Beginning to rap at the age of 9, Ludacris (born Christopher Brian Bridges) drew on a wide range of musical influences supplied by his father, who steeped his son in many genres of popular music. Soon he was recording boisterous and madcap rap albums, each of which went double or triple platinum. Ludacris has also appeared in several high profile, popular, and critically successful films. Despite run-ins with media giants Oprah Winfrey and Bill O-Reilly over the content of his lyrics, Ludacris is generally regarded as a genial and light-hearted rap superstar, one whose range of talents are only beginning to be revealed to an increasingly enthusiastic public.