The Jordan Harbinger Show - 623: Ludacris | Fast & Philanthropic

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

Ludacris (@Ludacris) is a Grammy-winning rapper, a SAG award-winning actor known for roles in Crash, The Simpsons, and the Fast & Furious franchise, and the philanthropic founder of Kid Nation and The Ludacris Foundation. What We Discuss with Ludacris: Does Ludacris really own a car from every Fast & Furious movie in which he's appeared? What was Ludacris' initial rap name? Is Ludacris the Where's Waldo of hip-hop history? How has Ludacris maintained much of the same support team over the past couple of decades -- all without written contracts? The pandemic's silver lining for famous people: it's a lot easier to maintain anonymity in public when you're encouraged to wear a mask everywhere. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/623 Sign up for Six-Minute Networking -- our free networking and relationship development mini course -- at jordanharbinger.com/course! Miss our two-part conversation with the Danish family man who infiltrated the illicit North Korean arms trade? Catch up beginning with episode 527: Ulrich “The Mole” Larsen | Undercover in North Korea Part One here! Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is sponsored in part by Conspiruality Podcast. You know how I'm always talking about critical thinking and spotting manipulation? Well, there's a podcast that's all about dismantling new age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy med yogis, basically the wild overlap of spirituality and misinformation. It's called the Conspiruality Podcast. The hosts, a journalist, cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic, dive deep into how this stuff spreads, from Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation's dystopian vision of the future to how former leftists get pulled into far-right conspiracies.

An interesting episode to check out is called Speaking Truth to Goop, where Jen Gunter breaks down the pseudoscience behind the wellness industry in a way that is super entertaining and eye-opening. It's sharp, funny, and makes you a lot harder to fool, which, if you listen to this show, you know I'm all about that. From exploring cults to analyzing our cultural and political landscape, the Conspiratuality Podcast will help you stay informed against misinformation and resist fear tactics.

Find Conspirality on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Coming up next on the Jordan Harbinger Show. You're right, I flew into an airport, and this was kind of when I first got the plane. Your wheels up with your homies and your friends, and then you land, and you go somewhere like Fort Lauderdale or Miami, where, or Las Vegas,

and you are looking to your right and looking to your left, and there's all these damn golf streams and challengers and fucking planes that are twice, three, four times the size of my plane, and I'm looking out here. I'm just like, just when you think you have money, there's always, it's just the world is going to check you and make you realize that there's other people out here that are bawling way harder than you are. Welcome to the show. I'm Jordan Harbinger. On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets and skills are the world's most fascinating people. We have in-depth conversations

with astronauts, entrepreneurs, spies, psychologists, even the occasional extreme athlete, neuroscientist, or underworld figure, And each episode turns our guest's wisdom into practical advice you can use to build a deeper understanding of how the world works and become a better critical thinker. If you're new to the show, welcome. We have episode starter packs. These are collections of top episodes organized by topic. They'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show.

You can help other people get into the show that way as well. Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start to get started. And those playlists are on Spotify as well. Today on the show, he's won three Grammys and an MTV music video award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics Choice Award. He's known for his humor and verbal dexterity. You've seen him in Fast and the Furious, and if you've got any taste and or skills,

you've sung some of his songs in karaoke. But before all this, he sold albums out of the back of his trunk for years. The dude is a real hustler, excited to talk to the one and only ludicrous live from Ellen DeGeneres's Kitchen. Really? Why does that somehow not surprise me? If you're wondering how I manage to book all these great authors, thinkers, and creators every week, it's because of my network and I'm teaching you how to build your

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Now, here's Ludacris. I heard you buy a car from every single Fast and Furious movie, by the way. Every single one except for when we shoot in London, where the steering wheel is on the other side of the car. Yeah, I don't bring those home. I was going to ask if you did that. Otherwise, it's like you're driving like a mail truck Ferrari, like with the steering wheel on the wrong side. I assume they give you a deal on it, right? Like, this was jumped off a third story of a parking structure into a swimming pool,

so it's got some cosmetic damage. Trunk full of chicken breast from John Cena's protein. You are a smart man. They definitely give me one hell of a deal on all of those cars. That's why I asked for it. But I can tell you somebody who's even more fortunate than I am when it comes to these cars. I might actually pay a little something for these cars. I think Vin is pretty much given a car or two from every single movie. And from what I understand, he has just a storage, like garage of so many damn cars that are pretty much brand new, as opposed to. to the ones that I'm buying used. So the perks of being the producer and star of the Fast and Furious franchise. Of course, there's always levels that you have to build to. So I think that that is my motivation to one day not have to pay for anything. And they're just giving me cars.

And I have a whole big-ass garage somewhere in some cities just stored up. Nice. You might have to pay for the garage, though. Yeah. Now, you didn't want to be an actor initially, right? Like, you don't have acting training. You weren't trying to be, like, you didn't. rap's not like a detour on the way to acting.

I mean, not deliberately, right? Not deliberately. When I was shooting a lot of videos, which I have so much fun with my videos, man, just always just exaggerated, as ludicrous means, beyond crazy, wild, ridiculous. You know, it's a form of acting because I'm acting out the words

that I've written to these songs, and I think that John Singleton, man, may, he rest in peace. He kind of saw something in those videos. And this is a man who took, you know, ISQ, put him in boys in the hood, and took Tyrese, put him in baby boys. So he has an eye for people in music and putting them in film.

Once he made me try out for too fast a series, I got the bug, man. It was all history from there. You wrote your first rap at age nine. Do you still have that song somewhere? I wish I did, man. I don't know what happened to that song. I think I don't even know if I ever recorded it. I just remember it because it was just me saying it to my friends.

And I actually had to rhyme with girlfriends. So I actually lied and said I was 10 because the first. first song was, I'm cool, I'm bad, I might be 10, but I can't survive without my girlfriend. So the exaggeration started at the age of nine, and you go, fake it till you make. Fake it to you make, right, exactly. All right, that makes sense. Were you ludicrous back then, or did you have like a more kid friend, more even ridiculous kid name back then? Oh, believe it or not, this will definitely make you laugh. I had Chris Kringle as a name. So once I started having enough songs about Christmas raps. Yeah, once I had enough Christmas in Santa Claus,

I was rap, so I was like, there's got to be something more to this. There's got to be a name that cannot limit myself. I came up off of Chris Cringle after one season, pretty much. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, it's like a seasonal thing. You can't really make a whole career off Chris Cringle. I mean, I guess you could have gotten away with it, but it's unwise branding. It all come back because I feel like I need to put out some Luda Christmas, some CDs.

