Q&A: Ludacris

Six albums in, Ludacris wants to be considered one of hip-hop's best lyricists. Which seems a little odd since the Atlanta native has already racked up five platinum albums, sold almost 13 million records, and won the Best Rap Album Grammy for 2007’s Release Therapy. Then again, maybe some people think Luda’s gone Hollywood, having landed roles in Crash, Hustle & Flow and Max Payne. Ready to prove that he still lives and breathes rap, Cris is back with Theater of the Mind, which aims to be a sonic blockbuster, and features Jay-Z, Nas, Chris Brown, T-Pain, T.I., Rick Ross, Chris Rock and Spike Lee. Rhapsody recently got Ludacris on the phone to discuss recording with DJ Premier, dropping Theater ...  on the same day as Kanye West and the Killers released their new albums, and collaborating with his one-time adversary T.I.

Rhapsody: When you first made “I Do It For Hip-Hop,” did you have Jay and Nas in mind?
Ludacris: I definitely had Nas and Jay in mind. It took me a minute to get everything worked out. I put my verse on there and then felt like it would be great to put them both on this song. I laid my verse down a while ago. It took a while to come together. I think I laid my verse like four months ago. Jay laid his verse last, and as soon as he did, we mixed that thing and threw it out there. It was the very last song to get made for my album.

It took four months to get Jay and Nas on it?
Yeah, ‘cause everybody’s schedule was kind of wild. But it didn’t take four months to get them because I had to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with it [once they agreed to be on the song]. I knew it was one of them classic songs if I could put it together right. So, even though I had them in mind, I took time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do.

Were you with either of them when they laid down their verses?
Nah, I wasn’t able to be with them. But I was definitely talking to them on the phone when they were laying their verses, making sure that everything was right.

Who would’ve been your back-ups if you hadn’t been able to get Jay and Nas?
I can’t really say because there may be some more versions later on because there are a lot of motherf*ck*rs that do it for hip-hop. Believe that.

How did working with DJ Premier on “M.V.P.” come about?
I went to D&D Studios [to meet with him], but that’s not where we originally came up with the song that’s on the album. I was in Toronto, and I had a lot of off-time from shooting the movie Max Payne. Premier came up to Toronto and we knocked that thing smooth out. He constructed them sh*ts right in front of me. We came up with three different beats. That was the one I loved the most. I recorded to it and it was history from there. I loved working with DJ Premier. Been wanting to work with him. First Southern artist to do so, too.  

But he produced “Doobie Ashtray” for Devin the Dude in 2003.
Oh, sh*t. I’m a Devin The Dude fan, too. I have heard “Doobie Ashtray” and that’s crazy because I love that song. Now that you say that, it makes me realize. But I never knew Premier did it. Well then, dammit, there you have it. I’m the second Southern artist to get a DJ Premier joint. [Laughs.]

Why do you think it took so long for you and Premier to work together?
It’s just about finding the right song. Sometimes you have to wait for the right time and opportunity to put something on the project that’s gonna make sense. And when you listen to this album, I swear to you, the last five songs are straight hip-hop in the sense of what I feel like a lot of people are kind of missing. When I say missing, I just mean they’re longing for it. They’re waiting for that sound that kind of brings them back to when they first fell in love with hip-hop music.

Does it concern or frustrate you that your singles leading into this album “What Them Girls Like” and “One More Drink” haven’t necessarily been blockbuster hits like “Moneymaker” or “Stand Up”?
Nah, it doesn’t concern me at all because I feel like in the world today, it’s important that you put a couple of singles out there as opposed to just trying to have one blockbuster song. These days, of course consumers understand that they wanna get their money’s worth. That being said, they gotta make sure it’s a complete project. Basically I’m just letting people know this is a complete project by giving you little tidbits and snippets of songs that I have on this album as opposed to having one really big blockbuster hit.

You’re dropping on the same day as Kanye and the Killers. Was that done on purpose?
It wasn’t. I had an album release date. Mine got pushed back a little because I had a couple songs that we were waiting to clear the samples for. Then Kanye set the date. He stayed there. Killers were always on that date. It was just something that fell into line the way it was. No one was going to move from that date, so I just feel like it’s going to be an exciting day for people.

Speaking of Kanye, it seems like he’s been having a lot incidents with the paparazzi. Do you feel like they’ve become more of a nuisance as of late?
I kind of move like a crook so I don’t really have too many of those experiences. But I definitely do hate when they’re invading my personal space or getting a little too close. Or they get rude with it. To each his own I guess. I would’ve had to have been in the situation to see if I would’ve done the same things Kanye did. But I’m just saying for me, I move differently. I don’t just go into the front entrance to clubs where I know paparazzi will be. [Laughs.]

What were you doing when you found out Barack got elected?
I was in St. Louis on promo tour for the album and was watching it live on television. I was just loving that I was witnessing history at that particular moment in time. And I know for the rest of my life, I’ll remember where I was and how I felt when it happened. It was just extremely overwhelming for me. It was almost surreal. It was definitely something that took a couple of days. I’m still kind of relishing in that moment in just knowing that we have the first African-American president and seeing how far African-Americans have come.

What was it like being on The Martha Stewart Show doing origami?
I was on there promoting that I had a restaurant, Straits, that had a dish, Origami Sea Bass. She’s just as gangsta as they put her out to be. [Laughs.] It was cool being on the show because she seemed to be real down to earth. We chopped it up about a lot of different things. She wanted to go have a drink afterwards. I didn’t get a chance, but I got a rain check.  But that’s basically what we were talking about, how much she loved the food from the restaurant and how she has to make sure she comes down if she comes to Atlanta.

What was it like finally getting in the studio and working with T.I.?
Everything was cool ‘cause people were making it out to be something that it wasn’t. We see each other in passing all the time. Once we got in the actual work, we were both just two focused individuals. We knocked out [“Wish You Would” and “On Top of the World”] quick. You never know, there might be some more stuff to come. From what I’m hearing, people are loving both songs. [T.I.’s] album is out, so a lot of people are hearing the one with B.o.B., and as far as “Wish You Would,” that’s just some street sh*t. But we might have to try and have a number one hit as opposed to some street sh*t. Maybe we can complete the spectrum and just do more work together and have more than one type of song out there. But I feel like the ones we’ve done are solid.

Comments

[willie]

the don cannon beat, "everybody hates chris" is hot...and wyldflyers "last of a dying breed" could have been one of the hottest rap tracks in a year or so but wayne ruin's it with his disjointed all over the map syrup sipping bullsh*t..damn you wayne

*fist in the air*

[Swag Diesel]

I thought Cee-lo Had a Ranjahs Jawn? Not to mention "Evening News".

[GS]

what dem girls like is hot,tha beat,tha flo's,tha rhymes,is just tha bomb,and is got an award in the next coming music award.believe this