Ludacris Responds To Pepsi, Plans A Rally

Ludacris has responded to Pepsi and their decision to dump him from their advertising roster, after the rappers lyrics came under fire on Bill Oreilly’s "The O’reilly Factor." The Atlanta based rapper said he will call on fans and artists to join him in an attempt to "create one voice and take it all back." […]

Ludacris has responded to Pepsi and their decision

to dump him from their advertising roster, after the rappers lyrics came under

fire on Bill Oreilly’s "The O’reilly Factor." The Atlanta based rapper

said he will call on fans and artists to join him in an attempt to "create

one voice and take it all back."

O’reilly took issue with Ludacris’ lyrics and

claimed that the rapper corrupting young minds and said that over 3,000 people

responded to his calls for Pepsi to ditch the rapper. " "We have a

responsibility to listen to our consumers and customers and we’ve heard from

a number of people that were uncomfortable with our association with this artist,"

the PepsiCo Inc. unit said in a statement. "We’ve decided to discontinue

our ad campaign with this artist and we’re sorry that we’ve offended anyone."

"As an entrepreneur with the creative artistry

that’s the choice of the new generation, I take pride in what I share with the

millions of consumers of my music–all of my fans with whom I am in sync,"

Ludacris said in a statement. "My message represents an ideology and way

of life that is true to me and the new generation to an extent that corporate

and political forces can’t touch."

Ludacris claims that Pepsi praised his ability

to reach urban consumers and after Pepsi dropped him, he said he plans a "rally"

to unite hip-hop artists and fans. "Over the past few days, I have rethought

my approach as to how I do business and retained a team to create a campaign

called, ‘It’s Got To Be Ludacris’ to take the power back for the good of the

hip-hop community," Ludacris said. "I’m calling on all artists, fans,

friends, and members of the new generation to join in rallying with me."

Ludacris added that he would later announce the date, time, and location of

the proposed rally.