1 on the Billboard 200 chart and landed two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With Chicken-n-Beer, Ludacris scored his first no. “He came at a time when Atlanta didn’t know who its next artist was going to be.” “ became a promoter of hip-hop globally and he kept the lights on in Atlanta,” Zulu said. At the same time, the rapper’s witty lyrical style was also a nod to his appreciation of rappers such as Redman. They served as a visual depiction of the quintessential southern sound displayed throughout the album as a result of samples from William DeVaughn and Isaac Hayes on songs such as the chopped & screwed “Diamond in the Back,” produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J, and the DJ Nasty and LVM-produced album cuts “Southern Fried Intro.” Zulu said Chicken-n-Beer cuts such as “Hip-Hop Quotables” showed a continued effort on Ludacris’ part to prove that the success of Outkast and Goodie Mob as southern rappers wasn’t a fluke. By releasing “P-Poppin” as the first single from the album, followed by the controversial, explicit music video filmed in popular Atlanta strip club Magic City, Ludacris showed he was determined to stay true to his southern roots, criticism be damned.įilming a video in Magic City, naming an album Chicken-n-Beer and having the artwork display Ludacris seasoning a woman’s leg over a plate of chicken wings were all-important imagery, according to Disturbing tha Peace co-founder Chaka Zulu. In 2002, Bill O’Reilly convinced Pepsi to drop the rapper, who he referred to as 'a man who degrades women.” As his visibility increased, Ludacris had more to lose, but he stayed true to his image and the content he’d become known for, releasing sexy singles such as “Splash Waterfalls” and, with the video for “P-Poppin,” becoming one of the first mainstream rappers to create content for BET: Uncut. In the midst of success outside of music, Ludacris’ Chicken-n-Beer was a declaration to his fans that his crossover success wasn’t going to change who he was as an artist.

With Disturbing tha Peace handling the soundtrack for the film, joining the lucrative Fast & Furious franchise marked the beginning of a successful film career for the rapper.

(Tity Boi, of course, would go on to become 2 Chainz.) By the time Chicken-n-Beer was released in October 2003, the film 2 Fast 2 Furious, with Ludacris in his first starring role, had been released months earlier. Shawnna, Chingy, I-2,0 and a locally known rapper from College Park named Tity Boi were early signees to the label. By 2003, Ludacris had already released three albums, including Word of Mouf, which featured notable singles such as “Move Bitch,” “Area Codes,” 'Rollout (My Business)' and 'Saturday (Oooh Oooh!).' Fans were already familiar with the southern rapper’s cocky lyrics and humorous delivery, and he’d already launched his label Disturbing the Peace. Decades after the album was released, Ludacris remains one of the most inspiring stories of a rapper turned businessman.įrom Chris Lova Lova, the popular Atlanta radio host on Hot 97.5 (now 107.9), to independent artist, Ludacris was certainly no stranger to the music industry when he released Chicken-n-Beer. The standout cut “Blow It Out” found the rapper bragging about his increasingly diverse fanbase and calling out his detractors by name.

In 2003, Ludacris claimed he was the “new phenomenon like white women with ass” on the second cut from his fourth studio album Chicken-n-Beer and, well, he wasn’t lying.

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