Southern Rap Stars Led By Ludacris

The New York Daily News spoke with Def Jam South general manger Chaka Zulu about the rise of the South in Hip Hop, which was kick-started thanks to Ludacris. Zulu said, “Before Ludacris was signed to Def Jam South in 2000, I had been shopping his demo for a few years.” The majors didn’t pay attention, he notes, “until we put out an album independently and got it played on local radio. Now that the South has become a sales contender, we can expect to see more labels trying to emulate that success.”