Ludacris' family moved to Atlanta where he took part in many rap groups. He would partake in lyrical battles during lunchtime at Banneker High School, to the point that he would just skip eating altogether. He quickly got into the club scene and as he says, "I would show up at any venue that had an open mic."

An intern job at Atlanta's Hot 97 was his way of getting his foot in the door. He got to do his thing on promo spots. He later began co-hosting the night show "Future Flavors" with Poon Daddy and quickly earned a reputation in Atlanta's hip-hop community.

Ludacris was on a mission and he was saving his cash so that he could release his own album, “Incognegro,” which he did -- on his Disturbing the Peace label in early 2000. The album sold 30,000 copies and caught the interest of major record labels. Scarface was impressed and hooked up with Ludacris who agreed to sign with Def Jam South and they re-released his “Incognegro” disc as “Back For the First Time.”

He got help from ATL-based producers Organized Noize, Jermaine Dupri, and Timbaland. A cameo spot on Timbaland's "Phat Rabbit" from Tim's "Life from the Bassment" helped him gain notoriety. He also collaboed with Missy Elliott on "One Minute Man," with Jermaine Dupri on "Welcome To Atlanta" and on the Goodlife Album on the track "Fatty Girl" which was one of the bigger hits on the all-star record. All of these were smart moves as it kept his name on the charts.

He really came up when he dropped his second cd “Word Of Mouf” which hung at the number one spot on rap charts for several weeks. That album turned out hits such as "Rollout", "Area Codes", and "Saturday."