So, you know, everything comes full circle. So one day I'm going to put out holiday Luda Christmas songs. We'll take it back to the Chris Cringle Day. I think that's great. Look, Mariah has made about a lot of houses and boats off her Christmas song, man. That's the gift that keeps on giving. For sure, for sure. Your music has studied the test of time, but you've got four daughters now, right?

Hip-hop, not the most female-friendly music genre in many ways. Has having daughters made you think about this a little bit more? You know, I think that having children, not just daughters, will make you understand the separation between something that has a parental advisory sticker on it and children's music. You know, it's like the difference between. Eddie Murphy doing stand-up, comedy, Raw, and also being the voice of the donkey on Shrek, or same thing with Chris Rock. You know, so things of that nature.

It's kind of like I have created something called Karma's World, which is inspired by my oldest daughter and all of my daughters, to be honest. And it comes out on Netflix on October 15th, man. And so to me, there's a difference between Ludacris, which is adult music and something that I also provided to balance out all. of these things, which I actually do the music for as well with the team of mine, for children's music, man. So that's what the evolution of Chris Bridges is all about. Carmer's World, October 15th, 191 countries, 22 languages. I couldn't be happier, man. That's the latest project for all of the

children to help inspire, uplift, and especially the young girls out there. It's important to see that sort of creativity come full circle. And I know Kobe Bryant, when I spoke with him on this show, he was also creating for his kids and for his daughter especially, and it's kind of an interesting full circle with me having kids as well. Like, it makes me wonder what I'm going to create for my kids later because it's such an indelible part of your life that it can't not make a part of your brand. Like, it's impossible to compartmentalize those things for most guys, I think. If you fight it, then you're fighting your own evolution, man.

You know, if you don't evolve, you'll evaporate. That's how I feel. I heard you write a lot in the car, which actually makes a lot of sense, kind of like how people get great ideas in the shower or like when they're, jogging or something, but I assume one of the tests for your writing is making yourself laugh. Like, otherwise, how do you arrive at, like, some of your lyrics are laugh out loud funny, and I won't rap here and make you cringe. But, like, you got, I assume when you come up with something and it makes you laugh out loud,

that's part of the, what makes, the signal that lets you know that this should be something you use. Oh, yeah, absolutely, man. You always get that, you tickle yourself because that's how you become your own biggest fan sometimes. It's like, you're like, where does this stuff come? from. And it lets you know, humbly speaking, that you're the medium between the higher power and the microphone that you're saying these rhymes into. But yes, to answer your question, when I laugh to myself, I'm just like, damn, that's a good line. That's when I know it sticks. I heard you rap in your sleep sometimes. Is that, one, that's disturbing to find out that. I assume,

like, you find that out from your girlfriend or something, and it's probably not super relaxing for whoever you're with. But is it good rap or is it just nonsense? Like on a scale from ludicrous to probably shouldn't compare you to anyone else. But like, is it good? Or what's the lyrical quality of sleep rap? That rumor came from my wife. She was with me when I shot the How Low Can You Go video?

And sometimes when you shoot videos, obviously, you're doing texts over and over and over and over again. You're having a mouth of the word. So that entire day, how low, can you go? That's all I was saying, of course, with my verses. And we had to get on a plane that night because I'm sure I had something to do the next day. I just don't remember exactly what it was. But she was next to me, obviously, in first class.

And I was just, I fell asleep and I was still moutling the worst. So that's where the rumor of me rapping in my sleep came from. I don't do that on a normal basis. I just happened to shoot a video that day. Okay. So that's what that was. I wondered if maybe you had super creative boosts like in your sleep from just being exhausted and then, you know, having some genius thing pop up,

write it down when you wake up. But yeah, it makes sense that it's from rehearsals and you're just going through like sleep verses. There you go. I think it was Jay-Z who said in part, among other people, I think Charlemagne said it too. You don't get credit for your bars, right? Like you have lyrical creativity that's really high,

but then you also have videos with so many visuals, special effects. Missy Elliott had sort of a similar thing going. Do you think that's the case that you don't get credit for your bar sometimes because of the visuals? It occurred to me that, you know, I felt that was underrated, but it didn't occur to me exactly why on a mass scale until Jay-Z kind of put it into perspective for me. Because, you know, he was saying the same thing, like you said, I don't get enough credit for the lyrical.

But he's like when your videos are so visual and there's so much visually stimulating things going on, that sometimes that can distract a little bit from people just catching every metaphor and catching every word. So then it opened my eyes. I was like, man, you know what? I never really even thought about it like that. And it's kind of true. And that's not to say that everybody feels that way, but I can understand how some people may tend to overlook certain things when it's just so, I love his videos.

These videos are so dope. They're so creative. It's like, you hear what I'm saying, but do you really hear what I'm saying? So, yeah, that's how I feel about that. Did you ever have those Where's Waldo books as a kid? You know what I'm talking about? I did, man. Well, you had to find Waldo.

Yes, I did have to find. So I have a point to this stupid observation, by the way. But like your songs are like those books. Remember when you're looking for Waldo, but then you see some other funny thing in there, and then you see some other funny thing in there, and then there's a bunch of all this stuff going on, and it's all entertaining.

And then you redo the book with somebody else, or you don't remember it, and you see new stuff every single time you look that you didn't notice before. I feel like that's a lot of what I take from some of your verses. Hey, man, listen, I'll take it however I can get it, man. I'm not one that dwells upon the fact of all of those things. I just love that I've carved out what I feel is a chapter in hip-hop history.

And I'm still going, man. I'm still evolving. So I don't take any of this stuff personal. I appreciate all compliments. And I take some of the negative. How else would I grow? Man, life is about balance. It's about continuing to be a better you than you were yesterday.

And I'm very aware of that. And I think that a lot of stuff is just superficial out here. I try not to get caught up in the nonsense, man. I just stay the fuck out the way, as I always say, because focus is the most important thing that we're losing nowadays. There's too many distractions, man. Too many distractions. That is definitely the case.

