Ludacris

Years before gaining notoriety as a movie star through his role in one of the most successful film franchises in history, Ludacris was simply another artist on the grind trying to figure it out.

While his turn as DJ and radio personality “Chris Lova Lova” on Atlanta’s premier Hip-Hop radio station Hot 97.5 (now Hot 107.9) brought a level of success and regional fame, the former intern’s sights were set on more creatively fulfilling horizons, particularly building his career as a rap artist.

Facilitating a connection with producer Timbaland into a standout feature on “Fat Rabbit” from Tim’s Bio: From the Motion Picture – Life from da Bassment in 1998, Luda’s buzz in the southern region was reaching a climax.

However, the animated lyricist wouldn’t truly break through onto the national scene before cultivating a creative relationship with another, albeit unknown, boardsman, Bangladesh.

Now known for creating anthemic hits for Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Kelis, and more household names, Bangladesh, born Shondrae Crawford, was in a similar position to Luda during the late ’90s, splitting time between his job as a barber and crafting beats, which eventually landed on the radar of Ludacris.

Enlisted as a producer on Ludacris’ 1999 independent debut Incognegro, Bangladesh’s unique sound proved to be intoxicating when paired with Luda’s lyrics, evidenced by the ensuing bidding war that ended with Luda inking a record deal with Def Jam Records.

Releasing his major label debut Back for the First Time, including all of Bangladesh’s contributions to Incognegro, on October 17, 2000, Ludacris quickly became one of the hottest new stars in Hip-Hop.

Led by the hit single “What’s Your Fantasy” featuring Disturbing Tha Peace artist Shawnna, which peaked just outside of the Billboard Hot 100, Back for the First Time was a massive success, debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and being certified triple platinum.

The album was the launchpad for what has been a legendary career, as Ludacris went on to release several more studio albums and is now widely regarded as one of the most popular and acclaimed artists the south has ever produced.

Yet, the magic all began with Back for the First Time, a bonafide classic that would be incomplete without Bangladesh helping to build its sonic foundation, most notable singles, and deep cuts.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Ludacris’ Back for the First Time album, VIBE spoke with Bangladesh about the backstory behind his introduction to Ludacris, the making the album, how its release impacted his own life, and its enduring legacy.

You had a big role in helping launch Ludacris’ career with your production on his first hit single “What’s Your Fantasy.” How did you begin working with Luda and how did that song come about?

How I began working with Luda was through a mutual friend. This is before anything. We met before we was doing music. Music was an idea of something that we wanted to be doing. I met him when I was probably a junior or senior in high school.

Once I bought my beat machine, I was making beats and “What’s Your Fantasy” was the last beat that I made for that project. I think it was the last song he recorded for that independent album that he put out, Incognegro. I made it in my auntie basement.

After I made it, I felt like I made something incredible, you know? Not just the way it sounds but the way I felt. It was the same feelings that I would feel before I started making beats. It’s more like two things meeting that you had dreamed about, like a dream come true type feeling.

It was like I used to have these feelings inside, like a butterfly type feeling. An epiphany. I felt this feeling I was dreaming about before I was actually producing.

So when I made this beat, that was the same feeling I had. It was kind of like a connector. I had already linked up with Chris. He would come get his hair done [at my barbershop]. He had an afro so he’d come to the shop to get [his hair] lined up. I just bought this car, so I took him to my car one day. This is before I made “What’s Your Fantasy.”

I had four beats on the [cassette] tape, back when tapes were still relevant. I played the beats and he was kind of looking through the front window. Looking straight ahead, but he was kind of stuck in thought.

He looked like he was thinking. Like he couldn’t believe what he was listening to. Like, ‘This is the perfect piece that I’m I’m missing,’ you know what I’m saying?

A producer that can create a sound or has a sound for what he does without it being a producer that he got to have a budget to spend with, stuff like that. It’s more like a, ‘Damn, we can come up together’ type of thing. So when we got out the car, we started walking back to the shop and he was just asking me what I was doing with those beats.

