LOL, an abbreviation for laughing out loud, or laugh out loud, is a common element of Internet slang. It was used historically on Usenet but is now widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication, and even face-to-face communication. It is one of many initialisms for expressing bodily reactions, in particular laughter, as text, including initialisms for more emphatic expressions of laughter such as LMAO ("laughing my ass off"), ROTFL ("roll(ing) on the floor laughing") or ROFL ("roll(ing) on [the] floor laughing"), and BWL ("bursting with laughter", above which there is "no greater compliment" according to technology columnist Larry Magid). Other unrelated expansions include the now mostly historical "lots of luck" or "lots of love" used in letter-writing.

The list of acronyms "grows by the month" and they are collected along with emoticons and smileys into folk dictionaries that are circulated informally amongst users of Usenet, IRC, and other forms of (textual) computer-mediated communication. These initialisms are controversial, and several authors recommend against their use, either in general or in specific contexts such as business communications.

LOL was first documented in the Oxford English Dictionary in March, 2011.

Analysis

Laccetti (professor of humanities at Stevens Institute of Technology) and Molski, in their essay entitled ''The Lost Art of Writing'', are critical of the terms, predicting reduced chances of employment for students who use such slang, stating that, "Unfortunately for these students, their bosses will not be 'lol' when they read a report that lacks proper punctuation and grammar, has numerous misspellings, various made-up words, and silly acronyms." Fondiller and Nerone in their style manual assert that "professional or business communication should never be careless or poorly constructed" whether one is writing an electronic mail message or an article for publication, and warn against the use of smileys and these abbreviations, stating that they are "no more than e-mail slang and have no place in business communication".

Yunker and Barry in a study of online courses and how they can be improved through podcasting have found that these slang terms, and emoticons as well, are "often misunderstood" by students and are "difficult to decipher" unless their meanings are explained in advance. They single out the example of "ROFL" as not obviously being the abbreviation of "rolling on ''the'' floor laughing" (emphasis added). Haig singles out LOL as one of the three most popular initialisms in Internet slang, alongside BFN ("bye for now") and IMHO ("in my humble opinion"). He describes the various initialisms of Internet slang as convenient, but warns that "as ever more obscure acronyms emerge they can also be rather confusing". Bidgoli likewise states that these initialisms "save keystrokes for the sender but [...] might make comprehension of the message more difficult for the receiver" and that "[s]lang may hold different meanings and lead to misunderstandings especially in international settings"; he advises that they be used "only when you are sure that the other person knows the meaning".

Shortis observes that ROTFL is a means of "annotating text with stage directions". Hueng, in discussing these terms in the context of performative utterances, points out the difference between ''telling'' someone that one is laughing out loud and actually laughing out loud: "The latter response is a straightforward action. The former is a self-reflexive representation of an action: I not only do something but also show you that I am doing it. Or indeed, I may not actually laugh out loud but may use the locution 'LOL' to communicate my appreciation of your attempt at humor."

David Crystal notes that use of LOL is not necessarily genuine, just as the use of smiley faces or grins is not necessarily genuine, posing the rhetorical question "How many people are actually 'laughing out loud' when they send LOL?". Franzini concurs, stating that there is as yet no research that has determined the percentage of people who are actually laughing out loud when they write LOL.

Victoria Clarke, in her analysis of telnet talkers, states that capitalization is important when people write LOL, and that "a user who types ''LOL'' may well be laughing louder than one who types ''lol''", and opines that "these standard expressions of laughter are losing force through overuse". Egan describes LOL, ROTFL, and other initialisms as helpful as long as they are not overused. He recommends against their use in business correspondence because the recipient may not be aware of their meanings, and because in general neither they nor emoticons are (in his view) appropriate in such correspondence. June Hines Moore shares that view. So, too, does Lindsell-Roberts, who gives the same advice of not using them in business correspondence, "or you won't be LOL".

Spread from written to spoken communication

LOL, ROFL, and other initialisms have crossed from computer-mediated communication to face-to-face communication. David Crystal—likening the introduction of LOL, ROFL, and others into spoken language in magnitude to the revolution of Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type in the 15th century—states that this is "a brand new variety of language evolving", invented by young people within five years, that "extend[s] the range of the language, the expressiveness [and] the richness of the language".

Geoffrey K. Pullum points out that even if interjections such as LOL and ROFL were to become very common in spoken English, their "total effect on language" would be "utterly trivial".

