I've been doing interviews all day, man.

Q: Where would you rank interviews in terms of all the things you have to do? Is it one of the things you prefer doing, or one of the things you dislike?

Dislike.

Q: All right. Well, we'll try to make this as enjoyable as possible. You were born in Atlanta, went to Chicago, and then went back to Atlanta. That's when you sort of got into the music scene through Atlanta's Hot 97. Tell us a little bit about your first taste of the music industry, and when you knew that you wanted to pursue that field.

Man, I just knew. When I was in middle school I always used to love listening to rap. The first [song] my pops bought me was U.T.F.O's "Roxanne, Roxanne." So ever since I was about five or six years old, I just liked listening to it. Then, when I was about eight or nine, I kinda started doing it for friends in middle school. They liked hearing it. They wanted to hear more, so that's what motivated me to keep doing it. I got in the studio. I've been through so many groups... and so many demo tapes. You know, practice makes perfect. When I was in Atlanta and went to that station, it was the first time I actually started getting a little bit of an audience. I was rapping on the station and people were starting to notice who I was.

Q: How instrumental was the radio station as a launching pad for you?

It was very instrumental because, like I said, that was my largest audience, and I started meeting a lot of people up there; a lot of producers, a lot of artists, a lot of different record company executives. I politicked my way [up] and started learning. So it was real crucial.

Q: What were your thoughts on your experience with Pepsi and Bill O'Reilly [of The O'Reilly Factor] adding his two cents?

I just feel like O'Reilly is a racist. Definitely a hypocrite. I don't feel as if Pepsi values the black dollar. It's bigger than me. I don't feel that Pepsi values the black dollar because of what they did.

Q: After that they turned around and signed Ozzy [to an endorsement].

Yeah, it's like them saying that I'm worse than the Osbournes, and that's crazy. I don't know who made that decision, but it's like them saying that and that's ridiculous.

Q: If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Russell Simmons was trying to organize a boycott, but then you guys settled with Pepsi?

No, we haven't come to an agreement yet. We were supposed to but then they didn't want to come to an agreement.

Q: If you had the opportunity to say one thing to Mr. O'Reilly, what would it be?

Come sit down with me in my neighborhood and let's talk.

Q: Why do you insist on your neighborhood? So you could settle the score?

He always wants people to come to his show, that's what I mean. He kind of, like, calls the shots there. I call the shots in my neighborhood.

Q: You were born on September 11th, so in 2001, your birthday was an afterthought, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was pretty crazy.

Q: Do you find it, even to this day, a little hard to celebrate?

It's a part of life, but I know a lot of people that don't necessarily celebrate their birthday on their birthday, just the weekend of or something like that. So, you know, it's not that much of a problem, man. If anything, it's a motivation.

Q: What's a typical concert of yours like?

Women throwing garments on stage and sh*t. You know, the crowd just being rowdy and stuff, you know, 'cause some of the songs are just real aggressive and emotional. Some people have just broken out in fights in the crowd, just because the song was so rowdy. So that's pretty dope.

Q: You actually like it when your fans fight at concerts?

Do I like it? I don't want to promote any violence or anything, but music is emotional. If my music does that to somebody, then it's good and bad at the same time.

Q: Can you tell our readers why you chose the name Ludacris?

My first name is Chris. Ludicrous means beyond crazy, ridiculous.

Q: And is that how you are?

Yeah. It describes my music, my personality. I thought it was a good name.

Q: Tell us about your new album, Chicken & Beer.

Our new album is the same kind of Ludacris that everybody loves, but then taking it that extra step and doing some songs that people wouldn't necessarily expect me to do. Like, "Hard Times" is a song I have talking about hard times. Nobody would expect me to do that. It's all about versatility and longevity.

Q: Why were you driven to write a song about hard times?

Because when people expect me to go right, sometimes I go left.

Q: Any cameos on the album?

Scarface, 8Ball, MJG, and Snoop Dogg.

Q: What are some of the things we can expect from you in the next couple of years?

Expect me to work with a lot of artists.

Q: You recently appeared in the film 2 Fast 2 Furious; do you want to pursue an acting career?

Yeah. Exploring the acting realm, just coming out with more albums, just trying to take things to the next limit, trying to put on more hungry artists that were just as hungry as myself.

Q: Thanks for your time Ludacris, and we promise that we'll always have an appetite for more of your killer music.