I said, ‘It’s whatever, whatever you’re trying to do,’ you know what I’m saying? So he was like, ‘Man, let me get that tape, let me get that tape.’ So I gave him the tape and probably a few days later, I was making another beat in my aunt’s basement and I happened to call over to his house.

There were a few crew members at the house so I would call over there to play a certain person what I just made over the phone. So when I called over there, Chris picked up and it was like he knew me.

He was like, ‘Man, what you got?’ So it was like he already knew it was me and knew I had something [for him] to listen to. So when he picked up, I already had the beat ready to play ’cause I was calling over there to play somebody the beat.

I took Lil’ Kim’s voice and put it on there. She was saying, ‘Come see if you need a hit, come see me/ If you need a hit, ni**a come see me,’ or some sh*t. It was saying something like that. So, when I played it for him, he was like, ‘Man, come over now.’ He said, ‘bring all your stuff.’

That was like the first time he invited me over to a spot. That’s where some of the other crew members stayed, they lived with them, but he didn’t like nobody being in his sh*t when he ain’t there. So, that’s when it was okay to come through.

So that’s how “What’s Your Fantasy” came about. It being the last song that he recorded, the last beat that I think I gave him for that project.

You produced the first song on Back for the First Time, “U Got a Problem.” How did the whole concept of that song come about?

“U Got a Problem,” I was in my auntie’s basement at the time I made that. And once I made that, we had a relationship, but it wasn’t like it was once I started producing. Once I started producing, we got closer in the sense of working together ’cause I was the glue to get what he wanted. He would have had to spend major money to get those type of beats. I’m coming up and I’m influenced by the greats that were running the game at that time so my beats were kind of industry ready, early on. So, I feel like I was the glue to the puzzle.

You also helped create “1st & 10” with I-20 and Lil’ Fate. What’s the story behind that song?

I think I made that beat at my kids’ mother’s house at the time. And her dad is Jamaican, he had a little CD collection and I was going through it. I was going through some songs and I heard that sample. So, that’s how I made that beat.

Then I gave it to them. I think that might have been the first song they recorded on one of my beats ’cause that was the time when they were a group. Before Luther went solo, they were all recording together.

That was before Chris knew I was making beats, I was cutting hair at the time and everybody knew me as the barber. So me making beats kind of threw them off. Once people know you for something, they don’t really see nothing else.

It’s like, ‘The barber dude [is producing]?!’ So, yeah, I like that song a lot.

The track “Ho,” which you produced, is one of the most popular songs from Back for the First Time. Were you there during the recording?

Well, that was one of the songs that I played him while I was in my car. It was amongst the four beats that I gave him on the tape. And the next time I seen him, he had the hook and he told me the hook. He’s like, ‘I got something to that.’ And when I made the beat, I was more thinking like something hood. That’s the energy I was in. I wasn’t thinking like what he came up with.

When he was telling me the idea, I thought it was corny as hell. Like, ‘This sh*t sounds corny as hell to me.’ I wasn’t there when he recorded it, but he did tell me how it went. I don’t know exactly where he recorded it, it might have been at Patchwerk [Recording Studios] or something.

But I think besides “What’s Your Fantasy,” that was one of the songs that all the executives that was trying to sign him was really f**king with.

Definitely a classic classic moment and one of his signature records for the long-time fans. You also got to work with UGK on the Back for the First Time track “Stick ‘Em Up. What was that experience like having UGK on your beat?

Looking back at it, I wish I knew. It was early on, I ain’t really know what I was doing. I was just good at creating and putting sounds together, but looking back, I wish, having them, I would have knew what I was doing. That was just a group that he wanted on the album and I think the fact of “What’s Your Fantasy” already being in motion, it got everybody’s attention.