Conversely, a 2003 study of college students by Naomi Baron found that the use of these initialisms in computer-mediated communication (CMC), specifically in instant messaging, was actually ''lower'' than she had expected. The students "used few abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons". The spelling was "reasonably good" and contractions were "not ubiquitous". Out of 2,185 transmissions, there were 90 initialisms in total, only 31 CMC-style abbreviations, and 49 emoticons. Out of the 90 initialisms, 76 were occurrences of LOL.

Acceptance

On March 24, 2011, LOL, along with other initialisms, has been formally recognized in an update of the Oxford English Dictionary. In their research, it was determined that the earliest recorded use of LOL as an initialism was for "little old lady" in the 1960s. They also discovered that the oldest written record of the use of LOL in the contemporary meaning of "Laughing Out Loud" was from a message typed by Wayne Pearson in the 1980s, from the archives of Usenet.

Lexical form

The past tense of lol is lolled. The participle form is lolling.

Variations on the theme

Variants of LOL

lolz: Occasionally used in place of LOL. lulz: Often used to denote laughter at someone who is the victim of a prank, or a reason for performing an action. This variation is often used on the Encyclopedia dramatica wiki and 4chan image boards. According to a ''New York Times'' article about Internet trolling, "''lulz'' means the joy of disrupting another's emotional equilibrium." Can be used as a noun — e.g. "do it for the lulz.", shortened into "ftlulz" (to distinguish it from "ftl" - "for the loss"). lolwut: lol + wut, used to indicate bemused laughter, or confusion. Lawl or Lal: Pseudo-pronunciation of LOL. Saying "lawl" is sometimes meant in mockery of those who use the term LOL, and is not meant to express laughter.

LOLOLOLOL: For added emphasis, LOL can be appended with any number of additional iterations of "OL". In cases such as these, the abbreviation is not to be read literally (i.e., "Laughing out loud out loud out loud out loud"), but is meant to suggest several LOLs in a row.

trolololol or trollololol: A portmanteau of troll and LOL iterated. Indicates that the prank or joke was made by internet trolls, or the user thinks the prank or joke qualifies as internet trolling.

LMAO: For "Laughing my ass off". Variant: LMFAO ("Laughing my fucking ass off"). ROFL: For "Rolling on the floor laughing". It is often combined with LMAO for added emphasis as ROFLMAO ("Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off"). Variant: ROTFL. Roflcopter: A portmanteau of ROFL and helicopter and popularized by the website www.roflcopter.com. The website contained the animated gif and nothing else. The term was supposedly first used by a Blizzard Entertainment moderator in the Warcraft III forum in 2003. lqtm: For "Laughing quietly to myself". *G* or *g*: For "grins". Like "lulz" it is used in the initialism "J4G" ("just for grins").

Commonly used equivalents in other languages

Most of these variants are usually found in lowercase.

mdr: Esperanto version, from the initials of "multe da ridoj", which translates to "lot of laughs" in English.

mdr: French version, from the initials of "mort de rire" which roughly translated means "died of laughter", although many French people now use LOL instead as it is the most widely used on the internet.

חחח/ההה: Hebrew version of LOL. The letter ח is pronounced 'kh' and ה is pronounced 'h'. Putting them together (usually three or more in a row) makes the word khakhakha or hahaha (since vowels in Hebrew are generally not written), which is in many languages regarded as the sound of laughter.

555: the Thai variation of LOL. "5" in Thai is pronounced "ha", three of them being "hahaha". asg: Swedish abbreviation of the term ''Asgarv'', meaning intense laughter. g: Danish abbreviation of the word ''griner'', which means "laughing" in Danish. rs: in Brazil "rs" (being an abbreviation of "risos", the plural of "laugh") is often used in text based communications in situations where in English LOL would be used, repeating it ("rsrsrsrsrs") is often done to express longer laughter or laughing harder. Also popular is "kkk" (which can also be repeated indefinitely), due to the pronunciation of the letter ''k'' in Portuguese sounding similar to the ''ca'' in ''card'', and therefore representing the laugh "cacacacaca" (also similar to the Hebrew version above). mkm: in Afghanistan "mkm" (being an abbreviation of the phrase "ma khanda mikonom"). This is a Dari phrase that means "I am laughing". 哈哈哈/呵呵呵: in Chinese, although 大笑 (da xiao; "big laugh") is used, a more widespread usage is "哈哈哈" (ha ha ha) or "呵呵呵" (he he) on internet forums. ههههه: in Arabic is a repetition of the "ه" character meaning "Hahahaha" or "Hehehehe". "ه" is equivalent to the letter "H", while the "a" (or "e") is treated as an implied short vowel, and isn't written (as is standard in Arabic and Hebrew). 笑: in Japanese, traditionally the kanji for laugh (笑) was used in the same way as lol. It can be read as ''wara'' and so just w has taken over as the abbreviation. ''ㅋㅋㅋ'' ("kkk") and ''ㅎㅎㅎ'' ("hhh") are usually used to indicate laughter in Korean. 'ㅋ', is a Korean Jamo consonant representing a "k" sound, and 'ㅎ' represents an "h" sound. Both "ㅋㅋㅋ" and "ㅎㅎㅎ" represent laughter which is not very loud. However, if a vowel symbol is written, louder laughter is implied: ''하하'' "haha" ''호호'', "hoho." jajajá: in Spanish, the letter "j" is pronounced "h" . jejeje: in the Philippines is used to represent "hehehe". As in Spanish, "j" is pronounced as "h". Its origins can be traced to SMS language. It is widely used in a Filipino youth subculture known as Jejemons.

