CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Iconic Atlanta rapper, actor, producer and philanthropist Ludacris, along with his Ludacris Foundation is giving back to the next generation with the launch of TechTunes, a new initiative that combines music-making with AI.

Ludacris, whose real name is Christopher Brian Bridges, sold more than 20 million records and has inspired millions of people. Now, he is continuing to inspire the next generation of artists, creatives, and students.

On Monday, Ludacris, and the Ludacris Foundation in partnership with Microsoft, met with students at Utopian Academy for the Arts High School in Morrow, which is the pilot site for the TechTunes program.

“We at the Ludacris Foundation realize that not every youth gets an equal chance at opportunities in life. We want to lend a hand and help them to be successful by providing youth with hands-on experience, resources, networking and proper skill sets that align with music industry needs,” Ludacris said.

Roberta Shields, Ludacris’ mother and President of the Ludacris Foundation, says she is excited about the program and helping to teach students about emerging technology.

“In collaboration with Microsoft, The Ludacris Foundation and its TechTunes program will provide tools and experiences that will build the skills and resumes of students through enhanced access to music technology, workshops, and music community/corporate activations and programs,” said Shields. “Using Microsoft Copilot, TechTunes introduces youth to emerging technology.”

The goal is simple: “to build a pipeline from high schools into college or directly into the music industry,” according to Ludacris.

The “Ludaversal” rapper interacted with students, and listened to some of the songs that the students created with the help of AI during the program.

According to Microsoft, Copilot is an AI companion created by Microsoft to help you with a variety of tasks.

“Understand you can use this as a tool because moving forward in the music industry, they say the people who are able to utilize AI are going to be a lot more efficient and be faster than the people who don’t use it,” Ludacris said to the students in the program. “This is a tool to use not to replace your own creativity. I didn’t have this when I was writing my songs. It’s great for me to be able to learn this technology as well.”

Students learned about the advancements of technology, AI, the process of making beats, copyright, and more.

“In order to be eligible for copyright, it has to have some human element,” said Gerald Keys, a representative of the Ludacris Foundation. “That’s how we do what’s called ethical AI. We’re not just taking a bunch of stuff and putting it out because it is computer generated and claiming it as ours. We’re actually inputting the human aspect into it to validate it being a human created generation. That is when you have human and machine working together in harmony.”

Many students were taught about AI when making music, different genres of music, and themes of what they wanted the music to focus on.

“The school was chosen as the pilot site for the TechTunes program because of its record of providing innovative, high-quality, arts-focused educational opportunities for enterprising students,” according to a press release.

One student made a song combining their favorite artists, Ludacris and rapper Tyga. Even the real Ludacris got a laugh out of the way AI mixed his cadences and rapping styles in the song about Atlanta. Now that’s ludicrous.

Throughout his career, Ludacris has emphasized that its “a marathon and not a sprint” and to understand nothing happens overnight, it’s a long time coming.

He first rose to prominence as a radio DJ, formerly known as Chris “Lova Lova” at Hot 97.5 in Atlanta in the mid-1990s. Through consistency, dedication, hard work, prayers and belief and a good team, he has worked to become one of the best and most influential rappers, creatives and innovators of all time.

He is also celebrating the 25th anniversary year since he released his major label debut album “Back For the First Time” in October 2000.

In 2022, he received his honorary degree from Georgia State University and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

He wrote and created the hit cartoon show “Karma’s World” with his daughter, Karma in 2021. The show has four seasons on Netflix.

In addition, the “Golden Grain” rapper has starred in several movies, including seven of the hit “Fast and Furious” films as “Tej.” The films have collectively grossed more than $1 billion.

For more information on TechTunes, click here.