Looking back on the deal, Ludacris is among the most powerful artists on Def Jam. For years, he and former label head, Jay-Z, maintained most of the control of the label. The reason behind that is the fact that Luda has over fifteen other artists signed to Def Jam. While he has his own label, there are plenty of artists who do not.
For the first time in his career, Ludacris has finally spoken on his deal with the historic label. Ludacris said that when he first began negotiations with Def Jam that he did not sign with them until he had his DTP label established. This way, when the money came around, he would receive another cut. A standalone artist only receives a portion of the profits. But, if another label is involved, they receive a piece of the profit, too. Because Ludacris owns another label that is involved, he receives another cut of the profit. Also, the label has other artists, too, so when they release albums, he also receives a cut of their profits.