I have some questions about that later on in the show, but I do want to talk about your diamond and ruby encrusted GIF peanut butter chain that opens and has real GIF peanut butter inside it. Because who designs that stuff, first of all? And do you go to the driller? And he's like, let me make sure I know what you're asking me here. You want a diamond chain that's a jar of JIF peanut butter, but you want actual peanut butter to go inside it just in case you need some Jif, right?

So, okay, that'll be $200,000. Like, what's, how does that process work? That's funny. I did a Jiff commercial man or Jif peanut butter commercial, and just to give you a little bit of a backstory. Just so that people know, they came to me with an idea, you know, to do a commercial. And nowadays, in my lifestyle, after everything that I've gone through

and all the different, you know, deals that I've made, I'm to a point where I really only want to do business with products that I actually use and it's organic to my everyday lifestyle. I work out a lot and that's, you know, peanut butter is a healthy fat, but I've been eating peanut butter since I was a kid, man, especially Jif. And so with that being said, they came to me. I was immediately like, oh, my gosh, I eat peanut butter every day. That's the one thing that I can never get tired of was we all have.

And we made this commercial if you haven't seen it, people have to look it up. Yeah, we'll link it in the show notes. it goes right along with the whole ludicrous brand and lifestyle of exaggeration and accentuation. And when they did that, we also had an idea to make a Jif chain. And there's a company here in Atlanta, Georgia, Icebox Jury. They do a lot of people's jury. And they came up with the idea of being creative to have it open up and have actual peanut butter in the chain. So that was their idea.

And when they handed it to me, I was like, yo, this is crazy. So it was all a part of a commercial process that had to do with the Jif. commercial. What's the price tag on a jiff, an iced out jar of jiff? Like, do you have any idea? I don't know, man, but I would say that the peanut butter inside and what it can do for your body and your mind and spirit is probably worth more than the actual diamonds on the outside of it, man. It's just the potential of what can happen when you have peanut butter at your disposal like that at every given moment around your neck. That's how I feel. I think they chose the right spokesperson for jiff, if I had been. I think that was well handled. I know you've had the same,

team for a very long time. And I know firsthand, this is hard for artists to do. Often you got to fire and recruit a new manager, production folks, administrative people, people you can trust with your career and also your money and having the right people around you is one of the biggest challenges. How have you managed to maintain the same folks around you for so long? There's obviously some skill there. Yeah, I mean, the short answer of that would just be honesty, communication, integrity, for the most part, that's what I would say. I think that I can't speak for everyone because everybody has different situations. Sometimes, you know, you get into a partnership with people and you don't realize their true intentions or who they truly are or how their business acumen is.

But I can honestly say that I was lucky in strategic and choosing the right team of partners around me at a young age where, you know, sometimes when you're young, you may not be having the best judgments for longevity in terms of people you choose around you. Somehow the universe just conspired for us to continue working together. We never even signed a contract together, man. And, you know, like you said, it's been over two decades. So that's something that's very rare in the industry. Wow.

So shout out to Ebony's son. My partner, Shokazoo, and Jeff Dixon, man. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Yeah, 20 years no written. contracts. I mean, I guess if you've been in the business for long enough, you know that a contract is just a, it's not even worth the paper. It's written on in a lot of places, and it's too much of a pain to enforce. It's actually better to have a handshake deal with people that you can trust. How do you choose who you work with and who to trust? Like, how do you evaluate those people? I was talking to

Shaquille O'Neal. He has a panel, right, of like people he trusts, like his uncle, his mom, one of his coaches. Rick Ross looks for people who have extra initiative, like, without him telling them what to do. they do it automatically. Does anything come to mind? Because obviously a lot of people are trying to get your attention and work with you. Yeah, I mean, something comes to mind for me. I don't know if anyone has ever said this, but I'll go off the beaten path a little bit. For me, it's the energy. It's energy in person that you feel that you can tell every human being has these capabilities, some people more than others. Really, everyone has it the same. It's just about what you allow yourself to be open to when it comes to the energy and the force fields around us.

For me, that's the biggest thing. You can instantly tell someone who you know without even being able to describe it in words of someone that you just don't want to fuck with or can't be around. And then it's the same thing. There's something that's intriguing. That's just good spirit, great energy and positive energy that comes around you. You know, sometimes it can be misleading. I'm not saying this is the case all the time. But I feel like if I were ever to use the word judge, I feel like, I would ever use the word judge,

I feel like I'm a damn good judge of energy. That's what I would say. Yeah, I think that needy vibe that people have or that over-promised kind of vibe that you must have seen a million times by now, both in Hollywood and the music industry. You're in like two of the shadiest kind of industries where there's the shadiest number of people flying through their face all the time. Like you've got experience with that at this point.

Absolutely, man. No, you said it, man. You said it right. It's a lot of cutthroats. And, you know, again, as we started off this conversation, I try not to take those things personal because if you really think about it, everyone has a job and they have to answer to someone else.

They're trying to cover their own ass. They're trying to make sure they don't get fired. They have families to feed. So it's almost like they're just, for the most part, doing their job, man. And it's like you can't take anything but so personal. Once you understand what they're up against, you just have the choice to go around them, go above them,

things like that. And you don't necessarily have to deal with people on the level in which they are forced to deal with you. That's the best way that I can say. You're listening to The Jordan Harbinger Show with our guest, Ludacris. We'll be right back. Thank you so much for listening to and supporting the show. I love that you love what we love to talk about.

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Please consider supporting those who support us. Now, back to Ludacris. Yeah, well, now you have leverage, right? You have the choice of who and what you want to work on and who you want to work with as well. How did you learn the business savvy and skills initially? Like, I heard you helped two chains open his first bank account. Like, if you're an adult and you don't have a bank account,

I can only assume that that's because you don't exactly come from a life of privilege. So how did you yourself start to learn things? like, okay, I need a bank account. I need a manager who's not going to steal from me. Like, how did you navigate that when you were younger? Man, I did a lot of self-teaching, man. The answer is in books, a lot of books. I remember reading a book called All You Need to Know About the music industry, man. And, you know, doing things like that and just making sure I educate myself because no one is going to educate you more than you can educate yourself. And it's almost a crime nowadays that, you know,

the information was in books back then, but we have the most powerful tool in the world in our pocket every single day for the majority of the day. And you can choose what you want to Google and what you type into, you know, this search bar. And 99% of the things we search for are not the type of things that are going to continue to uplift and educate people the way that I feel like they should. And again, I'm not judging. I'm just telling you, if anybody is inspired by listening to is maybe they cut in at least in half them trying to evolve and better educate themselves and utilize their search toolbar a little better than they have been before they heard me say this. That I feel like I've done my job, man.

