Ludacris, whose real name is Christopher Brian Bridges, was born in Champaign, Illinois. He grew up there until he was nine-years-old when he moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
Ludacris doesn't talk about religion much. He's a Christian, but he's not over-the-top about it. He rarely says anything about his faith to the press, but his philanthropic foundation states that its programs are rooted in "spirituality," among other things.[1]
He talks about Jesus, God, and Christianity in a fair number of his songs. The song, "Do Your Time" in particular gives a clue to how important Christianity is to him:
You lookin' at a man that would/ die for his daughter, just to let her breathe/ And I'd definitely die for Jesus cause he died for me[2]
Speaking of his daughter, he named her Karma which would imply some sort of eastern philosophy, but chances are that's not where he was going with that.
All about Obama
One word could pretty much sum up Ludacris' political views: Obama. He's really into him. During Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Ludacris wrote a sort of ode to the candidate. The campaign quickly denounced the song, saying the rapper should be "ashamed."[3] It could have been that he called Hillary Clinton a bitch, or maybe it was this that made the campaign cringe:
Paint the White House black and I'm sure that's got 'em terrified/ McCain don't belong in any chair unless he's paralyzed/ Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped/ Ball up all of his speeches and just throw 'em like candy wrap.[4]
Ludacris has a history with Obama that started in 2006. The then-senator met with Ludacris to discuss "youth empowerment" while the rapper was in Chicago to launch a campaign to raise HIV and AIDS awareness among the city's youth.
And his support for the president hasn't waned during the 2012 campaign. Aside from the support he's shown Obama on his Twitter account,[5] Ludacris presented the president with a custom set of headphones at a fundraising event.[6] It appears the rapper is smitten.
But supporting Obama isn't the only liberal cause Ludacris supports. He is also involved in environmental, conservation, and climate change awareness.[7] His foundation, the Ludacris Foundation, works to empower youth through education and experience, and to "uplift families, communities and foster economic development."[8]
Regardless of which side of the aisle Ludacris sits on, he has a real desire to improve life for the citizens of this country. He summed up his views on philanthropy in a sober appeal to the National Press Club:
America has a great promise, but to me, it's a promise that's unfulfilled. Not everyone gets an equal chance at it, and some never get a chance at all. . . . Now it's not right that with all our resources every citizen is not afforded the opportunity to be the best that they can be if they want. . . . Our communities need fixing. Our systems are badly broken. We can't wait on the government, the institutions, social programming and policies alone to fix our communities.[9]
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