?

It was time for a change. I’ve had four albums with a lot of comic material, so I’ve gotten a lot of that stuff out of the way. If you don’t re-create yourself, you just kind of fade away. Cutting my hair is an extension of that change.

On your new album, Release Therapy, you talk a lot about the downside of being famous.

Envy breeds jealousy and jealousy breeds hate. People smile in your face but they’re not really happy for you. When I’m happy for you and you’re not happy for me, well, it makes me angry. That’s what brought out all the emotions on this album.

Talk about the concept of the record.

Originally it was about my release from my contract with Def Jam. This is my fifth album of a five-album deal. But then, when I started recording the songs, I was releasing what was on my mind, and it took on a new meaning.

On “Tell It Like It Is,” you talk about what really goes on in the hip-hop industry. Do you think some people are going to be disappointed that you’re all serious now?

So many kids have a false image of what being in the hip-hop game is like, and I’ve always been honest about it, but not this honest. Now I’m just, like, letting it go. ’Cause at this point, I don’t care what anyone thinks. My true fans are going to realize that and respect me for it.

There are party tracks, too, like “Money Maker,” the single you did with Pharrell.

That’s the other side of the concept. I also have “therapy” songs, the ones you hear when you go to the club. That’s therapy for a lot of people, letting go of the problems of the day when they go out drinking.

You became a controversial figure while making music that wasn’t really serious. Were you surprised to be in that position?

I was very surprised because I’m never the one to start things. This is other people coming at me.

On Chicken -N- Beer and The Red Light District, you took shots at Bill O’Reilly, and on this new record, you’re calling out Oprah, who has also expressed disapproval of your lyrics.

That’s just me defending myself. I don’t feel like anybody’s attacking me, but they definitely have in the past, and I’m always going to answer to that.

In the past couple of years, you’ve appeared in several films and TV shows. What made you think you could act?

To be honest with you, I didn’t really know. John Singleton asked me to try out for 2 Fast 2 Furious, and it wasn’t too much of a stretch, because I was comfortable in front of the camera. After that came Crash and Hustle & Flow. One was an Academy Award winner and the other was nominated. It was so crazy getting that kind of respect in Hollywood. It takes a lot of entertainers a long time to get there, but it only took me two years. Now I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do.

Are you ever going to quit music?

I think maybe I’ll stop being a rapper, but I’m a CEO now, and I think I will always want to have a music company to develop new artists. I don’t want to rap when I’m 40 years old or anything, but I feel like I could act until I die.

Some people think hip-hop is a way to get rich and famous, but once you’ve got that all locked up, what do you shoot for?

The next level is being comfortable in your own mind. I know I can buy damn near anything, but it doesn’t mean I have to go out and do it. A lot of people have false motivations. They want status and approval. They want to be around the richest people in hip-hop. Well, I’ve got all that, but I’m still hungry.

Release Therapy is out September 26.

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