Ludacris admits he wasn't sure that "Southern Hospitality" would be a hit when he first recorded the Neptunes-produced track.
During a recent appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's All The Smoke podcast, Luda recalled enlisting The Neptunes for "Southern Hospitality," the second single from his 2000 album Back for the First Time.
According to Ludacris, when Pharrell played him the beat that would ultimately become "Southern Hospitaliy," he didn't think it was a hit at first.
"If anybody can give you a hit at the last minute, it's Pharrell and Chad [Hugo] and The Neptunes," Luda said. "He [Pharrell] throws on this beat, and I'm vibing to it, I'm thinking it's cool. I'm not like thinking, 'This is a hit.'"
Luda continued, "With 'Southern Hospitality,' I did not know that it was the hit that it became."
Released as the second single off Luda's 2000 studio debut, "Southern Hospitality" would go on to peak at No. 23 on the Billboard 100, while also climbing to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart.
Elsewhere in his interview on All The Smoke, Ludacris shed light on what it was like to collaborate with the late Nate Dogg, who hopped on Luda's 2001 single "Area Codes."
"I'm the biggest Nate Dogg fan in the world," Luda shared. "Nate Dogg was amazing. Wherever you at, he'd smoke that whole shit down."
Ludacris added, "You throw on the beat, he'd smoke, take about an hour or two...kills it every single time. [He had] such a dope demeanor about himself; cool, calm, collected. How he chose his melodies, and how he chose to do certain things, musically, was always surprising to you...He was one of the most complex individuals, when it comes to singing, not only hooks but entire songs, that I ever encountered."
Watch Ludacris' full appearance on All The Smoke up top.
