Lil Jon

Jonathan Smith (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Lil Jon, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and DJ based in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the lead frontman of the multi-platinum selling rap group, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz and was instrumental in the emergence of the sub hip/hop genre Crunk. He is credited with bringing the genre into mainstream success, producing Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles "Get Low," "Goodies," "Cyclone," "Freek-a-Leek," and "Yeah!" "Yeah!" won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance. Lil Jon is also a frequent collaborator with friend and fellow rapper Pitbull. In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with DJ Snake and released the EDM multi-platinum hit, "Turn Down For What," that won Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. The music video for the single, released in 2014, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and has been viewed over 826 million times on YouTube as of January 2018. As of 2016, Lil Jon is listed as one of the Top Billboard Music Award Winners of All Time.

Early life
Jonathan Smith was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in a middle-class Southwest Atlanta neighborhood. He is oldest of five children born to his father, an engineer at Lockheed Martin and to his mother who was in the Army Reserves. While in middle school, he met Robert McDowell, Dwayne Searcy and Vince Philips, who would become his lifelong friends and business partners. The trio quickly became immersed in the skateboarding culture and would later work at Skate Escape, a popular skate and bicycle shop near the city's Piedmont Park. Smith attended Frederick Douglass High School, was in magnet program and a member of the school's marching band.

At age 15, Lil Jon taught himself how to DJ and although his parents were strict, they gave him a chance to work on his DJ skills by allowing him to have house parties in the basement of the family home, citing that they would rather have him under their watch than for him to "be in the street somewhere wilding out." The parties, hosted by Lil Jon and Searcy were called "Old Eng and Chicken Parties" which became extremely popular with teenagers in the area. In addition to working at the skate shop, Lil Jon also began working in local dance clubs as a DJ.

So So Def Recordings: 1992–2000
After graduating high school, Lil Jon continued to work as a DJ in a popular downtown Atlanta club. It was there he met Jermaine Dupri. When it came to hiring an A&R to lead his Atlanta based music label So So Def, Jermaine Dupri stated that "All I could think about was Lil Jon, because he was the person in the clubs. He knew people, DJs knew him. I had to hire him."

After he was promoted to Executive Vice President of A&R, Lil Jon recruited local producers and rappers DJ Smurf, Shawty Redd, Raheem the Dream, Playa Poncho with others to create the compilation album series, So So Def Bass All Stars as his first project. Released on May 22, 1996, the album was a success, selling over 500,000 units and was certified Gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1995, four months after its initial release. The album, executive produced by Lil Jon, included the hit single, My Boo by Ghost Town DJs. It was sampled by Ciara in her 2013 smash, Body Parts In 2016, 20 years after its initial release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 29. Lil Jon completed the series, releasing So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. II (1997) and So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. III (1998).

Apart from his label commitments, Lil Jon was a radio personality/DJ on Atlanta radio station, V-103, continued to produce music for outside music artists, and was still working as a DJ at popular clubs around the city.

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz: 1995–2005
Lil Jon collaborated with Big Sam (born Sammie Dernard Norris) and Lil' Bo (born Wendell Maurice Neal) to form a musical rap group. Sam and Bo both grew up on the east side of Metropolitan Atlanta area (Dekalb County) and thus chose the name, The East Side Boyz.

In 1996, the group released their debut single, "Who U Wit?" The song is credited as bringing the term "crunk" into hip-hop currency. In 1997, the group released their debut album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. The singles, "Who U Wit?" (produced by Lil Jon) and "Shawty Freak a Lil Sumthin" (produced by DJ Toomp), charted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 70 and No. 62, respectively. In 2000, through the newly created label Black Market, the group released their breakthrough album We Still Crunk! which featured the single, "I Like Dem Girlz," which reached No. 55 on the Billboard R&B and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks charts.

The team was well equipped with prior experience at promoting albums and worked to grow the group's fan base across radio markets. Promotional street teams that were hired major music labels to promote their repertoire, began to talk within music promotion circles on how successful Lil Jon and his team were on the ground and were gaining radio airplay in radio markets that were usually difficult for non local artists to break into.

Bryan Leach, formerly an A&R executive at New York based label TVT Records, heard about the group attended their Atlanta show. He was blown away by the group's immense energy. 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." By 2001, Leach signed Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz to TVT Records with Black Market delivering the albums to the label. The group released the album Put Yo Hood Up, which combined previously released tracks with new ones. "Bia' Bia'," which featured rappers Ludacris, Oakland rap legend, Too Short, New York based DJ, Big Kap, along with newcomer, New Orleans's rapper Chyna Whyte was the group's first single to be played nationally. "Bia' Bia'" peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 47 on the Billboard R&B chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in June of 2002.

