Lil Jon
Аt Halo 3 Exclusive Preview in Atlanta, September 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Jonathan Smith
Born	(1971-01-27) January 27, 1971 (age 41)[1] Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, crunk
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, DJ, producer, Actor,
Instruments	Keyboard, synthesizer, drum machine, sampler
Years active	1995–present
Labels	BME Universal Republic TVT Little Jonathan Inc.
Associated acts	Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, The Mr. Move, Too Short, 8Ball & MJG, E-40, Oobie, Yelawolf, LMFAO
Notable instruments
Roland TR-808, OpenLabs NeKo, Clavia Nord Lead

Jonathan Smith (born January 27, 1971),^[1][2][3] better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and international DJ 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 solo and released a new album in 2010 called Crunk Rock.

Early life[link]

Lil' Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School.^[4]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

After working as a DJ for Atlanta night clubs, he started working for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000.^[5] 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 No. 70 and No. 62 respectively.^[6] 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 No. 55 on the R&B chart and No. 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.^[7] 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."^[7] 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.^[1] "Bia' Bia'" peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 47 on the Billboard R&B chart.^[6]

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 No. 50 on the R&B chart.^[6] 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 No. 22 on the Hot 100, No. 13 on the R&B chart, and No. 5 on the rap chart; its follow-up, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at No. 3 (Hot 100), No. 2 (R&B), and No. 1 (rap).^[6]

Solo career and production[link]

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.^[1] 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".^[8] 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.^{[dead link][9]} 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 2013.^[10]

MTV News reported in March 2008 that Crunk Rock was taking more time to complete than Lil' Jon already planned.^[11] 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.^[12] In March 2011, Lil Jon took part in the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC and was eliminated in the Final Four.^[13] In July 2011, in a recent interview has said that he is working on a new studio album called "Party Animal" and has released a song with LMFAO called "Drink".

Musical style and influences[link]

Jason Birchmeier of all music 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".^[14] He was specifically influenced by 2 Live Crew, 8Ball & MJG, OutKast, Geto Boys, UGK, Dr. Dre, and Sir Mix-A-Lot. 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".^[15] Lil' Jon has also found influence in rock music, having worked with Rick Rubin and Korn.^[16] This influence embodies itself in his aggressive delivery and 'yelling' style of rap. He was seen on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time program wearing a Bad Brains t-shirt and also used to listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd growing up in the South in the 70s. For Trick Daddy's "Let's Go", Lil' Jon sampled the bass line from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".^[10]

Personal life[link]

In 2004, Lil Jon was married in Puerto Rico.^[17] He also has a son named Slade Smith (born in 1998).

Discography[link]

Solo

• Crunk Rock (2010)
• Party Animal (TBA)

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[link]

• 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[link]

• 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[link]

Chappelle's Show (2004)
Wild 'n Out (2006)

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lil Jon

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lil Jon

• Official website
• Lil Jon at MTV
• Lil Jon at the Internet Movie Database