Yeah, filter in, be more discerning with what you take in for sure. I mean, that's something we talk about here on the show all the time. Yeah, because, I mean, not to cut you off, but I was going to say something that can be inspiring for people just on that same subject matter is that we all know that there's an algorithm in our phones and certain things that we search for, all of a sudden these ads start coming up all over the place. You know, for me, I love to work out and I love to, you know, kind of eat healthy and have cheat meals when they're deserved. But a lot of the, I've done so much searching on certain health things that now the stuff and the algorithm that pops up on my phone and ads

are things that are like, they're helping me live longer, you know what I'm saying? So imagine the difference of you searching, you know, ads and tities, and that's all you're going to see coming up in ads as opposed to, you know, asparagus or clean, you know, what water is the best water, or, you know, you understand what I'm saying. I'm just saying, we have to use our algorithms better, even the algorithm in your mind. That's where it starts. So let's get that straight, first and foremost. Absolutely, man. Yeah, the more you sort of, I mean, there's a deeper metaphor here, of course, but the more you search for and think about and focus on things that are good for you and positive, not to ignore the negative, but to filter in the right kind of thing, the more you

are surrounded by the right kind of people and the right kind of things as well. I know you talk on many interviews about playing the long game in business, but also in culture and in your impact. And I wonder if that's something you had planned to do from the start or after you started having more long-term success, it started to bubble up. Like, did you start thinking long term from the jump or did you start after that you realize like, hey, it's 20 years later, millions of people are still yelling move, bitch, get out the way in traffic in every highway in America. Like, I need to extend my timeline. That's a good question. And, you know, in business, I always thought a long game because again, my mother and my father, my mom used to work at a real

estate company and at a bank. She had like two jobs at the same time. So in terms of me understanding how to save money. That's just been instilled in me. And real estate is also a long-term game when it comes to investments and things of that nature. But when it came to music, I was just making music that felt good to me. I wasn't necessarily like I'm going to make a song right now that I know is going to last for decades and decades. I was just trying to make the best absolute music that I could at that time because a lot of times you don't know whether a song is going to sell, you know, double platinum or two copies. You just know you're speaking from your heart

and you hope that it does the best that it can absolutely do, man. So twofold. On the business side, knew about the long game on the music side. It came later on where I started being, you know, more cognizant of I really need to make songs that are timeless records

because now I'm on to something. The records that I've done, they are timeless. And now I need to continue doing it. Yeah, that's an interesting, frame, right? Because of course in the beginning, you're just hoping, man, I hope this doesn't fail, or I hope it does well, because I love the product. But then it's like later on, it's almost like it makes your work better, too. If you know it's going to stick around for a while, I assume you've had some tracks where you go, this is not, it just didn't turn out the way that I wanted, and I can't

put it out there because now I know people are going to remember a lot of the things that I do for decades. Yeah, man. I mean, I think every artist has that one record that is a hit that they didn't even think was going to be a hit for me. That's Odin Bowes, believe it or not. Southern Oz mentality, when I first did it, I thought it was cool. I had no idea it would turn out to be a smash record that it became. And then you have songs that I felt like weren't mixed as properly or as good, and I wish, you know, I could have maybe gone back.

Actually, I'll take that back. I don't regret anything in my career because everything made me to where I am today to think better and to do better. But there was a record of Actor Fool was a really big record. it still is. But, you know, when you think from the Virgo aspect of being a perfectionist, I feel like that record could have been mixed better. If you go back and listen to it right now after this interview, the snare is like way too damn high and it's like not as clear as it could be the overall record. But that's just me being an artist and being picky and being a

Virgo. So yeah, that's just that's your question. I was going to go back and say like, do you beat yourself up when you listen to your stuff about everything? Like there's a, I can't remember where I saw this, but David Letterman. he would do his night show and then get the tape and then watch it and spend the whole like two hours after everyone had gone home just like beating himself up taking notes going over every little thing nitpicking and just picking it all apart and he did that like every night pretty much do you find it maybe not to that level but do you find yourself doing that absolutely not i try not to do that. There may have been a time maybe where I was like spending a little time dwelling on something,

but the time where I'm at right now in my life is like that's a waste of time, just me personally, nothing against how David Letterman does his thing or how he did it. I just feel like to be human is to be imperfect. And as long as you strive to continue to do better and learn from your mistakes, there's no reason to dwell on what didn't go right because you cannot change what happened in the past whatsoever all you can do is try and make it better for the future. Yeah, I don't think even he liked that process. I think it made him miserable. He just couldn't help himself. You know what I mean? It's like a neurotic thing that he was doing. I don't think he was like, this is why I'm great. I think he was like beating himself up. Like he was whipping himself every night, you know?

I can't allow myself to do that because anytime that you are beating yourself up about something, you're adding to cortisol levels of stress in your life. And that's the number one killer of any human being on this planet earth. I refuse to do that to myself. I want to live as long as I can, man. I have kids. I want to live to see their kids and even their kids. And I'm very happy, man.

I don't even, I'm not even one of those people that, you know, is mad about getting older. Humbly speaking, I absolutely love getting older and getting into new things and continuing to say, okay, I did that stage in my life. Now it's time for a new stage. And I've been through so many stages, like, for an example, you know, you get money. The first thing you do is apart from if you're smart buying a house or some sort of asset is you go buy all these diamonds and you go to the strip club and you go throw all these ones. And it's just like you're just throwing money. You go buy cars that depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot.