ha3: Malaysian variation of LOL. ''ha3'' means pronouncing ''ha'' three times, "hahaha".

In some languages with a non-Latin script, the abbreviation LOL itself is also often transliterated. See for example Arabic لــول and Russian лол.

Pre-dating the Internet and phone texting by a century, the way to express laughter in morse code is "hi hi". The sound of this in morse, 'di-di-di-dit di-dit, di-di-di-dit di-dit', is thought to represent chuckling.

The word "lol" in other languages

In Dutch, lol is a word (not an acronym) which, coincidentally, means "fun" ("lollig" means "funny")

In Welsh, lol means "nonsense" – e.g., if a person wanted to say "utter nonsense" in Welsh, they would say "rwtsh lol"

See also

Internet meme

Leet

Lolcat

References

Further reading

—an early Usenet posting of a folk dictionary of abbreviations and emoticons, listing ''LOL'' and ROTFL

Category:Texting codes Category:Slang Category:Internet slang Category:Internet memes Category:1990s slang Category:2000s slang

af:LOL (Internet slang) ar:لول ca:LOL (Internet) de:LOL et:LOL es:LOL fa:LOL fr:LOL (argot internet) gl:LOL ko:LOL hr:LOL id:LOL ia:LOL is:LOL (netslangur) ka:LOL la:LOL lt:LOL mk:LOL ms:LOL my:LOL ja:（笑） no:LOL pt:LOL ro:Lol ru:LOL scn:LOL simple:LOL fi:LOL (lyhenne) th:LOL zh:LOL

name	Lauren Bennett
background	solo_singer
birth name
born	June 23, 1989Kent, United Kingdom
genre	Pop, R&B;
occupation	Singer, model, dancer
association acts	LMFAO, Pitbull
years active	2007–present
label	Interscope Records, Will.i.am music group
website	www.lauren-bennett.com }}

Lauren Bennett (born 23 June 1989) is a British singer, dancer, painter, photographer, and model. She is best known for her involvement with girl groups the Paradiso Girls and Pussycat Dolls and her work with Cee Lo Green and LMFAO.

Early life

Bennett was raised in Meopham, Kent and went to a song and dance school in Tunbridge Wells. She also auditioned for the third series of ''The X Factor'' in 2006 and made it to bootcamp, but got sent home.

Career

Paradiso Girls (2007–2010)

Bennett was part of a girl group called Paradiso Girls. The group consisted of seven members at its formation in 2007, but by 2008 it had dropped to five. Each member comes from a different country: Chelsea Korka from the United States, Aria Crescendo from France, Kelly Beckett from Barbados, Shar Mae Amo from the Philippines and Lauren herself from the United Kingdom. The band was signed to Interscope Records. Their debut single "Patron Tequila" featuring Lil’ Jon and Eve was released on 12 May 2009 and reached 3 on the Hot Dance Club Play Chart and 82 in Canadian Hot 100. After their second single, "Who's My B***" was unsuccessful, the group was put on an indefinite hiatus in 2010.

Solo career and The Pussycat Dolls (2010–present)

After the group split in 2010, she then went on to pursue a solo career. She featured in a remix of will.i.am's "I Got It from My Mama". She also joined in the Party Rock Tour with LMFAO. Later on that year she met Cee Lo Green, she was then featured on his album ''The Lady Killer'' on the track "Love Gun".

The following year, she was featured on LMFAO's international hit "Party Rock Anthem", which has sold over 5,000,000 digital downloads in the United States and reached number one in the U.S. for six weeks. She also is modeling for ViolentLips.