In 2001, the group release their sophomore studio album under the label, Kings of Crunk. with the song "I Don't Give A..." as the first single. The song featured former No Limit Records artist, Mystikal and former Ruthless Records artist, Krayzie Bone. It peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard R&B chart. The group's next single, "Get Low" featured fellow Atlanta hip hop group, Ying Yang Twins and became popular in nightclubs nationwide; it reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA in August of 2004. In 2003, the group released Part II, a remix album of previously released singles with a two new songs.

In 2004, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz released what would be the group's last studio album, Crunk Juice. The lead single "What U Gon' Do" featuring BME Recordings' artist, Lil' Scrappy peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 13 on the Billboard R&B chart, and No. 5 on the Billboard Rap chart. The second single, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 2 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and No. 1 on Billboard Rap Charts. The album was certified multi-platinum in January 2005, two months after it was released. In 2005, after releasing six studio albums together and amidst ongoing creative and financial conflicts with TVT Records, the group disbanded.

Solo career: 2006–present
In 2006, Lil Jon, in an attempt to fulfill his obligations to TVT released the single, "Snap Yo Fingers." The song was produced by Lil Jon and features BME Recording's artist E-40 and Sean P. The song peaked at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum on November 22, 2006. After the song was released, label negotiations broke down and Lil Jon severed all ties vowing to never to record for TVT Records again. In 2008, TVT Records, embroiled legal battles filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Lil Jon released his first solo album, Crunk Rock, on June 8, 2010, through Universal Republic Records. It featured artists such as LMFAO, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, 3OH3, Ice Cube, Waka Flocka Flame, Stephen Marley, Damian Marley and more. The album peaked at No. 8 on Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Albums and reached No.5 on Billboard Rap Albums. The single "Hey" featuring 3OH3 was also featured on MTV's Jersey Shore Soundtrack with the entire cast appearing the music video. The second single, "Outta Your Mind" was featured in the film, Project X and used by Alex & Twitch on the Fox television series, So You Think You Can Dance, which is considered to be the finest hip-hop routine ever performed on the show.

In July 2011, he released a song with LMFAO called "Drink" through Ultra Records. It was used in the trailer for the film The World's End. In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with DJ Snake and released "Turn Down for What" on Columbia Records. The song achieved No. 1 on Billboard's Rhythmic, and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, No 2. on Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 4 on Hot 100, and No. 5 on Mainstream Top 40. The song has had significant use in media and was certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA. In 2013, Lil Jon partnered with Zumba Fitness to create a new nightclub tour titled "Zumba Nightclub Series" and for the Zumba Fitness series, he released a new song called "Work". On July 22, 2014, Lil Jon released a single titled "Bend Ova", featuring Tyga and released on Epic Records. "Take It Off" featuring Yandel and Becky G was released on July 22, 2016 and the single "Alive" was released in 2018, featuring Offset and 2 Chainz on Geffen Records. In December 2018, Lil Jon released a Christmas single "All I Really Want for Christmas (featuring Kool-Aid Man)" in cooperation with Kool-Aid brand soft drinks.

Record label: BME Recordings
In 2004, Smith, McDowell, Phillips and Searcy launched BME Recordings in a deal with Warner Bros. Records and released The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy (2004) with Lil Jon producing most of the album. The album single "Some Cut" has been a favorite of samplers over the years. In a venture with Lil Scrappy's label the single, "Knuck If You Buck" and self titled album was released by the rap group, Crime Mob. The label entered the San Francisco Bay Area hyphy music scene with Bay Area rapper E-40, releasing the album, My Ghetto Report Card (2006) with the Lil Jon produced single "Tell Me When To Go." The label released the album Bred 2 Die, Born 2 Live (2006) by Lil Scrappy.

Musical style and influences
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". Describing that album with guest performers, Birchmeier remarked: "The end result is an album that resembles a street-level mixtape rather than a traditional artist-oriented album".

Lil Jon was specifically influenced by 2 Live Crew, 8Ball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, OutKast, Geto Boys, UGK, N.W.A, 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 gangsta/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. He expresses this influence 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 he used to listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd while growing up in the South in the 1970s. For Trick Daddy's "Let's Go", Lil Jon sampled the bass line from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".