And then that flashy stage, you go paint your car green and you put the goddamn TV and a steering wheel. And then the gas thing lit when you open. So when you're pumping your gas, you can watch television. Then once you get past this plashy-ha stage, because too many people know who the hell you are and they're bothering, and you get sick of that shit, then you just want to be, you kind of want to blend in with the rest of them. And, you know, you just want to get to where you're going,

get your job done, move. So, I mean, all I'm saying is that I cannot dwell on any negativity. I just continue to move past it. And I continue to evolve and go through different stages. And I love getting older, man. I love it. I've heard you say when you get, more successful, you start to lose friends. And I wonder, one, is that inevitable? And do you think it's

specific to show business or the rap game and what can you do about it? I know that's a multi-prong question and those aren't good, but there it is. It all depends, man. If you are with friends and they're all, actually, yes, I would say yes, you're going to lose friends regardless. I was about to say, if your friends are not making money or evolving at the level that you're evolving, you're going to lose them. But then I was like, even if they are on the same level, I was about, level that you are like people that are in a group and making the same money, you're going to lose some of them too. So I think it is inevitable. It may not be all your friends, but some of them is just going to go wrong. Because, you know, they say money changes people or it just

accentuates who you already were. But you can start getting put in scenarios that you might not be prepared for people coming to you and asking you for stuff and being vulnerable and understanding that you have to move differently. You can't just walk around with you. jury on and, you know, things of that nature. And then what was the second part of your question? Yeah, exactly. This is why you're not supposed to ask those multi-part questions. But I wondered if that was specific to show business or the rap game. And then, of course, what you can do about it or if it's just inevitable.

Oh, hell, I think it's inevitable. It happens to athletes. It happens to, oh, listen, I have friends from all walks of life that have money. It definitely happens all the way around. It happens with everyone. And I think, put it this way, in the least bit, it's going to challenge. your relationships that you have with people. I don't want to just throw out there that you're going to lose all your friends because someone will stand the test of time. But it's definitely going

to challenge them. Yeah. Yeah, I can see that. I can see that. I know you've said tongue in cheek, I think, that you've got to hang out with people who have more money than you. And I know that the money thing might not be exactly what's important, but you're trying to surround yourself with successful people. If it's a money thing, then we probably shouldn't be doing this interview because I'm going to drag down your net worth every minute that we stay on. I like how you downplay, how much you make up doing these phenomenal interviews and, you know, YouTube views that checks come to your house and things of that nature. I like it.

I like how you do that. Yeah, I mean, look, it's tacky to do the other way, right? I guess you can get away with it if you're, I don't have a jiff chain. Let's just put it that way. I'll leave it right there. If I had a jift chain, maybe at front a little more. I'm not at jift level. You could have a jift chain if you want to want.

I guarantee you can afford a jift chain. Oh yeah, I can buy a Jiff chain. I'm just saying they're not going to make, they're not going to give me one. Yeah. There you go. Could be right. As you get older and even more successful,

do you feel like you're competing with other people? I heard a story that you were flying your own private plane to like a private airport. And when you landed, you saw a bunch of, I guess, nicer planes. And you literally said to your, that your chef who's on the plane with you, right? Man, either you're in the plane game or you're not in the playing game. So it's like, you landed at your jet at a private airport with your private chef.

and you're like, oh man, that guy has a bigger plane. Like, that has to snap you back into perspective sometimes, right? Yeah. First and foremost, I always feel like I'm in competition with everyone. Okay. But in a healthy way, not an unhealthy way. This is what keeps me motivated. The people that came before me, the people that come after me.

And yet, that was a true story, man. I own a hawk for 700. I've had it for over 15 years, man. And you're right, I flew into an airport, and this was kind of when I first got the plane. And so you think your big shit is like, bro, I own a fucking plane. How many people can say they own a goddamn private plane?

And then your wheels up with your homies and your friends. And then you land and you go somewhere like, you know, let's just say you land in Fort Lauderdale or Miami where or Las Vegas. And you're taxying in and you are looking to your right and looking to your left. And there's all these damn golf streams and challengers and fucking falcons. And for people that don't know what I'm saying, planes that are twice three, four times the size of my plane. And I'm looking out here.

I'm just like, just when you think you have money, there's always, it's just the world is going to check you and make you realize that there's other people out here that are balling way harder than you are. And so I did say that I was like, damn, man, I got a little plane and my chef checked me. So it's twofold. He checked me.

It's like, either you have a plane or you don't have a plane because he's looking at it from his perspective, and I'm looking at it from my perspective. Neither one of us was wrong. We were just kind of saying how we felt, you know, from the perception of how we were looking at things. But yes, I was looking at it from a competitive level. Like, one day I'm going to have a bigger plane than what I have now.

And funny enough, you asked that, I was literally just on the phone with someone today entertaining those ideas because I'm a goal-oriented guy. And over the next two or three years, I feel like I will upgrade from this Harker 700 that I have. Yeah, man. Yeah, it's funny because I can imagine your chef being like, you know my job is to travel wherever you want to go and cook food that you want to eat, right?

Like you're complaining about your jet? Come on. Yo, but the best thing about that is I wasn't, of course, I'm just letting me. I wasn't complaining. I was just stating the obvious, you know what I'm saying? I was kind of stating what was going on around me and that, wow. Just when you think you have got to a certain level, there are other levels to get to. That's all.

If you're a competitive person. Of course. that you have worked out at some point with John Sanna and or The Rock when on set filming, speaking of competition, how's that experience? That's got to be humbling, right? Where they're like, got a barbell that weighs as much as you in each hand or something like that, and you're working out with these guys? Yeah, you never try to compete when it comes to how heavy the lift is. It's just about everybody's different. Everybody can lift different weight. It's just about, like your mom told you when you go to school, as long as you try your hardest, then that's going to be

enough for me, man. And, you know, that's what I do. There was a point in time where I was the smallest and skinniest guy in the crew of Fast and Furious. Now, not so much, man. I can honestly say that. And it feels good to say that. Yeah. Well, I mean, you look good. I watched FF9 last night just to get in the headspace for this. And I was like, oh, man, you know, he's, like the fights looked real, you know, well, realer, right? You like, you expect some element of unreality in a movie. but I'm like, it doesn't look like when they try and make somebody who's really, like if they try to make me look tough, it would stretch credibility. But you look like you were holding your own there.

