Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris on the rep carpet
Written by | Ray Cornelius
Three-time Grammy-winning hip-hop star Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges hosted a Fast and Furious 6 Fan Fest and Celebrity Race last night at Atlanta’s Andretti’s Indoor and Games. The event was in support of his high-octane film, Fast & Furious 6 which hits theaters May 24.
The event was attended by hundreds of Atlanta youth as well as a number of Luda’s celebrity friends including Grammy-winning producer Jermaine Dupri, Big Boi, TLC’s Chilli and T-Boz, and Trina & Towanda Braxton from WE tv’s “Braxton Family Values.” Each celebrity served as a team captain for kids that raced around the indoor track. Greg Street of Atlanta’s Big station, V-103 hosted the event and provided sounds plus a live broadcast from the sidelines. Participants also enjoyed unlimited arcade games, free food and drinks.
“Team Luda” posing with Ludacris Foundation president Roberta Shields
Before the race, Luda sat down with members of the Atlanta press. Because he was not at liberty to discuss the Fast 6 film, he did talk about plans to release his much anticipated album, Ludaversal and hinted at a possible tour.
“My eighth studio album is called Ludaversal and will be out this year. We had to get all of this movie stuff out of the way and we’re now going full throttle. I say Ludaversal because it’s like welcoming everybody into my world. It’s intimate. It’s a lot of personal stuff in there and you get the Ludacris that everyone loves. It’s the fun music, the women songs and party songs. It’s a little bit of everything. I also plan to tour later on this year as well.”
The rapper, who says he’s been listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar, is also excited about seeing fellow artists Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake on their summer tour. Ludacris also plans to open a Chicken-n-Beer themed-restaurant at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The restaurant is named after his 2003 album and will open on Concourse D by the end of the year. When I asked him about other film projects, he indicated that he would be interested in a biopic but hasn’t found the right person. However, he did promise that he would have an answer the next time he and I talked. I’m gonna hold him to that.
Check out some photos below from the red carpet and more:
V-103 Afternoon host Big Tigger
Bad Girls Club Atlanta star Stephanie George with Andre
WNBA star Jennifer Lacy
Big Boi and son Bamboo
Emerging artist Jade Novah
Chilli and T-Boz of TLC
recording artist and actor Jacob Latimore
BFV stars Trina and Towanda Braxton
Grammy-winning songwriter Cri$tyle
DJ Baby Yu
DJ Fadelf and wife HGTV star Egypt Sherrod
Ludacris
