Off the Charts: Ludacris

Chicken and beer and Bill O'Reilly

By Newt Briggs

Multiplatinum Atlanta rhymesmith Ludacris isn't a particularly big man, but on the mic he exudes the overblown self-assurance of a comic book superhero. For this reason, it seemed a little like the clash of the titans when Bill O'Reilly used his "fair and balanced" news program to leverage Ludacris out of a profitable endorsement deal with Pepsi. In one corner, there was Ludacris, Captain Crunk, master of X-rated rhymes and conqueror of the ghetto booty. In the other, there was O'Reilly, the Moralizer, purveyor of punditry and spinster extraordinaire.

Initially, it seemed like O'Reilly landed a knockout blow with the soft drink coup (to add insult to injury, Ludacris was subsequently replaced by Ozzy Osbourne). But Ludacris struck back by tearing into O'Reilly with a series of sharp jabs on his latest album, Chicken-N-Beer. The record shot to the top of the Billboard 200, and Ludacris--still smarting from his fallout with Pepsi--got a second wind by inking a lucrative endorsement deal with Anheuser-Busch.

THE ROOST: Any rapper who goes platinum seven times ought to have a pretty pimped-out crib, and Ludacris lives in a suburban palace that would give even MC Hammer pause. Besides a basketball court and a personal fishing lake, his three-story, 15,000-square-foot Atlanta estate boasts a mini-movie theater--a basement structure fittingly titled the "Ludaplex." To keep it as real as possible, Ludacris outfitted the Ludaplex with a marquee, lighted movie posters and a glass candy display.

SOUTHERN FRIED: Ludacris was not the first controversial pop musician to be dumped by Pepsi. After Madonna released the "Like a Prayer" video in 1989, the beverage maker released her from her $5 million contract.

BREASTS AND THIGHS: On 2002's "Area Codes," Ludacris lists all the area codes in which he's gotten his freak on. Not surprisingly, 702 is included in the final chorus.

POPCORN: Ludacris' first mainstream movie role came in 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious, the sequel to the Vin Diesel sleeper hit of 2001. In the film, Ludacris plays Tej, the apparently self-appointed ruler of the South Beach street racing scene. Ludacris' next major film role will come in this year's L'il Pimp--a feature-length cartoon that stars Ludacris as the voice of Weathers, an obscenity-spewing gerbil.

WHITE MEAT: Bill O'Reilly has at least one ally in the battle against Ludacris: the National Alliance--a Casper, Wyo.-based white supremacist group. In February, members of the group began distributing fliers and lobbying to ban Ludacris' scheduled tour stop in the town. Strangely, they were not invited to appear in O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone."

ROTISSERIE: Before Ludacris became Dirty South's "Abominable Ho Man," he made his living spinning records under the name Chris Luva Luva at Atlanta radio station Hot 97.5.

CHICKEN FIGHT: Although Ludacris did not pursue legal action after being dropped by Pepsi, Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network did threaten a nationwide boycott of the cola company. In order to avoid a public fracas, Pepsi eventually donated $5 million to the Ludacris Foundation--a nonprofit organization that performs public services for underprivileged Americans.

FOWL MOUTH: From "Blow It Out": "Shout out to Bill O'Reilly, I'm-a throw you a curve/ You mad cause I'm a thief and got away with words/ I'm-a start my own beverage, it'll calm your nerves/ Pepsi's the New Generation--Blow it out ya ass!"