Ludacris delivers Chicken N Beer

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you saw a chicken drinking beer-perhaps laying under the tap of a keg with its beak wide open? I might microwave some popcorn and cheer the chicken to 50 Cents’ In da Club. Well, during an interview to promote his new album, Chicken N Beer, which dropped this Tuesday, Ludacris told the ‘Nique what he would say if he saw a chicken with beer-in-beak.

Rapper and actor Ludacris, born Chris Bridges 25 years ago, has come a long way since he appeared on the hip-hop scene with his first and second albums: Back for the 1st Time in 2000 and Word of Mouf in 2001. With album sales totaling over seven million and numerous awards, including Grammy nominations, Ludacris has proven to be a strong influence on the hip-hop community, especially here in the South.

While he studied music management at our neighboring university, Georgia State, Ludacris spent a lot of time interning at a radio station in Atlanta as a DJ. It was there that he learned a lot about how the music industry works.

“Being at the radio station, there was a lot of hands-on things and learning a lot of political stuff about the business,” Ludacris said.

One such entertainer was famous producer Timbaland. He took a day off his job at the radio station to head to Virginia and record a track with Timbaland. He used the excuse that he was having family problems.

“I tried that excuse when I forgot my girlfriend’s birthday-it didn’t quite work out as I expected,” he said.

Indeed, Ludacris did learn a lot at the radio station. So much that he went ahead and started his own label in order to take better charge of where he wanted to steer his career. Today, he is the CEO of Disturbing Tha Peace, based right here in Atlanta.

Chicken N Beer, the third installment from Ludacris, released Oct. 7, promises to be more versatile than anything he has done in the past. With guest MCs from his label such as Lil’Fate, Shawnna, Chingy, Tity Boi to I-20, 8-Ball and Snoop Dogg, the album is definitely star-packed.

The first single from the new album, Stand Up, is a party favorite. I did stand up in the club, and I love the way it encourages dancing as a contact sport. It’s an up-tempo track with beats that make you want to move your hips and shoulders like a soldier-turned-patriotic pimp. I love the track.

P’ Poppin is a stripper track featuring Shawnna. It has the usual dirty-South feel to it with lots of repetitive beats.

I am not a big fan of the track; however, I can’t seem to get the chorus out of my head. I keep seeing a mirage of stripper poles.

Inspirations for his album include women and “how life can be hard sometimes.... Some songs are based on my life, and where I am at my life now. Some songs are based on where I am trying to have fun, some songs are based on women.”

Ludacris also shed some light on peer-to-peer music sharing.

“They are trying to control it the best that they can. Like, I know Napster is coming back [to offer legal music downloads]...it should be a good outcome, especially knowing that artists are going to get paid and that’s what’s important. Of course, when people can get free downloads...for a new artist or some artists it can be a good and bad thing because sometimes it would get your music to people who wouldn’t normally listen to it,” he said.

On the other side of the fence, Ludacris founded a youth organization in 2000 called the Ludacris Foundation. It encourages the youth to achieve their dreams through music and arts.

Although he never graduated from Georgia State, he believes that a college education is very important because it “forces you to think by yourself and to think as an individual.”

In response to Bill O’Reilly’s claim that Ludacris is a bad influence on the American youth, Ludacris says on one of the tracks in his album: “Shout out to Bill O’Reilly, I’m throw you a curve.... Buy my beverage and it will calm your nerves.”

So what would Ludacris say if he saw a chicken drinking beer?

“Oh man, you’re killing me right now, I don’t know what the hell I would say,” he laughed.