Has anyone, well, actually, this must happen all the time where you're in public and people are like, Luda, really loud, like every day, right? Yeah, that happens all the time, man. And, you know, it's hard to give that same energy back if I'm in somewhere in public and trying to be low-key. Because if they were like, Luda, and I was like, yo, then we're both being loud and everyone in the vicinity is going to look our way. Well, I mean, people are going to look our way regardless

if somebody says Luda, but basically what I'm trying to tell you is I probably, you know, don't give the energy back the way that they would want me to because they think that I am like I am in my videos, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, whereas if I'm out and about, if I already told you, I go through stages in my life

and I'm kind of past the flashy stage and wanting attention, then when someone, someone calls me out and is giving me that attention in an area where I wasn't necessarily looking for it, I'll try to respectfully give the best, yo, what a back that I can, but it's never going to match the energy of the Luda that they throw out in the first place. I hate to say it, man. So hopefully this is a lesson for anyone that sees me in the future. If you throw a Luda out there, maybe make the volume of it just a little lower if we're in a public place. that would help me out a lot tremendously. If you're a true fan, you could even come up to me in whisper and just be like,

that would do me wonders, bro. I promise you. I promise you. Now, look, if we're in an elevator or something like that and we're the only ones in there, say that shit as loud as you want because there's no chance that anyone else is going to be around. They're not going to ask me for pictures.

It's not going to be a domino effect. But, yeah, if we're in a public crowd, just show me a little compassion. Yeah, just take that blinged out jiff can from under your shirt, pull it up and shake it around a little, and then put it back in. That's the secret, the secret handshake. This is the Jordan Harbinger show with our guest, Ludacris. We'll be right back. Your math skills have global potential.

As an actuary, you'll solve some of the world's most pressing problems while helping people to live better lives. Become an actuary through the society of actuaries and work anywhere in the world. Back. By the way, you can outrate the show if you're listening on Spotify. This is a help. I think it's probably going to make us more visible in the charts. They won't tell us, but I suspect. Just go to Jordan Harbinger.com slash Spotify,

or search for us in your Spotify app and click the dots on the right to make it happen. Now, for the rest of my conversation with Ludacris. I wonder, though, is the reason I bring up this kind of silliness is because I'm wondering if the pandemic, look, you got to mask up a little bit. Is it a blessing for somebody as recognizable as you? because now it's kind of like you can live somewhat normally, right? Yo, great question. Terrible what's going on in this world, pandemic, terrible, you know, good things have come from it.

It's like a reset. The greatest thing that has come from it is for celebrities like myself, being able to go any and every fucking where that we want to go. And when I tell you, I take it to the extreme, I now can go anywhere with a hoodie, mask, and sunglasses. and I'm like how Michael Jackson was trying to be when that motherfucker put on a full goddamn like he stood in, he was in a makeup chair for hours to go try and just blend in with people.

Listen, man, I couldn't be happier with the way I'm able to disguise myself and not be bothered when I don't want to be in public right now. So there's no more looters because they don't know who the hell this dude is that's out here looking like he's about to rob the living shit out of everyone around. Yeah, I was going to say you might get it.

arrested or stopped or something like that, but you won't get recognized. Now it's just you just look like another dude with a mask. You could even go watch your own movie. Yeah, I've done that, man. And like I said, like everyone is out here with masks. So what's wrong with taking it a step further, but not a hoodie and sunglasses. Now, of course, I don't encourage black men to do the same thing that I'm doing. So I understand where you're coming from because, you know, there's issues we've had with

just wearing hoodies alone, let alone a mask in glasses. But yes, I've been able to sneak into the movie theater, watch fast, amongst all of the fans and no one know who the hell I am, go places. My two-month-old just got her passport to that. I was literally able to go to the Fulton County office, this huge building downtown Atlanta, Georgia, take a ticket, stand in line, sit in a chair, and wait like anybody else does to go get the birth certificate for my two-month-old, another copy of it. And no one knew who the hell I was because I had my hoodie, my glasses, and my mask.

it was one of the best villains in the world. Yeah, well, try it for your whole life. It gets old pretty fast. I was going to say, because the crazy thing is you would think that ludicrous could get someone else to go get the damn birth certificate for him. But no, I am the father of that child, and only I and the mother are the ones who can obtain that damn thing. So, yes, I had to do it.

It was only right. That's interesting. But luckily, I was able to do it the way that I wanted to. The DMV and the Secretary of State, the great equalizers, right? Oh, man. There you go. A few months ago, I was actually ordering some food. Someone actually recognized my voice.

Those are always like the, I feel cooler in that moment than I ever have in my whole life. Because it does happen from time to time, but it is rare. And I'm wondering, though, where the voice is recognizable as yours, how often that happens. Like, you could be at the drive-thru with your kids. You're getting those McNuggets. Mask on won't help you with the voice, right? That's true, man. That actually, a story that happened to me.

I think I was at McDonald's drive-thru. Of course, this was a long time ago. I can't remember the last time. my Ais and McDonald's. I want something. But yeah, I went through the air. They knew who the hell I was before I even made it to the first window just because of how distinct of my voice is, man. So that's another reason of why Carmer's World, the Netflix animation I have coming out October 15th, I'm actually the voice of the dad. And I've been trying to get all these damn jobs on the Pixar movies, you know,

to be one of the voices. And, you know, some reason I kept getting passed up. But it was, if that didn't happen, then I may not have been able to come out with this phenomenal a world-changing show that is coming out soon. So I love the fact that I am a voice of the father on Carmer's World, man. I love it. We will link to Carmer's World in the show notes as well, of course, so that people can check it out on Netflix. I assume that, but if somebody recognizes your voice at the drive-thru, that gets a little

scary, right? Because then you're like, I hope they like F-F-9. I hope they like my music because they are literally handling my food right now as we speak. Yeah, absolutely, man. You always got to be mindful of that. But, you know, what's crazy is that I, I would have better chances being ludicrous and them not liking my movies or music than being an asshole at the drive-thru that's yelling at somebody because they didn't get their order right

at first. They're definitely spitting in that dude's food way before. F-9 wasn't a good movie, but I don't think that's enough to spit in ludicrous food. So I'll take my chances, man. I'll definitely take my chances. Do you feel like the pivot from music to film and other projects is complete, or have you still got more music in you that you want to produce. You know, I know it can be tough to get inspired again for certain projects outside of JIF commercials, but, and also music has to be maybe where

