Obama, Ludacris rap about AIDS

Safe sex, condoms highlight talk

Rapper Ludacris, known for a genre of music frequently criticized for promoting sex, drugs and violence, flipped the script during a Chicago visit Wednesday.

The gangsta rapper was in town to promote AIDS awareness with local college students and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

Signed on as a spokesman for the international YouthAids organization's "Kick Me" youth awareness campaign, he talked safe sex and condoms in a frank, one-hour Q & A with students at Evanston's Northwestern University, then whisked off in an entourage of Cadillac Escalades to meet with Obama at the senator's downtown office.

"I talk a lot about sex in my music, but you don't ever hear me talk about condoms," the rapper told about 125 Northwestern students.

"I can't speak for other rappers, but I think it's important that I let you know to be safe when you're having sex. Young people need to know about HIV/AIDS before it is too late, so it's extremely important that we talk about it," Ludacris, whose real name is Chris Bridges, said in introducing his mission and before ordering media out of the room.

The Grammy-winning rapper-turned-actor closed the session and his Obama meeting to the press, saying he wanted the students to feel free to ask frank questions, and himself to be able to respond as frankly.

After meeting with the senator, the entertainer would only say, "We talked about empowering the youth," likening the meeting to that of family.

Obama, too, declined to comment on the meeting afterward, but his spokesman said it focused on AIDS awareness.

"They just basically shared their views on not only AIDS in America, but the AIDS epidemic in Africa," spokesman Julian Green said. "Both Sen. Obama and Ludacris have initiated individual efforts to bring attention to the cause, and the senator applauded Ludacris for using his stature and his celebrity to bring attention to the issue."

Ludacris, whose big-screen efforts include the Academy Award-winning "Crash," and whose latest album, "Release Therapy," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, usually garners publicity of a more controversial nature.

He was dropped as a Pepsi spokesman in 2004 after Pepsi's choice drew criticism from talk show host Bill O'Reilly and the conservative right. And last year he ended up in a war of words with media mogul Oprah Winfrey after accusing her of being against rappers because she doesn't feature them on her show. Winfrey responded by asserting she doesn't condone the negative images of women propagated by Ludacris and others in lyrics and videos.

Asked whether the meeting with Obama yielded any joint projects for Ludacris and the senator, Green was firm.

"It was definitely a timely meeting as World AIDS Day [Friday] approaches, but there are no definitive plans for the two to be working together on anything in the future," Obama's spokesman said.

mihejirika@suntimes.com