Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri thrilled to welcome All-Star Game to Atlanta, where the players play

ATLANTA -- As the 2025 MLB season progresses with mammoth homers, magnificent catches and masterful pitch sequences, buzz around All-Star Week continues to grow, just a few short weeks away.

Atlantans are among the most excited and eager to host the Midsummer Classic for the first time since 2000. And like several Billboard charts since then, Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris are at the top of the list. As part of the lead up to the game’s broadcast, FOX Sports tapped Ludacris and Dupri to star in its promotional campaign and MLB.com caught up with the two Georgia-based hip-hop stars at their commercial shoot to promote the summer’s jewel event.

“I’m excited to see it being in this city and how it feels different from when it’s in other cities,” Ludacris said of the 2025 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. “It was in Texas last year. And I don’t remember the last time it was in Atlanta -- 25 years ago? I’m celebrating my 25-year anniversary. So a lot has changed in 25 years, and I’m just excited to be in this city and see not only what MLB brings to it, but what we bring to MLB.”

That will include the duo receiving the game’s participants and baseball fans from around the world in true Atlanta style. As hardcore Atlanta sports fans know, that must include “Welcome to Atlanta,” which underpins this new creative spot launching Friday on FOX Sports platforms.

“As soon as we heard the legendary Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri -- and their timeless anthem 'Welcome to Atlanta' -- were on board to help promote the MLB All-Star Game, it was a no-brainer to place them at the center of FOX Sports’ campaign,” said FOX Sports Senior Vice President of Promotions Bill Battin. “Their performance in this spot not only captures the spirit of the city, and energy that it’ll bring to the Midsummer Classic, but is a harmonious blend of culture, baseball and Atlanta’s legendary star power.”

“It feels great that, years since ‘Welcome to Atlanta’ the song has come out, that it’s still extremely relevant in the culture,” Ludacris said. “I think when people think about welcoming people to Atlanta, that’s the first thing they think of, this song synonymous to welcoming people to this city no matter what. And it’s become a sports staple for all of the different not only sports teams, but all of the different sports. No matter what actual sport it is, when it comes to Atlanta, Jermaine Dupri and myself have been called to kind of be the ambassadors, so to speak, because of how big this song has become.”

Reaching the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002, “Welcome to Atlanta” embodies the city’s music, culture and love of sports, just as the classic “A” logo has transcended the Braves to represent the same, Dupri noted.

“It’s probably the most appropriate song, because it says ‘Welcome,’” Dupri said. “With everybody coming in town for the All-Star Game with all the players, it feels like a big hug that they get as soon as they come to the city.”

Ludacris emphasized the gravity of that responsibility, to welcome all to Atlanta and merge its rich culture with the many cultures of baseball fans from all over, and of baseball itself.

“It’s this duality that just feels so special that it’s hard to put into words,” he said. “Whenever we’re doing something at home -- we shot ‘Fast & Furious’ here in Atlanta before, and like when the 1996 Olympics were here -- it’s one of those things where you have this sense of being home, but you also have a sense of the whole world coming to you. It’s like a convergence of all cultures coming to one place that has so much culture all by itself.”

Dupri likewise recounted how Atlanta has imbued baseball culture with its culture, particularly through the example of his favorite Braves player from his youth, Deion Sanders.

“Watching baseball now, and being able to watch it back then, Deion was the first guy I ever seen wearing his jewelry on the field, playing in his jewelry,” Dupri said. “The other day I was watching the game, and [one of the Braves] had on two big broke chains. His jewelry’s much bigger than Deion’s was, but he looks like a rapper almost. It’s cool to understand where that came from. I know a lot of people probably see that now and don’t know that Deion started that here in Atlanta.”

The rise of those 1990s Braves captivated Dupri initially. He cited attending the 1996 World Series against the Yankees at Fulton County Stadium as his favorite moment and when his fandom ignited, the last series before Turner Field became the Braves’ home in 1997. Built next to Fulton County Stadium in the heart of the city, Turner Field hosted the All-Star Game in 2000, and this year is Truist Park’s turn.

Although Ludacris holds many fond memories of playing all over the diamond in local Little League baseball, his favorite Atlanta baseball moment also comes from a World Series, just more recent.

“My best memory is performing for the Braves not too long ago and getting this ring,” he said, proudly brandishing his 2021 World Series championship ring with diamond-encrusted “A” logo. “The A stands for Atlanta, and it also stands for A as in the best grade possible in all things, the highest standard.”

And these two artists intend to uphold that standard in welcoming baseball’s finest to the A.