Bennett still works with Robin Antin and is featured in the Pussycat Dolls' second fitness DVD. It was confirmed on Pussycat Dolls' official Facebook that Lauren and Vanessa Curry (former Lakers Girl) are two of the new members in the group. Kristal "Lyndriette" Smith, Tiffany "Taz" Zavala are also rumored to be part of the new group. Talking to Billboard.com on the red carpet at the American Music Awards, Bennett confirmed herself as a part of the newly regrouped recording group. This makes her the first member of a brand new lineup that creator Robin Antin confirmed to Billboard was in the process of being built. "We're currently figuring out who's in the group and we're working on an album," Bennett says of the Pussycat Dolls.

Her debut solo single "I Wish I Wish" was released on 21 November 2011 via Interscope Records. The track was written by Esmée Denters, Billy Mann and produced by David Schuler.

Discography

With Paradiso Girls

Solo singles

!Year	Single	!Format	!Notes	Album
2011		Digital download		TBA

As a featured artist

Year

rowspan="2" style="width:210px;"

Single

Chart Positions

Album

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"

2010

"Love Gun" (Cee Lo Green featuring Lauren Bennett)

The Lady Killer (album)>The Lady Killer''

2011

''Sorry for Party Rocking''

References

External links

Category:1989 births Category:British female singers Category:British pop singers Category:Living people Category:Pussycat Dolls members Category:Interscope Records artists

es:Lauren Bennett fa:لارن بنت fr:Lauren Bennett hu:Lauren Bennett pt:Lauren Bennett vi:Lauren Bennett

name	Natalia Kills
background	solo_singer
birth name	Natalia Keery-Fisher
alias	Candy Rapper, Verbz, Verbalicious, Natalia Noemi Cappuccini
birth date	August 15, 1986
birth place	Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
genre	Pop, electropop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress, director
instrument	Vocals, drums, guitar
years active	1995–present
label	Adventures in Music, will.i.am, Cherrytree, Kon Live, Interscope, Bozadya, Dandyville
associated acts	Far East Movement LMFAO will.i.am
url	}}

Natalia Keery-Fisher (born 15 August 1986) is an English singer-songwriter, actress, and short-film director who performs under the stage name Natalia Kills. She released her first single "Don't Play Nice" under the name Verbalicious in February 2005. She released her debut album, ''Perfectionist'', under the name Natalia Kills in April 2011.

Life and career

Early life

Keery-Fisher was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to a Jamaican father and Uruguayan mother, where she attended Bradford Girls' Grammar School. In addition, she studied classical drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career beginnings

Keery-Fisher made her acting debut at age 9 in 1995 in ''New Voices''. She had a regular role as Sima in the sitcom ''All About Me'' and also played Amy Franks in the BBC's long-running radio drama ''The Archers''. During her time on television and radio she began writing songs, some of which were featured in films and television shows, including ''Bring It On 4'', ''Sleepover'', ''Just My Luck'' and ''Entourage''. After finishing ''The Archers'' in 2003, she attributes her musical breakthrough to winning a Radio 1 MC Battle in Leeds, under the name Candy Rapper, in 2003. She auditioned for the part of Princess Amidala in Star Wars but did not get the part but noted that "I auditioned in front of George Lucas, it was amazing".

She signed to the UK record company "Adventures in Music", releasing her debut single "Don't Play Nice" in March 2005. The song charted at 11 in the UK. She later filed to be released from all recording/management agreements after the record label filed for bankruptcy.

In January 2008, will.i.am signed Keery-Fisher to Interscope Records via his will.i.am Music Group imprint. She was noticed for her demo EP ''Wommanequin'', which she produced and wrote herself. Once signed to Interscope, she was placed with Cherrytree Records. Cherrytree encouraged her to find a name that was more direct and descriptive, and she then came up with the name Natalia Kills. She also wrote songs for French recording artist M. Pokora and met underground director Guillaume Doubet, with whom she now directs all her visuals in Paris.

2010–present: ''Perfectionist''

Kills' debut album ''Perfectionist'' was released April 2011 in Germany. She has also produced and co-directed a mini-series, ''Love Kills xx'', and a film under the working tittle ''The Exhibition'', which have been made concurrently with the album, the latter acting as the soundtrack to the film. The album's first single, "Mirrors", was released in US in August 2010 and in the UK in April 2011. Her second single, "Wonderland", was released on in April 2011 in Germany. The track In October 2010, was featured in the 2011 film ''Beastly'' starring Vanessa Hudgens.