you make the least amount of money right now, right? Like, you've got investments galore, and every time you release a Fast and Furious, that's got to be like a multi-platinum album drop, right? Yeah, I love music, man. Music is the number one art form for me, and I will always love it, even if I'm not in front of the microphone or in front of the camera. That's why Commerce World is actually a good testament to me still being able to do music in a sense and having to put ludicrous's career on hold for a little while in order to make something that I feel is greater than myself. But to answer your question, I definitely do have more music in me. And now that these shows that I've been working so hard on for over a decade are coming out,

then I will have an opportunity to dive more into coming back. And the whole thing is that reinventing yourself, after you have 10 albums, it does become more difficult to, continue to stay engaged and stay inspired, but you've got to find that inspiration somehow. To each zone, everybody's different, but I definitely got some more projects in me, man, for sure. What do you think is your biggest, this is a corny, like, cliche question, but what is your biggest inspiration for your music now? I mean, when you were younger, you know, it's kind of obvious by the lyrics, but I'm wondering what you have now that lights you up. Oh, yeah, yeah. With that inspiration, you know, I would say my children, that's why I'm putting out this project,

But if I had to say something else, that is inspiring to me. Seeing all the new rappers that are coming out and how they're changing the game and how, you know, they're changing music, I love that. I still want to compete. That's the biggest thing. I still want to compete. And also inspiration for people like NAHs who came before me who's still putting out projects that are dope as hell. I love all of that, man. I love.

So like I said, I get inspired by the ones that came before me and the ones that come after me. but that's where it's from. Between music and movies, which one has more creative freedom? I'm assuming music, but like maybe you have more control over that process. Yeah, that's why I say music is number one for me, because it's like you have this blank canvas, man. You get to draw and paint whatever you want on it. You know, when you're a part of a movie,

unless you're the director and the actor and the executive producer and the scriptwriter, it's like a different creative process. you kind of playing one or two roles, mostly one role in a movie. And there's, like, a huge team involved. Music is the same way because you have a producer, you have an artist, but it's a lot less. It's pretty much you and the producer. Sometimes those two people are the same individual. Yeah.

So there you have it, man. So if you go back to music, it has to be about the passion, right? Not because you're about to go broke or you need to replace the radiator and your baguadi or something like T-Pain, right? It's because you want to do it on your own terms because you got something to say. That's 100% correct and humbly speaking, as I always like to say. Because I know a lot of rappers can't necessarily afford to do that. And you're making me reflect and just be thankful that I have the actual choice to do that.

And you're making me realize how competitive I am because I can't wait to get back out and put some music out just for that reason. And money is definitely not the motivation. You know, I noticed, I was doing sort of a chronology of your career, and I noticed that you actually started the Ludacris Foundation at the beginning of your music career in 2002. And that's early, man. Like, you were focused on charity and giving back from the jump, which is not usually the way this works. Usually you make $100 million, and then it's like, I should probably do some charity thing, because people call me greedy. You know, you must have been passionate about that from the start. Hell yeah, man. But that's all because I worked at a radio.

station, if anybody knows my history, before I became commercially successful as ludicrous. The radio station, I was like 18 years up. They required us to do a certain amount of community service every week. And when they first told me about that before I had ever done stuff like that, I was like, man, I'm not trying to be required to do community service. I'm 18. It sounds like some shit that happened when you get released from jail.

But once I started doing it, I realized the impact that I was having, even as a local celebrity in Atlanta, on a radio station. And I was like, man, this is dope, man. So, of course, by the time I became commercially successful some years later, it was already instilled in me, man. Most artists won't answer this truthfully, but I feel like you would. What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you, either on stage or during a movie shooter,

if you have one at each, that would be great. Because I know most people are like, oh, nothing. Everything's always smooth, but I know that's not true during live production of anything. No, hell not. If people ever saw the Thurton Bow, Southern Outer, hospitality video. If you haven't, again, put it in the link so that people could see it. I was on a crane and it was really innovative because I was rapping and I was upside down. And I had to shoot this scene over and over again, man. And I remember I just ate lunch before this scene was being shot. And you got all these directors and people around me outside in Atlanta. I just remember throwing up like crazy. It's not like when you're on a crane being held up by your feet that you can say, hey man, put me down real quick. I got a, my stomach's feeling queasy. No, that's a process of getting you.

So you're hanging upside down for 15, 20 minutes performing. So yeah, man, that was extremely embarrassing, man. But the good thing about it is I threw up upside down and all came out. And then I wiped my mouth and I was like, let's go, man. Let's keep it going. Let's yell action. I'm ready. Now I'm good. There's nothing else that's coming out. We're good. Yeah. You didn't get any on your clothes. because you basically just need like one towel and you're good. Yeah. That's what I'm saying.

There was no place for it to go but to the ground, bro. I was just lucky I didn't get it in my afro from the hair, so I was pretty good. Oh, yeah. That's true. Production assistant might have taken an L, but that's how to. You got to leave my head up like that so that didn't get in the hair, man. You know, Ron Bergerty style. Just don't mess up the hair.

Just don't mess up the hair. Have you ever forgotten the lyrics to any of your songs while performing? because sometimes you got to do new stuff where you get distracted, I don't know. It seems like it's possible for that to happen. Plenty of times. Plenty of times. Any rapper that said, yeah, hell, you know.

Any rapper that said that that's never happened to them is a damn lot, man. I mean, actually, I don't know because, again, as I always use the disclaimer of humbly speaking, I have so many songs and so many verses and so many guest verses. And it's definitely happened to me plenty of times before. That shit still happens to me sometimes, man. And I got to play it off for the crowd. put the microphone out to them like they're supposed to know the lyrics. But yeah, every now and then that happens, man.

Again, I'm just blessed to have a very large catalog of music. You can just throw some of that jiff that you have in the chain, just put a little spoonful in your mouth and you just mumble, and everyone's like, well, it's the peanut butter. You didn't forget. I like that. I like that. I'm going to take that idea.

I will use that. Do it. Yeah, Jiff will throw you a bonus check. Jif will throw you another $100K for that one live on stage. Damn right. Man, thank you for being such a good sport and amazing artist. I really thank you for your time today as well. This has been a real pleasure.

