Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges is a rapper, actor and producer who recently added the titles of creator and executive producer to his resume. Bridges unveiled the children’s series, Karma’s World, last fall; which was actually inspired by his oldest daughter, Karma Bridges.
The animated series follows its main character, Karma Grant, an aspiring musical artist and rapper who “pours her soul into songwriting” and “channeling her feelings into whip-smart rhymes with passion, courage, and her signature brand of humor.”
As the series unfolds, Karma begins to understand the “incredible emotional power of words and music” and realizes that not only does she want to share her music with the world – her true goal is to change the world.
In an interview with Complex Canada, Bridges spoke more about the conversation with his daughter that inspired the series. “She used to come up to me and say, ‘Daddy, I want to rap like you.’ And I used to tell her if she wants to do music, she has to talk about what goes on in her life and her world. And it birthed this idea, of coming up not only with great music, but to also have a show.”
This animated series definitely touches on real-life experiences, as well as uncomfortable realities like micro-aggressions. He explained, “A lot of the things that she went through in real life are part of the storylines in the show. The thing about her name and wanting to change her name because it was not like everyone else’s… There’s an episode about her hair and kids touching her hair. She had to be reminded of how unique her hair is and that she comes from a long lineage of beautiful hair.”
As the show enters its second season, it definitely proves to fill a void in Black children’s media. Films like Disney’s Encanto or The Princess And The Frog certainly allows Black children to see characters who look like them, but their time on screen is only allotted to the length of the film. It has never been more necessary to see an ongoing television series.
Series like Karma’s World teaches children just how important it is to see and hear characters who look like them (notable voices on the show feature Bridges himself, Tiffany Haddish, and Dascha Polanco). And further reinforces the notion that parents should always speak life into their children (as seen in Netflix’s Jeen-yus documentary, following the life of rapper Kanye West).
Check out a clip of what’s to come in season two, below!