Ludacris delights crowd with high-energy show at the Ohio State Fair
Ludacris has been around for a while, and he’ll be the first to tell you that.
“A timeless hit is a timeless hit!” the rapper exclaimed to a crowd of 20- to 50-somethings before his backup man, DJ Infamous, spun one of the artist’s first singles, “What’s Your Fantasy.”
“This song is 23 years old!” DJ Infamous announced with his percussive, high-energy flair.
Longtime rapper and actor Ludacris made his debut Ohio State Fair performance to a packed audience at the 10,200-seat Celeste Center that was, in his words, “getting lit on a Tuesday night.” Alongside the rest of this year’s concert lineup, the Atlanta-based performer joins the ranks of icons across genres who have graced the Celeste Center stage — from pop firecracker Ke$ha in 2011 to beloved country crooner Johnny Cash in 1969.
Complete with compilations of hit music videos from decades past and a surprise entrance by his high school best friend and fellow artist Lil Fate DTP, Ludacris delivered the hip-hop throwback of a lifetime in his nearly 90-minute set.
With the promiscuous irreverence and boyish humor that has long defined his brand of Dirty South hip-hop, the rapper took fair-goers back to the age of Y2K: flip phones, low-rise jeans, cheetah print and Myspace.
Even before the “Fast and Furious” actor took the stage, DJ Infamous was hyping up the crowd with anthems for every generation — from The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” to Montell Jordan’s ‘90s classic “This Is How We Do It.”
“Where my ‘80s babies at? Where my ‘90s babies at?” DJ Infamous chanted before being met with boisterous cheers from different pockets of the late-night fair crowd.
A montage of TV clips with broadcast newscasters uttering the magic word — “ludicrous” — played on the venue’s center screen before the rapper entered, launching into the lightening-fast first verse of his 2003 song “Southern Fried Intro.”
“I got fans in retirement homes, to teenagers, to little bitty boys and girls,” Ludacris rapped.
Clad in white sweatpants, a bright green T-shirt and celebrity-style black sunglasses, Ludacris appeared determined to delight the old-timers in the audience with his ageless charisma and stellar stage presence.
“I can’t tell if it’s Ludacris fans or ‘Fast and Furious’ fans out here . ... Are the day-one Ludacris fans out there tonight?” he teased. “Let’s find out.”
After welcoming Lil Fate DTP to the stage, Ludacris proved true to his word, performing a series of beloved singles from his early years, starting with the 2001 hit “Southern Hospitality” (featuring Pharrell Williams).
The audience more than met the artist’s challenge, overcoming the test of time and screaming every lyric with the energy of a Saturday night club — all on a Tuesday night.
To round out the second half of the set, Ludacris amped up the 20- and 30-somethings in the crowd with his mid- and late-2000s features on party anthems “Yeah!” by Usher and “Break Your Heart” by Taio Cruz.
And then, the pièce de résistance for audience members (like me) who were just a year or two shy of being born when Ludacris released his 2000 major label debut album: a performance of Justin Bieber’s 2010 hit “Baby.” And featured on the bridge is, of course, the timeless, ever-talented, unstoppable Ludacris.
Why did the rapper decide to pay tribute to his collaboration with the Canadian heartthrob Bieber halfway through his set?
Well, in his words, because, “There’s a fair outside! We can do whatever we want!”
Finally, the rapper ended out the set with chart-topping 2002 single, “Move B **** ” and lines from “Ludaversal” opening track “Ludaversal Intro,” capturing how he still lights up the stage, decades after debuting his music.
“They say Luda don’t want it no mo’ / No… I’m as hungry as the first day.” gtucker@dispatch.com @tucker0527