LISTEN | Chris Bridges aka Ludacris talks 'Karma' & wanting to change the world for the better

03 November 2021 - 07:00
By Constance Gaanakgomo
Chris Bridges said he wanted to do something to be the change he wanted to see in the world.
Image: (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage) Chris Bridges said he wanted to do something to be the change he wanted to see in the world.

Grammy award-winning artist Chris Bridges aka Ludacris's bond and relationship with his daughters, especially Karma, birthed Karma's World, an animated series that is now streaming on Netflix.

It took over a decade to complete the project because they wanted to get everything right.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Chris said he wants to teach people to never give up on their dreams. 

Here is what he had to say: 

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“The new generation inspired Karma's world. I have daughters so I wanted to do something to be the change I wanna to see in the world for them and it’s all just been inspired by my daughters, especially my daughter whose name is Karma. So that’s what this whole Netflix series is all about.

“Karma means in so many words what goes around comes around. So if you do good in this world and you put out good, it will come back to you. That’s what I want all kids and all of the new generation to realise that’s how we change the world for the better.”

The show is Chris's vision and before the show hit the ground running he said he had to perfect every aspect of the series.

“The music was good but it wasn’t great at first. We took so many different times going to different animators and we didn’t like it at first. It was phases of ups and downs, trying to get everything right from the storylines, to the animation to the music and we finally got it right because being on Netflix you can launch simultaneously around the world, all at the same time. It took time but it was amazing and worth it.”

The show, which features voices from Tiffany Haddish, Danielle Brooks, Jordan Fisher, Dawnn Lewis, Dascha Polanco and Chris Bridges, made its debut on Netflix in 190 countries in 21 languages plus audio description.

The series' season 1 boasts of 15 11-minute episodes and is a coming-of-age story about a young Black girl finding her voice and using it to change her world. Per Netflix, the lyrically gifted middle schooler Karma juggles rap dreams and rhyme schemes while using her talent, ambition and heart to solve any problem. Something the rapper said was what his daughter was all about, Karma's self expression as a young girl aided the music in the show.

“When she was young she used to come to me and tell me she wanted to do music like her daddy, and I would tell her if you wanna do music you have to talk about what goes on in your life and in your world. It was her self-expression and finding out about herself and growing up that we had the idea to come up with the music in the series. Because it was the foundation first and then from there we built characters. We knew she was gonna grow up so we wanted to make animation so that it kind of stays the same age.”

The themes in the cartoon, are exactly what happened to Karma.

“These topics actually happened to my daughter so they are real-life situations, we didn’t make this stuff up, and that’s what makes it even more special is that this is what happened to my daughter. So we know that if it happened to my daughter, then there are a lot of other young women that can relate to it. And that’s what makes it special.”