A: We did some digging, but it wasn’t too difficult to find. Most people seemed to want to know why he cut the braids. Here is a quote straight from Luda: “The haircut was, quote, ‘a spur of the moment kind of thing’ but totally necessary as he felt that people needed to get to know a little about the man behind his on-stage persona. As a matter of fact, that’s what ‘Release Therapy’ is all about.”

Enjoy the pictures and if you want to know what he is up to now–watch the video.

Three-time Grammy Award-winner Ludacris takes over the #1 spot on Urban Radio for a second consecutive week with “How Low” – now certified RIAA platinum for U.S. sales in excess of one million units, setting the stage for THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES, the 7th studio album from Disturbing Tha Peace CEO and DTP/Def Jam artist Luda, arriving in the physical and digital marketplace on March 9th.

As anticipation builds for THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES, Ludacris moves into his second week as special guest on the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. Tour. The 10-week, 32-city tour of stadiums and major arenas across North America runs through April 11th in Vancouver. (Please remaining tour dates below.)

With tour venues quickly selling out, fans will also have their chance to see Ludacris on television over the next month – starting with NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on March 2nd. Appearances continue March 10th on ABC’s Live with Regis & Kelly; March 23rd on The Ellen DeGeneres Show; and March 26th at the outdoor stage of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. Luda will round out the month with a double-header on March 30th, hitting TBS’s Lopez Tonight with George Lopez and E! network’s Chelsea Lately.

THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES is the long-awaited follow-up to Luda’s previous concept album, Theater Of The Mind (November 2008), which spun off a pair of singles that both hit Top 20 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and the Top 40 stretch of the Hot 100: “What Them Girls Like” (featuring Chris Brown and Sean Garrett), and “One More Drink” (featuring T-Pain).

It was October of 2008, in the heat of electioneering fever, when Ludacris (Chris Bridges) made hip-hop history as co-star of two major motion pictures that opened within two weeks of each other. Max Payne, based on the popular video game, in which Luda starred as an internal affairs agent alongside Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Beau Bridges, opened on October 17th; and Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla, in which Luda joined Gerard Butler and Thandie Newton for an exciting tale of the Russian mob in London, opened on October 31st.

In between his movie premieres in October, Ludacris performed at the syndicated BET Awards ’08 tv broadcast, hosted by D.L. Hughley. Most recently, Luda co-starred in the Lionsgate film Gamer (September 2009), joining Gerard Butler for another action thriller.

Theater Of The Mind followed-up Luda’s RIAA platinum Release Therapy of 2006, which debuted at #1 – the same week that its first single, the RIAA platinum “Money Maker” (featuring Pharrell Williams) hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. Luda’s next #1 single was “Runaway Love” with Mary J. Blige, which they performed with special guests Earth, Wind & Fire at the 49th annual Grammy Awards worldwide telecast. Release Therapy won the Grammy for Best Rap Album, and “Runaway Love” won Best Collaboration at the BET Awards ’07.

In addition to appearing as both guest host and performer on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, 2006 was a landmark year for Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges. He scored rave reviews for his star appearance in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the show’s highest rated episode ever. His role in the critically acclaimed film, Crash (which opened in 2005) earned him honors in 2006, sharing the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, the Critics Choice Awards for Best Ensemble, and winning him the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporter Actor in A Motion Picture.

LUDACRIS ON THE E.N.D. TOUR WITH THE BLACK EYED PEAS

Feb. 10 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum

12 Nashville, TN Sommet Center

13 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena

16 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center

17 Lexington, KY Rupp Arena

19 Raleigh, NC RBC Center

20 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena

22 Hampton, VA Hampton Coliseum

23 Washington, DC Verizon Center

24 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Arena

26 Boston, MA TD Garden

27 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena

Mar. 1 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum

3 Philadelphia, PA The Wachovia Center

4 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena

9 Auburn Hills, MI The Palace Of Auburn Hills

11 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center

13 Chicago, IL United Center

18 Houston, TX Reliant Stadium @ Reliant Park

(Houston Livestock Show And

Rodeo / RodeoHouston)

19 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

20 Tulsa, OK BOK Center

22 Saint Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center

24 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center

25 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena

27 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

29-30 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center

31 Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Arena

Apr. 2 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion At San Jose

3 San Diego, CA San Diego Sports Arena

7 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena

10 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome

11 Vancouver, B.C. General Motors Place

Corporate line:
The 2008 self-titled debut album of Jennifer Kate Hudson reflects her high-powered soulful style voice which is transcendent and timeless. Guests features on the album include Fantasia on “I’m His Only Woman”, Ludacris on “Pocketbook”, plus the highlights version of “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls. Jennifer first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She went on to star as Effie White in the 2006 motion picture adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls for which she won numerous awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and a SAG Award.

The good:
“If This Isn’t Love” – A beautiful ballad that showcases Hudson’s strength.

“Giving Myself” – Again, Hudson breezes through another epic ballad that sounds ready for the finale of American Idol.

“I’m His Only Woman” f/ Fantasia – Two women singing their hearts out–what else is there to say.

“Can’t Stop The Rain” – The slowest and most laid back ballad. It’s getting cliche to say Hudson can sing any ballad, good or bad, and make it sound great.

“Jesus Promised Me A Home Over There” – The album ends on a high note as Hudson drops a beautiful bit of gospel on us.

The rest:
“Spotlight” – Reaches back into the soul of the ’70s but never hits the big booming epic sound of Donna Summers.

“Pocketbook” – Light on lyrics and melody. It’s a shame becuase the verses are hot. The hook is almost nonexistent as Hudson sings over and over “hit you with my pocketbook.”

“Whats Wrong (Go Away)” f/T-Pain – Again, the overuse of digital effects–in this case every vocal part by T-Pain is digitized. It destroys the song.

Finally:
Jennifer Hudson has the voice to dominate R&B and pop. The songs, for the most part, are good. But there aren’t any songs that are truly great. With a voice like hers you are always waiting for a song to give you goosebumps.