Movie star and Grammy Award winning hip-hop artist Ludacris landed in Abu Dhabi on Saturday with his family, including his mum Roberta Shields, and started his packed schedule with a charity ball at the Ritz Carlton.
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, or Chris as his mum referred to him throughout the evening, has partnered his Ludacris Foundation with BAC (Beautiful: African, Arabic, Caribbean) to provide a platform for the emerging artists and voices of Africa, Caribbean and the Middle East.
The organisation will launch a digital content channel in 2016 that aims to bring focus onto the next generation of faces in programming.
The launch was celebrated with an invitation-only gala at Abu Dhabi’s Ritz Carlton and was attended by celebrities such as Pepa from the girl band Salt-N-Pepa and DJ Mohammad Moretta and Friends, the man who has made songs for a long list of superstars including Dianna Ross and Dolly Parton.
Dressed in ripped jeans, a black and white T-shirt and black Gucci shoes, Ludacris greeted guests and spent time with the emerging artists who were due to perform.
Speaking to tabloid! Ludacris said that The Ludacris Foundation (TLF) “is all about helping kids help themselves. It’s all about the new generation and making sure that we give them a hand up and not necessarily a hand out.”
“I hope that we let everyone on this side of the world know what The Ludacris Foundation does and we are hoping to raise some money for the foundation as well.”
TLF was founded in 2001 by Ludacris and Shields, who is the president of the non-profit organisation to help youths realise their dreams through education and memorable experiences.
“Great emerging artists in the world have just been ignored simply because they don’t live in the right place — well that ends today,” Ludacris told the crowd as he took on the stage.
“The voices are theirs, we are just the microphone,” the 38-year-old went on to say of the emerging artists who the organisation hopes to help.
The evening was hosted by Aisha Davis, the brainchild of the event, and saw a mix of musical and poetry performances by a number of artists, including two Emirati poets, Afra Atiq and Salem Shukri Al Attas, whose powerful acts prompted standing ovations.
Speaking with tabloid! Davis said: “[BAC] will focus on content for, by and about young emerging creative industry artists from those three regions [Africa, Caribbean and Middle East].
“With a new digital media there are opportunities to really share those ideas and to give broader opportunities to people who want to produce and so why not create a place where they can exchange different ideas and work together and collaborate.”
Pepa, dressed in a figure-flattering black dress, attended the event with her family and happily sang the band’s hit song Push It when asked to on the red carpet.
All smiles, the 46-year-old told tabloid! that when she read about what BAC was trying to do she wanted to get involved with the cause immediately.
“I know Ludacris, he is a friend and I’m here supporting the event and the cause. I love the whole thing... the influence and the digital channel. The whole concept is great.”
Pepa, who introduced musician Tito Puente Jr, said she was glad to be back in the UAE, a place she admits to visiting often, and hoped to plan another performance in the country in the near future. Salt-N-Pepa performed in Dubai in 2011 and Pepa still remembers the “amazing crowd”.
Ludacris left the ball after dessert to prepare for his performance at the VIP Room pop-up club later that evening. He was in Abu Dhabi with his family for the F1 Grand Prix but he did tell tabloid! that he thinks of the city as his second home now. “I’ve been here a couple of times and I feel really good about it.”
The star is rumoured to be spending a few days in Dubai after the Grand Prix before leaving the UAE.
