Claim: Ludacris was on MTV.

Christopher Brian `` Chris '' Bridges -LRB- born September 11 , 1977 -RRB- , better known by his stage name Ludacris , is an American hip hop recording artist and actor . Alongside his manager , Chaka Zulu , Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace , an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings . Throughout his career , Ludacris has won Screen Actors Guild , Critic 's Choice , MTV , and Grammy Awards . Along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast , Ludacris was one of the first and most influential `` Dirty South '' rappers to achieve mainstream success during the early 2000s . In 2014 , Ludacris was featured in Forbes list titled `` Hip-Hop Cash Kings '' , as he earned $ 8 million . Next year , he could again make it to their list by earning the same amount .   Born in Champaign , Illinois , Ludacris moved to Atlanta at age nine , where he began rapping . After a brief stint as a disc jockey -LRB- DJ -RRB- , he released his first album Incognegro in 1999 , followed by Back for the First Time in 2000 , which contained the singles `` Southern Hospitality '' and `` What 's Your Fantasy '' . In 2001 , he released Word of Mouf , followed by Chicken-n-Beer in 2003 and The Red Light District in 2004 . He took a more serious approach with his next two albums , Release Therapy -LRB- 2006 -RRB- , and Theater of the Mind -LRB- 2008 -RRB- . His next record , Battle of the Sexes , was released in 2010 and featured the tone of his previous albums . Ludaversal was released on March 31 , 2015 . As an actor , he has appeared in films including Crash -LRB- 2004 -RRB- , Gamer -LRB- 2009 -RRB- , and New Year 's Eve -LRB- 2011 -RRB- , but is best known for playing Tej Parker in The Fast and the Furious film series .