Source: Courtesy of Eudoxie Bridges’ Instagram / Instagram
Ludacris is a proud girl dad and family man who knows the world is an exciting yet complicated place.
Starring alongside Queen Latifah in Netflix’s new thriller called “End Of The Road,” the star plays the brother of a recently widowed mom of two who relocates across the country with her family in tow.
As a synopsis describes, when the family’s move is “thrown into complete chaos” after they witness a murder on their road trip, “the murderer will stop at nothing to find them.”
Despite lacking the Hollywood drama of his latest project in his real life, there’s no question that family reigns supreme for Luda.
While many know the Grammy-winning artist for his decades-long career in the industry or his successful acting career, a short one-on-one conversation with Christopher Bridges — the man behind the rapper moniker — highlights quality time with family is one of his most prized possessions.
The performer discussed that and the success of his animated Netflix series Karma’s World while speaking with MADAMENOIRE last month.
Inspired by his eldest daughter, Karma’s World debuted on the streamer in 2021 to major success.
As a hip-hop and family-fueled children’s series that’s more than just a fun time, Bridges explained the topics tackled in the show also helps families like his unpack today’s world.
MADAMENOIRE: Season three of Karma’s World unpacks important themes like dealing with toxic masculinity, disability rights and more.
You have daughters ages 20 to one years old, and we’re curious how you have conversations about important topics like those with them in your household.
Bridges: That’s a good question. Part of the reason I wanted to create [Karma’s World] was that whenever I watch certain things on television with my girls, they always ask questions.
What we see is what opens up the dialogue, like “Why did this happen?” or “Why did they do that?”
That’s why I created Karma’s World — so kids and parents can have these conversations.
Some of the things are tough topics, but I feel like talking about them is so needed in the world today. Honestly — a lot of kids are holding a lot of things inside and not talking about them, asking those questions, or expressing themselves. So what better way to provide an opportunity for kids and parents to have open dialogue than by giving them a head start to do that?”
Karma’s World has been a major success, congrats on that! Why do you think the show resonates so much with both parents and kids?
Humbly speaking, that’s the feedback I’ve gotten too. It’s like so many parents tell me they wish they had a show like Karma’s World when they were a kid, but they’re glad their kids have it now.
People are gleaming when they see the representation on screen. Because of the tunnel vision I had when creating the show, I didn’t realize how big the lack of current shows with the level of inclusivity and diversity Karma’s World is.
It’s still an ongoing debate whether the parents like it more or the kids [laughs].
It’s not every day that a Black man gets the opportunity to work with a brand like Mattel — everyone knows Barbie. How did the partnership between the brand and Karma’s World come about?
Why did you choose to partner with Mattel to launch a collection of children’s toys?
I honestly have to give all that praise to Mattel — they came to us.
They love the show, they love what it represents and they love what it stands for. They felt the need for more inclusivity in the world. I’m honestly blown away by their professionalism throughout our collaboration.
[Creating the collection] was an amazing and exciting process, from everything down to the dolls’ fashions and what they should wear. We also had to go through different processes for the music and how it would sonically sound coming out of the singing doll.
They even hired someone just for hair to get the texture and styling of Black hair right.
This was the first time I’ve done something like this, but I can say Mattel was phenomenal to work with. I never dreamed [the collection] would be this great, and I’m very thankful and humble.
What would you say about the legacy you’re building for your daughters? What do you want to continue building for them?
I want to provide a space for us to continue working and being creative. I want to teach them about business, [and] for them to be honest with themselves and how their projects are going.
It’s been a learning lesson with how long [Karma’s World] took. Most of them weren’t born when this came into conception.
I just wish they understand I’m trying to be the change I want to see in the world. And that they can do the same thing.
I’m just leading by example.
How did you feel as you parented through the pandemic and navigated family life?
We’re doing fairly well, but I would say that it was tough for everybody. But in terms of being able to… for me to be home and not on the road as much, it was good.
Coming out of it was also good because it was a time for people to hibernate, watch Netflix and catch up on certain shows that they like. [It was the right time] to feed them a positive show, so that was another good thing for our family.
What advice would you give fathers, particularly Black fathers, about raising daughters?
Man, I’m not the person who can give advice — to each’s own. But I can say for myself and my household, being there for them and obviously being a shoulder to lean on is essential.
Make sure you listen. Listening is probably the biggest thing in today’s world because there are so many internal issues that are going on as they grow older.
You just want to be an ear and be able to listen to them and talk things through. So that would be my advice. But I know everyone deals with different things.
The good thing is, if you’re a good girl dad and do your job right, that girl is also going to take care of you as well.
End Of The Road debuts on Netflix on Sep. 8.