Kills opened for Kelis' European All Hearts Tour, as well as supporting Robyn on her Body Talk Tour in November 2010 and early 2011. Kills supported Ke$ha on the UK leg of her Get Sleazy Tour alongside LMFAO. Throughout August and September 2011, Kills will support Katy Perry on her California Dreams Tour for eight dates.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |+ List of albums, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details ! scope="col" colspan="6" | Peak chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | AUT ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | CAN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | GER ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | SWI ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | US |- ! scope="row" | ''Perfectionist'' |

Released: 1 April 2011

Label: Interscope, Universal

Format: CD, digital download

| — || 35 || 36 || 50 || 94 || 134 |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |+ List of singles, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Single ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="7" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | AUT ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | CAN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | GER ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | POL ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | SWI ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;" | USDance |- ! scope="row" | "Don't Play Nice" (as Verbalicious) | 2005 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |- ! scope="row" | "Mirrors" | 2010 | — | 7 | 46 | 10 | 2 | 52 | 3 | rowspan="3" | ''Perfectionist'' |- ! scope="row" | "Wonderland" | rowspan="2" | 2011 | — | 55 | — | 45 | 44 | — | — |- |- ! scope="row" | "Free" (feat. will.i.am) | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |- |colspan="10" style="font-size:9pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |}

As featured artist

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; |- !rowspan="2"|Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="6"| Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |- !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|UK !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|BEL !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|CAN !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|FRA !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|IRE !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|SWE |- | 2007 |align="left"| "They Talk Shit About Me" (with M. Pokora) |align="center"| — |align="center"| 3 |align="center"| — |align="center"| 24 |align="center"| — |align="center"| — | ''MP3'' |- |rowspan="1"| 2011 |align="left"| "Champagne Showers" (with LMFAO) |align="center"| 32 |align="center"| 23 |align="center"| 63 |align="center"| 30 |align="center"| 15 |align="center"| — | ''Sorry for Party Rocking'' |- | colspan="17" style="text-align:center; font-size:8pt;"| "—" denotes song that did not chart or was not released |}

Guest appearances

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; |- !|Year ! Single ! Album |- |2011 |align="left"| "2 Is Better" (Far East Movement featuring Natalia Kills and Ya Boy) | ''Free Wired'' |}

Promotional singles

"Zombie" (2009)

"Activate My Heart" (2010)

Filmography

''All About Me'' ''No Angels (TV series) ''Cape Wrath (TV series)

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
1995	''New Voices''	Pearl
rowspan="3"	2003	|	Sima	TV series, 22 episodes
''Casualty (TV series)	Casualty ''	Samina Khan
''Coronation Street''	Laura Mangen
rowspan="2"	2004		Hazel Perry
''Blue Murder (UK TV series)	Blue Murder ''	Anisa Khan
2005	No Angels'' ||	Sujata	TV series, 1 episode
rowspan="2"	2006	''Silent Witness''	Kelly Wetherby
'' Tripping Over ''	Julie
	2007	Cape Wrath'' ||	Kerry	TV series, 1 episode

References

External links

Natalia Kills interview with Girls Talkin Smack

Category:1986 births Category:British people of Uruguayan descent Category:English female singers Category:English people of Jamaican descent Category:English pop singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English television actors Category:English-language singers Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Bradford

da:Natalia Kills de:Natalia Kills es:Natalia Kills fr:Natalia Kills it:Natalia Kills hu:Natalia Kills no:Natalia Kills pl:Natalia Kills pt:Natalia Kills simple:Natalia Kills sv:Natalia Kills

Name	Lil Jon|background solo_singer
Birth name	Jonathan Mortimer Smith
Born	January 27, 1971Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Instrument	Keyboards, synthesizers, drum machine, sampler
Genre	Hip hop, crunk
Occupation	Rapper, hype man, music producer, DJ
Years active	1995–present
Notable instruments	Roland TR-808
Label	BME Recordings Universal Republic RecordsTVT Records (2001–2008)
Associated acts	The Eastside Boyz, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, The Mr. Move }}

Jonathan Mortimer Smith (born January 27 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004. He then went on solo and released a new album in 2010 called ''Crunk Rock''.

Early life

Lil' Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for a short time and many of his earliest influences stem from his time there. He graduated from Douglass High School.