I know it's been in the making for a couple years. And by the way, just by way of gratitude, your team is a pleasure to work with Vincent on your team and Pierre, who helped make this happen, who's a show fan. Like, your team is on it. It's a reflection of you as a manager and an artist. So, yeah, much love to everyone who helped with this interview. Yeah, greatly appreciate it.

Greatly appreciate Pierre, man, for making it happen. I'm sure this won't be the last. time. So thank you so much. I love, man, great interview. And let's continue to evolve before we evaporate. You know it. If you're looking for another episode of the Jordan Harbinger show to sink your teeth into, here's a trailer with a retired chef that somehow infiltrated the illicit North Korean arms trade. There was a meeting where people could come and see how North Korea is the propaganda way. It was like three hours praising Kim Il-sung by what he did for the country. when people ask me, how is it to go to North Korea?

Well, it's quite difficult to describe because it's like your whole body is on overtime. You know you are being followed and what do I say and what do I do? How do I react to things? I'm going to the US to meet up with a CIA agent. I was like, wow. And I find out how my agent thinks. One of the most important things he taught me was to be a perfect mole or undercover agent is that you have to be 95% yourself and then 5% mold.

The last 5% is the one who observed, and I was really good to networking with people. Without people actually know I was networking with them. Everything was recorded. So I just literally took the pants down on the whole regime exposing their weapons program. It's a never-ending story. For more on how Ulrich the Mole, a Danish chef and family man,

wound up working undercover in North Korea to expose its illicit arms trade, check out episode 527 of the Jordan Harbinger Show. Man, I was so excited to do this one, especially because Area Codes is one of my karaoke songs and has been for years. By the way, he really was in Ellen DeGeneres' Kitchen. So we had a lot of audio and internet issues today, but producer Jason cut around it and saved the day. Ludacris is a fascinating dude, man.

He started rapping during lunch in high school, and he'd be told me he'd be gathering a crowd around him to listen to his raps while somebody else beatboxed and his trapper keeper, his notebooks, all that stuff were filled with rhymes instead of schoolwork. Well, surprise, surprise. He was also on an indie label, an independent label, and he credits that with teaching him a lot about the business because you need to know what everyone's job is when you're not with a major label. And him and Tyrese Gibson and other star, they were talking about how independent labels are not for everyone because sometimes you actually need someone to guide your career.

Once you learn how it all works, though, you get more done being independent, and of course you create your own destiny and take more of the cash as well. So I think that's an interesting career parallel. Like sometimes you need to be at the big company that teaches you what to do and tells you your every move, but then after that, maybe you go smaller. Maybe you go in-house or even start your own shop. By the way, he keeps an old Accura, a 1993 Accura legend, one of his first cars. He keeps it around to remind him of where he comes from.

And I asked him how many miles were on it. and he said there's an absolute ton. It's like 250,000 or something at this point on a 1993 Accura legend. What Ludacris is a multi-talent to do. You know, not many rappers have made the pivot to acting. It's like ludicrous and ice tea, ice cube, vanilla ice. I don't know, all the ices. Did I forget anyone? By the way, there's going to be a Fast and Furious 10 and 11. So that is just the gift that keeps on giving. I hope I was allowed to say that if not. Oops, sorry. I didn't sign anything anyway. So hopefully that's all good. Chris also says he's a hoarder, but he takes all the things he doesn't use,

and he puts them on containers, and he sends them to Gabon and distributes them to people who will use them, which I think is the best idea, right? You forget Goodwill and Salvation Army. Pack my stuff up and send it to Africa where people will actually use it, and it won't just sit in a store and then get landfilled.

Actually, I have no idea what happens to stuff I donate. They should probably do a show about that, because I'm sure those items have quite the adventurous path as well, Africa-bound or not. You know, ironically, when it comes to ludicrous, Bill O'Reilly told Pepsi, they should fire him as their spokesperson because he was a rapper that spoke badly about women. So I'm not going to fill in the blank there.

I think we all kind of know what happened to Bill O'Reilly, right? How the turntables, my friend. Shout out to purrotraider.com, P-U-R-O-Trader.com for cigars. He's the one who helped and getting ludicrous here on the show today, show fan himself. Really appreciate that and appreciate y'all listening. You know, telephone area codes are becoming less and less about an area and more about where the person bought their first cell phone.

And I just wonder, is ludicrous concerned? that future generations of children will be unaware of the location, the actual location of his hose. I don't know. Guess I'll just have to ask him next time. Links to all things ludicrous will be on our website in the show notes at Jordan Harbinger.com. Please use our website links if you buy anything from a guest like a book or something. That does help support the show. The links work for Audible and Amazon and they work in different countries.

All that's at Jordan Harbinger.com. Transcripts in the show notes. There's a video of this interview going up on our YouTube channel at Jordan Harbinger.com YouTube. I'm at Jordan Harbinger on Twitter and Instagram, or just hit me on LinkedIn. And you can catch the video if you want to see what Ellen DeGeneres' third kitchen looks like. I'm teaching you how to connect with great people and manage relationships using systems and tiny habits, the same ones that I use every single day. That's our six-minute networking course, and the course is free over at Jordan Harbinger.com slash course. Dig that well before you get thirsty. Create those

relationships before you need them. Most of the guests you hear on the show, subscribe and contribute it to the course. So come join us. You'll be in smart company where you belong. This show is created an association with Podcast One. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Robert Fogart, Millie Ocampo, Ian Barrett, Josh Ballard, and Gabriel Mizrahi. Remember, we rise by lifting others. The fee for the show is that you share it with friends when you find something useful or interesting. If you know any hip-hop or ludicrous fans, definitely share this episode with them. I hope you find something great in every episode of the show. The greatest compliment you can give us is to share the show with those you care about. In the meantime, do your best

to apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you listen, and we'll see you next time. This episode is sponsored in part by Something You Should Know podcast. Finding a new great podcast shouldn't be this hard, so let me save you some time. If you like the Jordan Harbinger show, you'll probably like something you should know with Mike Carruthers. It's one of those shows that makes you smarter in a practical, useful way. Same curiosity vibe we go for here, just in a fast, focused format, Mike brings on top experts and asks the exact questions that you'd want to ask, and the topics are all over the place in the best way. Recently, they've covered things like why we care so much what other people think,

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