Television
In 2003, Lil Jon was the voice of Jang Ryang in the American remake of the South Korean film, Volcano High, broadcast on MTV. After he was famously parodied by comedian Dave Chappelle, he would go on to make numerous appearances on Comedy Central series, Chappelle's Show. He has since appeared on various TV shows including, André 3000's animated series Class of 3000, Crank Yankers, Hell's Kitchen, Tiny House Nation, Hollywood Puppet Show, American Idol, About A Boy, Celebrity Apprentice, and All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, Bar Rescue, The Bachelorette, Hip Hop Squares, and a commercial for Bud Light Lil Jon is a fan of the television show The Walking Dead and has made multiple appearances as a guest on Talking Dead. On January 29, 2019, a Pepsi Super bowl Commercial featuring Lil Jon, rapper Cardi B and actor Steve Carell was released.

Personal life
Since 2004, Lil Jon has been married to his wife Nicole and together they have a son, Nathan (also known as DJ Slade), who was born to the couple in 1998. Lil Jon has stated that one of his greatest joys is seeing everything come full circle with his son, who has been DJ’ing since the age of 11.

He is an avid fan of all of Atlanta's sports teams which included the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers until they relocated to Winnipeg in 2011. He has since become a fan of the NHL's newest franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights and University of Tennessee Volunteers, which the latter adopted his hit song "Turn Down for What" on third downs, changing it to "Third Down for What." On October 4, 2014, Lil Jon made an appearance via Jumbotron encouraging the Volunteers to beat the University of Florida Gators also visited the team, giving them a pep talk.

Lil Jon has been using his star power and wealth to help children in underdeveloped countries gain access to a proper education. He has helped to fund two school in the village of Mafi Atitekpo in Ghana, in partnership with the charity, Pencils of Promise. The first, Abomayaw D.A. Kindergarten, opened in October 2017. The second school, Mafi Atitekpo DA Primary School broke ground in January 2018 and will enroll 313 children.

In 2018, a 16-year-old student of Douglass High School reached out to rapper and alumnus Killer Mike via Instagram in a last chance attempt to raise money to cover expenses for the marching band to travel to New Orleans to march in the annual Mardi Gras parade. To his surprise, Killer Mike not only responded voicing his support, he also recruited fellow alumni Lil Jon and T.I., who both jumped at the chance to help out their alma mater. Together with additional donors, the trip was covered for the students.

Solo albums

 * Crunk Rock (2010)

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)

Grammy Awards
A Grammy Award (stylized as GRAMMY) is an award presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievement in the music industry.

MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award (abbreviated as a VMA) is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium.


 * rowspan="4"| 2014 || rowspan="4"| "Turn Down for What" (with DJ Snake) || MTV Clubland Award || Nominated
 * Best Direction || Won
 * Best Visual Effects || Nominated
 * Best Art Direction || Nominated
 * }
 * Best Visual Effects || Nominated
 * Best Art Direction || Nominated
 * }
 * }

American Music Awards
The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz has received two nominations, winning one for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band/Duo/Group.


 * American Music Awards || Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz || Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band/Duo/Group || Won
 * || Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz || Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band/Duo/Group || Nominated
 * || Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz || Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band/Duo/Group || Nominated
 * || Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz || Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Band/Duo/Group || Nominated

Filmography

 * 2004: Soul Plane
 * 2005: Boss'n Up (with Snoop Dogg)
 * 2006: Date Movie
 * 2006: Scary Movie 4
 * 2008: Smoke and Mirrors

Television appearances

 * Chappelle's Show (2004)
 * Hip-Hop Honeys: Las Vegas
 * The Andy Milonakis Show (Season 1 Episode 1 (2005))
 * Wild 'n Out (2006)
 * Class of 3000 (2007)
 * Freaknik: The Musical (voice only) (2010)
 * Ridiculousness (2012)
 * Celebrity Apprentice (Season 11 (2011) and All Stars (2013))
 * The Jenny McCarthy Show (2013)
 * The Eric André Show (2014)
 * Comedy Bang! Bang! (2015)
 * Hell's Kitchen (2016)
 * Talking Dead (2017)
 * Tiny House Nation (2017)
 * The Bachelorette (2018)
 * Bar Rescue (2018)

Video game appearances
Lil Jon is a playable character in the video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland as an unlockable and Def Jam: Icon. His song "Get Low" was also included in the popular video game Need for Speed: Underground.