Career

Early career

After working as a DJ for Atlanta night clubs, he started working for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000. The group signed to the Atlanta-based Mirror Image Records and were distributed by Ichiban Records. In 1997, Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz debuted with ''Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album''. It included singles "Who U Wit?" and "Shawty Freak a Lil' Sumthin'", the latter of which came out in 1998. Both singles charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #70 and #62 respectively. In 2000 Jon took part in starting up his own label BME Recordings and signed a distribution agreement with Norcross, Georgia based Southern Music Distribution. There he released his break through album titled ''We Still Crunk''. Among the tracks on that project was the hit single "I Like Dem Girlz", which reached #55 on the R&B; chart and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart.

After hearing feedback that Lil' Jon was "the new guy" from street team people in the markets where he was attracting his biggest audiences - namely Atlanta, St. Louis, Memphis and Dallas - A&R; at TVT, Bryan Leach, went to one of his Atlanta shows and was blown away by the immense energy of the experience. Leach told HitQuarters: "It was like early Beastie Boys, when they had the energy of a rock group but they were rapping, and ... that energy is what crunk music is all about." Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz signed to TVT Records in 2001 and debuted there with ''Put Yo Hood Up'', which combined previously released tracks with new ones. The group's first nationally played single was "Bia' Bia'", which featured rappers Ludacris, Too Short, Big Kapp, and Chyna Whyte. "Bia' Bia'" peaked at #97 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #47 on the ''Billboard'' R&B; chart.

In 2002, the group released ''Kings of Crunk''. "I Don't Give A..." was its first single; it featured Mystikal and Krayzie Bone and peaked at #50 on the R&B; chart. The group's next single, a collaboration with fellow Atlanta hip hop group Ying Yang Twins titled "Get Low", became popular in nightclubs nationwide and reached the top ten of the Hot 100.''Crunk Juice'' followed in 2004, led by "What U Gon' Do" featuring Lil' Scrappy. "What U Gon' Do" peaked at #22 on the Hot 100, #13 on the R&B; chart, and #5 on the rap chart; its follow-up, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at #3 (Hot 100), #2 (R&B;), and #1 (rap).

Solo career and production

In addition to leading Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz, Lil' Jon has also produced many hit urban singles. From 2003 to 2005, while still with The East Side Boyz, Lil' Jon produced hits like "Salt Shaker" by Ying Yang Twins, "Yeah!" by Usher, "Freek-a-Leek" by Petey Pablo, "Shorty Wanna Ride" by Young Buck, "Shake That Monkey" by Too Short, "Let's Go" by Trick Daddy, and "Girlfight" by Brooke Valentine. Lil' Jon entered the San Francisco Bay Area hyphy music scene in 2006 with his collaborations with Bay Area rapper E-40: Lil' Jon produced E-40's single "Tell Me When To Go" and had E-40 and Atlanta rapper Sean P on his own "Snap Yo Fingers". In 2006, Lil' Jon severed his negotiation with record label TVT. He vowed never to record for TVT Records again, alleging that TVT owner Steve Gottlieb was shortchanging him. He also began recording a rock music album, ''Crunk Rock''; in May 2006 he began recording in Las Vegas, Nevada because rock band The Killers was recording its upcoming album ''Sam's Town'' there and the East Side Boyz signed a new deal with Rick Robinson aka Double R CEO and Founder of IMG Recordings, which the album got pushed back to 2010.

MTV News reported in March 2008 that ''Crunk Rock'' was taking more time to complete than Lil' Jon already planned. As part of TVT Records' 2008 bankruptcy auction, Lil' Jon withdrew his multi-million dollar objection to the TVT sale proceedings and agreed to TVT’s transfer of his artist agreement to The Orchard. In return, The Orchard released Lil' Jon from all future obligations and returned the rights to the master recordings of ''Crunk Rock''. Crunk Rock was finally released on June 8, 2010 and it features artists such as LMFAO, Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins, Waka Flocka Flame, R.Kelly, and many more. In March 2011, Lil Jon took part in the fourth season of ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' on NBC and was eliminated in the Final Four. In July 2011, in a recent interview has said that he is working on a new studio album and has released a song with LMFAO called "Drink".

Musical style

Jason Birchmeier of allmusic has described Lil' Jon's production as "bass-heavy" and his album ''Put Yo Hood Up'' as having "a long and varied list of guest rappers to accompany the beats". With the guest performers featured on that album much more than the East Side Boyz, Birchmeier remarked: "The end result is an album that resembles a street-level mixtape rather than a traditional artist-oriented album". Alex Henderson, also of allmusic, contrasted Lil' Jon's style of "rowdy, in-your-face, profanity-filled party music" with other Southern rappers', those who "have a gansta/thug life agenda" and those who convey "serious sociopolitical messages". Lil' Jon has also found influence in rock music, having worked with Rick Rubin and Korn. For Trick Daddy's "Let's Go", Lil' Jon sampled the bass line from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".

