Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (/ˈluːdəkrɪs/), is an American rapper and actor. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he first began rapping. Starting out with a brief stint as a DJ, he formed his own record label, Disturbing tha Peace in the late 1990s to independently release his debut studio album Incognegro (1999). After its single, "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna), became a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the album was re-released by Def Jam Recordings as his major label debut, Back for the First Time (2000). The latter album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned his second top 40 single, "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell).

Ludacris' subsequent albums— Word of Mouf (2001), Chicken-n-Beer (2003) and The Red Light District (2004)—were each met with continued success, receiving multi-platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His fifth and sixth albums, Release Therapy (2006) and Theater of the Mind (2008), explored more serious subject matter than its predecessors. His seventh album, Battle of the Sexes (2010), featured a return to the more lighthearted tone of his earlier albums. Throughout his career, Ludacris has scored two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist: "Stand Up" (featuring Shawnna) and "Money Maker" (featuring Pharrell), as well as three singles which did so as a guest performer: Usher's "Yeah!" in 2004, Fergie's "Glamorous" in 2007, and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart" in 2009. The following year, he guest featured on Justin Bieber's single "Baby", which remains one of the highest-certified singles of all time in the United States.

Ludacris is cited as one of the first Dirty South rappers to achieve mainstream success in the early 2000s. He is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Award and an MTV Video Music Award. Outside of music, he has portrayed the character Tej Parker in the Fast & Furious film series—first appearing in its second film, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). His other notable acting roles include Crash (2004), Gamer (2009), and New Year's Eve (2011). In 2021, he created and starred in the children's animated series Karma's World for Netflix. Ludacris is also a private pilot.

Bridges was born in Champaign, Illinois, and moved to Oak Park as a teenager. After attending Oak Park River Forest High School in ninth grade, Bridges moved to Centreville, Virginia, and attended Centreville High School for one year. He attended Banneker High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated in 1995. From 1998 to 1999, he studied music management at Georgia State University. His great-great-grandfather was a Choctaw. In an interview with A. J. Jacobs, Bridges learned that his great-grandmother had said one of his great-great-grandfathers, who is a white Englishman, was probably Jewish. Bridges is also a distant cousin of the comedian Richard Pryor. He wrote his first rap song at age nine when moving to Atlanta and joined an amateur rap group three years later.

Ludacris served as an intern and a DJ at Atlanta's Hot 97.5 (now Hot 107.9) under the name "Chris Lova Lova". During his radio career, Ludacris met music producer Timbaland, whose album Tim's Bio: Life from da Bassment would feature Ludacris on the track "Phat Rabbit" (credited as Ludichris). Speaking with MTV's hip hop show Direct Effect in 2000, Ludacris explained his stage name was a play on the word "ludicrous".

In 1999, Ludacris released his debut album Incognegro through his independent label Disturbing tha Peace. Def Jam South would later repackage Incognegro with some new songs added into Ludacris's major label debut Back for the First Time in 2000. The album reached number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 and included the singles "What's Your Fantasy" (featuring Shawnna) and "Southern Hospitality" (featuring Pharrell Williams), which respectively reached no. 21 and 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2001, Ludacris contributed the hit single "Area Codes" (featuring Nate Dogg) to the soundtrack to the film Rush Hour 2. It was also included on his next album, Word of Mouf, released later that year. The Word of Mouf lead single "Rollout (My Business)" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance in the 2003 Grammy Awards. Two other singles reached the Hot 100 in 2002: "Saturday (Oooh! Ooooh!)" featuring Sleepy Brown peaked at no. 22, and "Move Bitch" featuring Mystikal and I-20 peaked at no. 10.

Ludacris also had guest spots on hit singles throughout 2001 and 2002, such as Jermaine Dupri's "Welcome to Atlanta" that peaked at no. 35 on the Hot 100 and no. 15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Ludacris was among multiple featured rappers on "Bia' Bia'" by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, which peaked at no. 47 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in August 2001. In the last week of 2002, "Gossip Folks" by Missy Elliott featuring Ludacris was released as a single, and it peaked at no. 8 on the Hot 100 in March 2003.