Ludacris and T-Pain added to Minnesota State Fair Grandstand lineup

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

A pair of R&B artists who ruled the ’00s — Ludacris and T-Pain — will share the bill Aug. 27 at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand.

Tickets are priced from $88 to $44 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Etix and or phone at 800-514-3849.

Born Christopher Bridges in Illinois, Ludacris began rapping at age nine. After graduating high school, he studied music management at Georgia State University for a year and then self-released his debut album “Incognegro” in 1999. That attracted the attention of Def Jam execs who signed a record deal with Ludacris the following year.

His first two singles, “What’s Your Fantasy” and “Southern Hospitality,” hit the Top 10 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-hop chart and paved the way for a string of smashes, including “Area Codes,” “Rollout (My Business),” “Welcome to Atlanta,” “Move Bitch” and “Act a Fool.” His singles “Stand Up” and “Money Maker” topped the Billboard Hot 100.

As a guest artist, Ludacris contributed to Chingy’s “Holidae In,” Usher’s “Yeah,” Fergie’s “Glamorous,” Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” and Enrique Iglesias’ “Tonight.”

After landing a role in 2003’s “2 Fast 2 Furious,” Ludacris began a film career on the side, landing more than two dozen roles from six of the “Fast and Furious” sequels to “Crash” to “Fred Claus.” More recently, Ludacris created the animated children’s series “Karma’s World,” which ran for four seasons on Netflix.

T-Pain

Florida native Faheem Najm adopted his stage name T-Pain to reflect what he called the “Tallahassee Pain” he endured growing up.

After starting his career with the rap group Nappy Headz, T-Pain went solo with his 2004 debut mixtape “Back @ It,” which helped him score a deal with Akon’s label Konvict Muzik. While working on his first studio album, T-Pain began singing instead of rapping and experimenting with the heavy use of Auto-Tune, which quickly became his trademark.

T-Pain’s sophomore record “Epiphany” went double platinum and included his two biggest singles, “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” and “Bartender.” While he hasn’t had a significant hit in more than a decade, T-Pain has appeared in several Adult Swim shows and won the first season of “The Masked Singer.” He dropped Auto-Tune for his most recent album “On Top of the Covers,” which includes his takes on “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Tennessee Whiskey” and “That’s Life.”

Other Grandstand performers include Chance the Rapper, Nate Bargatze, Blake Shelton, the Happy Together Tour, Motley Crue, Matchbox Twenty and Kidz Bop Live. The final three shows will be announced in the coming weeks.

Related Articles