In 2000, Ludacris signed with Def Jam records and released his debut album, “Back for the First Time,” it went on to sell three million copies. His sophomore album “Word of Mouf,” released a year later, also sold more than three million units, earning the rapper multiple awards and nominations. Ludacris garnered national headlines when Fox News' outspoken conservative political commentator Bill O'Reilly bashed the rapper for lyrical irresponsibility and persuaded Pepsi to drop his lucrative endorsement deal. On his next album, 2003's huge-selling "Chicken N Beer," Ludacris fired back on songs such as "Blow It Out," in which he taunts his right-winged adversary with lines like, "…I’ma start my own beverage/it will calm your nerves/Pepsi, The New Generation/Blow it out ya ass." The controversy, the album and his appealing "2 Fast, 2 Furious" role vaulted Ludacris past his hip-hop roots and landed him on the pop cultural map, becoming a staple of MTV. Always more clever than clownish, the rapper stayed on top of his game with his 2004 follow-up "Red Light District," a hook-filled disc that brought his back to his rougher-edged roots, and he also appeared, along with Lil' Jon, on Usher's high-profile, mega-successful single and video "Yeah!" which was the hip-hop anthem of the year.
As an actor, Ludacris next had an impressive turn in the racially charged, multi-plot drama "Crash" (2005), playing the highly articulate and verbose Anthony, a young man acutely aware of the racial slights and stereotyping he endures on a daily basis in Los Angeles, yet who also plays to "type" as a gun-wielding carjacker. The actor made another fine and memorable appearance in “Hustle & Flow” (2005) as Skinny Black, a popular rapper and possible former acquaintance of a pimp (Terrance Howard) who suffers a mid-life crisis and shifts careers to become a rap star. “Hustle & Flow” emerged from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival aflutter with buzz, and Ludacris was praised for his strong performance opposite Howard in the film's key third act.