Ludacris is no stranger to making boss moves.
From Disturbing Tha Peace Records to Karma’s World Entertainment and The Ludacris Foundation, the hip-hop mogul has solidified his place as arguably one of the best emcees to come out of the South, while handling business every step of the way.
Ludacris, whose given name is Christopher Bridges, is among the class of musicians who have been able to show versatility across several industries. His work as a businessman, actor, lyricist, and the list could go on, made him the perfect match for Google’s latest initiative to support Black-owned businesses ahead of the holiday season.
Perfect Partnerships
“I like to partner with brands and elevate [them], especially when it comes to showing my own family and my children how entrepreneurship works and being able to come up with an idea and make that idea into a reality,” Ludacris told AfroTech in an exclusive interview. “So, being able to support Black businesses and all the impact that it’s having in all of the communities, especially since the pandemic – the rising rate of supporting Black businesses has gone up.”
He continued: “So that’s part of the reason I wanted to lend my voice to things that I know are supporting and doing positive things in the community.”
Lessons Learned From The Music Industry
As someone who has been in the music business for more than two decades, Ludacris admits that the information retained over the years goes hand in hand with his work as an entrepreneur.
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“A lot of it is kind of trial and error and you have to be able to take those risks,” he said. “People that are most successful are the risk takers so I think being able to share these stories and your successes and failures is also a big part of galvanizing the whole entrepreneur community so that we can learn from one another.”
Turning Black Friday Into Black-Owned Friday
Ludacris’ ability to combine his passion for music and business is the perfect combination for the Shop Black-owned Friday campaign with the world leading search engine and tech disruptor, Google, and the U.S. Black Chambers.
In true Luda fashion, he has unleashed an interactive music video, which will take viewers through a day in the life of Black owned businesses. Consumers can shop across 70 Black-owned businesses with over 100 products as they watch the visual. He’s also enlisted current rap sensation Flo Milli to help him bring the song to life.
Moving With Purpose
For the “Splash Waterfalls” emcee, making music for brands is a no brainer and something that he says has benefited his career tremendously.
“They’ve contributed to my success as an artist because people who are my fans, they also want to know who I am deep down and what I believe in and what I support,” said Ludacris. “So when they see me aligning myself with certain brands that I absolutely love as an individual. They get to know more about me as the person and the individual and hopefully love me even more because we have a lot of similarities. They know that I am doing things for a cause and not just to do.”