Personal life

In 2004, Lil Jon was married in Puerto Rico. He also has a son named Slade Smith (born in 1998).

Discography

;Solo

''Crunk Rock'' (2010)

''Party Animal'' (2011)

;With the East Side Boyz

''Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album'' (1997)

''We Still Crunk!!'' (2000)

''Put Yo Hood Up'' (2001)

''Kings of Crunk'' (2002)

''Crunk Juice'' (2004)

Video games

:Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

25 To Life (cameo appearance)

Def Jam: Icon

Need for Speed: Underground "Get Low (song)" song is featured in this game

Def Jam: Icon "Get Low (song)" song in this Game

Filmography

2004: ''Soul Plane''

2005: ''Boss'n Up''

2005: ''Hip-Hop Honeys: Las Vegas''

2006: ''Date Movie''

2006: ''Scary Movie 4''

2007: ''Class of 3000''

2008: ''Smoke and Mirrors''

2009: ''Pimp My Ride International''

2010: ''Freaknik: The Musical'' (voice only)

2011: ''The Celebrity Apprentice 4''

Television Shows

Chappelle Show (2004)

See also

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References

External links

Official website

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:American dance musicians Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop DJs Category:Crunk Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:The Apprentice (U.S. TV series) contestants Category:TVT Records artists Category:Universal Records artists

ar:ليل جون be:Lil Jon bg:Лил Джон cs:Lil Jon da:Lil Jon de:Lil Jon es:Lil' Jon fa:لیل جان fr:Lil' Jon ko:릴 존 hr:Lil Jon it:Lil Jon he:ליל ג'ון hu:Lil Jon nl:Lil' Jon ja:リル・ジョン pl:Lil Jon pt:Lil Jon ro:Lil Jon ru:Lil Jon simple:Lil Jon fi:Lil Jon sv:Lil Jon th:ลิล จอน tr:Lil Jon uk:Ліл Джон zh:Lil Jon

Birth name	Simon Rex Cutright
Birth date	July 20, 1974
Birth place	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Comedian, TV host, Recording Artist, Rapper|years_active 1992–present
Website	http://www.dirtnastymusic.com }}

Simon Rex (born July 20, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, television host and recording artist. He is known for starring as Jeff Campbell in ''What I Like About You'', during the first season.

Early life

Rex was born Simon Rex Cutright in San Francisco, California, and is the only child of Paul and Zoe Cutright, a relationship coach and an environmental consultant.

Career

Adult Films

In 1993, at age 19, he appeared solo in scenes for three masturbation porn films, ''Young, Hard & Solo II''; ''Young, Hard & Solo III''; and ''Hot Sessions III''. He was once featured on an episode of ''MTV Cribs''.

Acting

In 1995, MTV hired Rex to work as a VJ and kept him on the air for over two years. After being let go by MTV during an update to its VJ line-up, and after his adult video work became more widely known, his notability and popularity increased.

Rex began to pursue mainstream acting and in 1999 was cast in the television show ''Jack & Jill,'' which ran for two seasons. He appeared as "Eli" in the TV show ''Felicity'' and television guest appearances followed including ''Baywatch'', ''Everwood'', and ''Summerland''. In 2002, the pilot for the show ''What I Like About You'' was picked up by The WB, which now has become The CW. Rex starred in the first season. He later appeared on the Lifetime show, ''Monarch Cove'' which ran for 11 episodes in 2006. He also co-produced a pilot for a show called ''Rex'', with supporting roles performed by Paris Hilton, Lance Bass and Jaime Pressley.

Rex has appeared in ''The Forsaken'', ''Scary Movie 3'', ''Scary Movie 4'' and ''The Karate Dog''. He also starred in ''National Lampoon's Pledge This!'' with Paris Hilton.

Music

Rex entered the music industry as a rap artist after becoming friends with Mickey Avalon. Rex adopted the stage name "Dirt Nasty" and formed the rap group, Dyslexic Speedreaders, along with Mickey Avalon, Andre Legacy, and Beardo. Rex often toured with the group and collaborated to create the Shoot To Kill mixtape. The group ended abruptly, as Mickey Avalon left due to personal problems involving Rex and Andre Legacy. Rex still remains close to Andre Legacy and Beardo. He also collaborates with other artists such as Andy Milonakis and Rich Hil. In 2007, he released his self titled debut album. Rex appeared on ''Paris Hilton's My New BFF'' in his "Dirt Nasty" persona and in Kesha's video for her song "Tik Tok". He appeared in the LMFAO music video for "Yes". He rapped at the conclusion of Charlie Sheen's "Torpedo of Truth" show in Detroit but did not perform at the show's second presentation in Chicago the next day.

