Ludacris is a household name in hip-hop and has a multitude of rap anthems under his belt. From ‘Number One Spot’ off his album, Red Light District, to his underground hit ‘Stand Up’, Ludacris most definitely has some jams.
Ludacris created some fantastic music during his career with his debut album Back For The First Time, giving an authentic voice to the city of Atlanta for the first time. As a southern artist on the Def Jam South label, Ludacris, along with his cohort, Disturbing Tha Peace, was integral in bringing the ‘Dirty South’ experience to the world. With tracks such as ‘Southern Hospitality’ adding to the regional melting pot of hip-hop, Ludacris brought the slang and the vibes of the ATL to the masses.
Before fame, Ludacris was a personality on local Atlanta radio under the moniker Chris Lova Lova. The rapper brushed shoulders with super producer Timbaland while pursuing radio and would go on to feature on the producer’s track ‘Phat Rabbit’. With his debut mixtape, Incognegro circulating the Atlanta streets, Def Jam South would sign Ludacris and shop his debut album Back For The First Time. With good marketing and the city of Atlanta behind him, the album subsequently entered the charts at number four.
Between 2001 and 2003, Ludacris would go on to have great success through features. The rapper appeared on several successful tracks in this period, including ‘Gossip Folks’ by Missy Elliott and Jermaine Dupri’s ‘Welcome to Atlanta’. However, it was his 2003 album, Chicken-n-Beer, that really put Ludacris on the map as an artist and its second single came in the form of ‘Stand Up’.
‘Stand Up’ was produced by Kanye West and was Ludacris’ first number-one single. The track spent a total of 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Ludacris his first-ever Grammy nomination in the category of ‘Best Rap Solo Performance’. An official Kanye West remix was released. However, it was given exclusively to certain DJs and can only be heard on the Akademiks: JeaniusLevelMusikKanye West Vol. 2 and Kon The Louis Vuitton Don mixtapes.
As of 2023 ‘Stand Up’ has 46.6 million streams on the streaming service Spotify. You can listen to Ludacris’ punchy isolated vocals for the track in the video below.