We might have recorded that at Patchwerk, I can’t remember. But Chaka Zulu was trying to get Pimp to be the producer on the song. I don’t think Chaka really believed [in me] for real, he was always trying to [replace me]. I don’t think he really believed in my abilities. But looking back at it, people weren’t collaborative producers [back then], you know what I’m saying?

So although UGK is Pimp C, when he was saying that, I felt like the beat was done. So I wouldn’t have been knocking it, but I wasn’t really clear what he was trying to accomplish.

He would come over to Pimp, he’s talking to Pimp, then he’d come back to me, and he was trying to orchestrate this thing right in the room. But when me and Pimp talked, Pimp was like, ‘Man, you made the beat. You produced the beat, man. The beat sounds fine to me, man.’

And that’s really what it was. That beat I made in my basement. That was early on when I was staying with my aunt. That’s really how that came about. But looking back, I wish I would have encouraged him to produce on it, too. ‘Cause in today’s time, that would have been dope. To look back on like, ‘Damn, that’s hard, I made a beat or I produced with Pimp C.’

R.I.P. to Pimp C. Ludacris’ “What’s Your Fantasy (Remix)” featured appearances by Shawnna, Trina, and Foxy Brown. What was that like having three of the dopest female emcees at the time rapping on your beat?

That was dope. I wasn’t really caught in the moment of it though like I wish I would would have been.

And you know, listening back to the sonic’ of the production, I wish we would have went through the right channels to mix the beat properly. It sounds different than original as far as like mixing and mastering. So those things right there, I didn’t really[like]. I wasn’t really into it.

Like if the composition don’t come out perfect to me, I’m a little irritated. I try to ignore it ’cause it’s already out. Then the people like it, so they don’t really hear what you hear. But I wish it was as perfect as the original, as far as the beat. Now, as far as the females that’s on the song, that was dope as hell. I was a big Foxy Brown fan. Of course, Shawnna’s dope, Trina’s dope, but out of the three, I feel like Foxy killed that. Like Foxy bodied that verse.

What’s a record on Back for the First Time that you didn’t produce, but you were really rocking with?

Man, I ain’t listen to that album in so long, I can’t even remember. It’s going to be cliche to say “Southern Hospitality” ’cause it was a single but I don’t really know. Something about that energy I like that beat a lot. The video was dope. I remember we was in the video. I remember shooting the video like yesterday. Then they threw “Ho” in in the middle of it, which I felt probably should have been a real single.

I think that sh*t would have been bigger. That’s an argument, like, it’s a classic but at that time, when you look at “Southern Hospitality” numbers, it really wasn’t a big song. Neptunes and Pharrell was hot so it was like the thing to do. And that was another thing.

A lot of politics back then. The new upcoming producers or artists were a little overlooked by the established ones. It was more political. Like “What’s Your Fantasy” wasn’t supposed to be his first single because I did it.

And he had Jermaine Dupri, Organized Noize on the album. So I was kind of being overlooked for those reasons. But it was a long time ago. It’s 25 years already. Yeah, that’s crazy.

How does it feel to even have people interested in Back for the First Time after all these years, not knowing back then what it would be remembered as today?

I mean, I think that’s the beauty of music. It’s always something you could reflect on, look back on. You kind of remember where you were when you heard it.

Especially, if you were into it. If that’s something you was into, that was an impactful time in Atlanta because we were like the second coming to Organized Noize and Outkast. Goodie Mob and them were the first to do it, as far as Southern Hip-Hop music.

Before, Atlanta was booty shake [music]. That was the sound in Atlanta. It wasn’t really real rap ni**as coming out [of Atlanta] before Outkast. There wasn’t really like sampled beats and baselines and hard drums before Outkast and Organized Noize. So we were next.

So that’s for me, coming from where I came from. I looked up to Organized Noize and Outkast. So like they inspired me to do what I was doing so to be amongst that time and around that, I felt like I made it.

Listen to Ludacris’ Back for the First Time below.