In 2011, Rex preformed at ''The Piano Room'', a Kings Cross nightclub in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Rex was involved in a minor incident at the nightclub, jointly owned by John Ibrahim and investors, including Kyle Sandilands, where a customer allegedly took a microphone from Rex and assaulted him. It was alleged that Rex, in self-defense, punched the man, and was defended by associates of the Bra Boys.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" |- !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |rowspan="2"|1993 |''Young, Hard & Solo #2'' |Sebastian |Adult film |- |''Young, Hard & Solo #3'' |Sebastian |Brad Posey's |- |1994 |''Hot Sessions 3'' |Sebastian | 97 AVN Awards ''Winner'' |- |1996 |''Baywatch'' |Himself |TV series - 1 episode |- |1998 |''Snapped'' |Himself | |- |rowspan="3"|1999 |''Katie Joplin'' |Tiger French |TV series |- |''Felicity'' |Eli |TV series - 4 episodes |- |''Jack & Jill'' |Michael 'Mikey' Russo |TV series - 32 episodes |- |rowspan="3"|2000 |''Hot Sessions 11'' |Sebastian |Adult film - archive footage |- |''Hot Sessions 12'' |Sebastian |Adult film - archive footage |- |''Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth'' |Slab O'Beef | |- |rowspan="3"|2001 |''Drum Solo'' |Blondie | |- |''Going Greek'' |Thompson | |- |''The Forsaken'' |Pen | |- |2002 |''What I Like About You'' |Jeff Campbell |1 season - 22 episodes |- |2003 |''Scary Movie 3'' |George Logan |Lead Role |- |rowspan="3"|2004 |''The Karate Dog'' |Det. Peter Fowler | |- |''Summerland'' |Sun |TV series - 2 episodes |- |''She Wants to Move'' |Hot Guy |Music video by N*E*R*D |- |rowspan="2"|2005 |''Cuts'' |Harrison |TV series - 2 episodes |- |''Everwood'' |Cliff Fenton |TV series - 1 episode |- |rowspan="5"|2006 |''Mindy and Brenda'' |Josh |TV movie |- |''Scary Movie 4'' |George Logan |Cameo |- |''Pledge This!'' |Derek | |- |''Monarch Cove'' |Eddie Lucas |TV series - 14 episodes |- |''Rise: Blood Hunter'' |Hank | |- |rowspan="2"|2008 |''Hotel California'' |Pete | |- |''Superhero Movie'' |Human Torch | |- |rowspan="6"|2009 |''2 Dudes and a Dream'' |Dirt Nasty | |- |''Silver Street'' |John | |- |''Rex'' |Simon |TV movie |- |''The Truth About Angels'' |Kane Connor | |- |''Sonny Dreamweaver'' |Hunter | |- |''TiK ToK'' |Barry |Music video by Kesha |- |rowspan="5"|2010 |''Slightly Single in L.A.'' |J.P. Cipoletti |''post-production'' |- |''Boy Toy'' |Clive |''post-production'' |- |''King of the Avenue'' |Taz |''post-production'' |- |''Yes'' |Dirt Nasty |Music Video by LMFAO |- |''Nick Swardson's Pretend Time'' |Brian |TV Series - 1 episode |}

Discography

{|class="wikitable" |- style="background:#ccc;" !Year !Album !Record label !Type of label |- |2007 |''Dirt Nasty'' |Shoot to Kill Music |Indie |- |2010 |''The White Album'' |- |2010 |''Nasty As I Wanna Be'' |Shoot to Kill Music | |}

References

External links

Dirt Nasty's official website

Category:1974 births Category:American film actors Category:American hip hop musicians Category:American television actors Category:American Jews Category:American pornographic film actors Category:Pornographic film actors from California Category:Living people Category:Nightclub owners Category:Male pornographic film actors Category:Actors in gay pornographic films Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:VJs (media personalities)

de:Simon Rex es:Simon Rex fr:Simon Rex gl:Simon Rex it:Simon Rex nl:Simon Rex ja:サイモン・レックス pl:Simon Rex pt:Simon Rex ru:Рекс, Саймон fi:Simon Rex sv:Simon Rex th:ไซมอน เร็กซ์ vi:Simon Rex