Rapper Ludacris shows love for Des Moines-native producer at the Iowa State Fair

Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges wanted Iowa State Fair audiences to know that a man originally from Des Moines helped launch his career — producer Shondrae Crawford, better known as Bangladesh.

"Y'all need to know this if you don't already know," Ludacris said, urging the crowd to make some noise for the producer.

Bangladesh's early credits include four tracks from Ludacris’ debut album “Incognegro,” Fader reported in 2018, one of which became one of Ludacris' most identifiable songs, "What's Your Fantasy?"

Ludacris performed that immediately after hyping the man whom he described to the crowd as, "Your brother from this city."

Among Bangladesh’s many producer credits include hits from “A Milli” by Lil Wayne to “Diva” by Beyoncé, according to music streaming service Tidal.

Ludacris showed plenty of love to the crowd of 13,482 Friday night at the Grandstand, particularly to one demographic.

“Shout out to all the sexy ladies in the crowd tonight,” the rapper called out early in his set, prompting an influx of high-pitched cheers from the crowd.

Not once did the State Fair crowd have to be told “Stand Up,” literally or via Luda’s song by the same name (which was performed Friday night), proving for the entirety of the Grammy Award winner’s set they were here for him and his many party anthems.

He took notice.

“This might be the biggest fan right here,” Ludacris said to a fan close to the stage. “I see you know every word so far.”

Ludacris keeps the crowd singing with Justin Bieber's 'Baby' to Usher's 'Yeah!'

“When I was 13 — ”

The crowd finished the lyrics with no hesitation.

“ — I had my first love.”

It’s the first line of Ludacris’ rap featured in Justin Bieber’s iconic song from 2010's “Baby,” thrusting the young star’s career into the homes of tweens across the world as “Bieber fever” spread.

Clearly, the audience — whether they were fans of the Biebs or not — knew every lyric, proudly singing the song as Ludacris interwove songs he’d been featured on into the set, including Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” and Fergie’s “Glamorous.”

But it was after “Baby” that Ludacris quipped he might have to start performing that song at every show.

Ludacris kicked off the night with “Southern Fried Intro” off his 2003 album “Chicken-n-Beer.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Iowa,” he said.

Other songs the rapper performed Friday night included “Yeah!” by Usher, featuring him and Lil Jon, which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 charts. It’s a position Ludacris achieved in 2003 with “Stand Up,” featuring Shawnna and in 2006 with “Money Maker,” featuring Pharrell, a year later.

Ludacris' “Money Maker” won Best Rap Song at the 49^th annual Grammy Awards. He performed that to the adoring crowd as well. He also won Best Rap Album for “Release Therapy” that same year.

Ludacris also portrays Tej Parker in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, first appearing in “2 Fast 2 Furious.” He also created a kids' animated series on Netflix called “Karma’s World” that was released in 2021. The show follows 10-year-old Karma Grant, an aspiring musical artist and rapper. The show is inspired by his eldest daughter of four, Karma.

The rapper ended his night with “Move B****” and “Get Back." Before he left the stage, he gave audiences a task.

Buy his merch.

Sean Kingston makes it a memorable night for a few fans

Originally slated to be the opener, singer and rapper Sean Kingston closed the night after he was delayed in getting to the fair, bumping up Ludacris’ set to 8:30 p.m. instead of later.

Though Kingston seemed more comfortable hyping the crowd up than performing his songs word for word, audiences got to hear Kingston, and themselves, crystal clear for his popular hit, “Beautiful Girls.”

Kingston let audiences sing without any music before jumping into the song.

For his final song, “Fire Burning,” more than a dozen fans — all women — were invited to join Kingston on stage.

There, some of them leaned in to hug Kingston and snap selfies of their remarkable moment.

“I like to party with my fans,” Kingston said.

The Iowa State Fair has two Grandstand concerts left for the 2023 season. The Chicks take the stage at 8 p.m. Aug. 19 and Jason Aldean performs at 8 p.m. Aug. 20.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ludacris brings 'How Low' and other hits to 2023 Iowa State Fair