Lil Jon

Smith was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Southwest Atlanta, a region within the city. He is the oldest of five children born to his father, an aerospace engineer with former military service, and his mother, with a medical career within the military. Three of his siblings would later follow their parents' lead and also serve in the United States military. His mother described him as a high achiever early on in addition to being independent and a passionate reader. and Vince Phillips (named as one of Billboard's Top Music Lawyers since 2020), who would become business partners. The foursome quickly became immersed in the skateboarding culture and would later work at Skate Escape, a popular skate and bicycle shop near the city's iconic Piedmont Park. While his best friends attended Benjamin E. Mays High School, Smith attended Frederick Douglass High School for their magnet program and was a member of the marching band. The parties, hosted by Smith and Searcy, "Old Eng and Chicken Wing" became popular with local teens. In addition to working at the skate shop, Smith also began spinning at house parties and working in local dance clubs as a DJ. ==Career==

1991–2000: So So Def Recordings After graduating from high school, Lil Jon continued to work as a DJ in popular downtown Atlanta clubs; Released on May 12, 1996, the album was a success, selling over 500,000 units and was certified gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1996, four months after its initial release. The album, executive produced by Lil Jon, included the hit single "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's. It was sampled by Ciara in her 2013 hit single "Body Party". In 2016, 20 years after its initial release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 29 due to a viral dance video. 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 and 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. 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 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 number 55 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 3 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. By 2002, 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'" (featuring Ludacris, Too Short, Big Kap, and Chyna Whyte) was the group's first single to be played nationally. In 2002, the group released their sophomore studio album under the label Kings of Crunk with the song "I Don't Give a Fuck" (featuring Mystikal and Krayzie Bone) as the first single. It peaked at number 50 on the Billboard R&B chart. In 2008, TVT Records, embroiled in legal battles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2009, Lil Jon was featured alongside Sean Paul on Jay Sean's double platinum single "Do You Remember" that was featured in the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid. On February 16, 2010, Lil Jon released a song with Jamie Drastik called "How Many Girls" which is as a track to Drastik's mixtape, The Magnet. On June 8, 2010, Lil Jon release his first solo album, Crunk Rock, through Universal Republic Records. It featured artists such as LMFAO, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, 3OH!3, Ice Cube, Waka Flocka Flame, Stephen Marley, and Damian Marley among others. The album peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and reached number 5 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart. The single, "Hey" (featuring 3OH!3), was also featured on the soundtrack for MTV's Jersey Shore with the entire cast appearing in the music video. The second single, "Outta Your Mind" (featuring LMFAO), 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 series. Lil Jon said that "after the crunk era, I was fried from producing so much," eventually rediscovering a passion for performing as a DJ after discovering DJ Spider. This led to him meeting Steve Aoki, with whom he teamed up alongside Laidback Luke to record the song "Turbulence", released on May 14, 2011, Lil Jon also 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 the single "Bend Ova" (featuring Tyga) on Epic Records. The song was featured in the two-part series finale of the NBC television series Parks and Recreation. "Take It Off" (featuring Yandel and Becky G) was released on July 22, 2016, and the single "Alive" (featuring Offset and 2 Chainz) was released in 2018 on Geffen Records. In December 2018, Lil Jon released the Christmas single "All I Really Want for Christmas" (featuring Kool-Aid Man) in cooperation with the Kool-Aid brand of soft drinks. In 2018, Lil Jon appeared in volume two of the Future-led soundtrack for the film Superfly. The following year, he appeared in the soundtrack for Spies in Disguise, curated by Mark Ronson. Lil Jon made a cameo in Usher's Super Bowl LVIII halftime show, performing "Turn Down for What" and his portion of "Yeah!". Lil Jon appeared at the 2024 Democratic National Convention and introduced the Georgia delegation during the ceremonial roll call. He performed "Turn Down for What" and "Get Low", and instead of rapping "To the window ... to the wall!", he rapped "VP Harris ... Governor Walz". ==Other ventures==

BME Recordings In 2004, Lil Jon, Robert McDowell, Vince Phillips, and Dwayne "Emperor" Searcy launched BME Recordings in a joint venture 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 single "Some Cut" has been a favorite of samplers over the years. 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. Acting career 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 the Comedy Central series ''Chappelle's Show''. He has since appeared on various television shows including André 3000's animated series Class of 3000, Crank Yankers, Robotomy, ''Hell's Kitchen, Tiny House Nation, Hollywood Puppet Show, American Idol, About a Boy, The 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 series 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. In 2022, Lil Jon teamed up with interior designer Anitra Mecadon for the HGTV series Lil Jon Wants to Do What?'', centered around home renovations. Guided meditation Lil Jon released two albums of guided meditation in 2024. His first album of guided meditations, Total Meditation, was released on February 16, 2024. His second album of guided meditations, Manifest Abundance: Affirmations of Personal Growth, was released on May 10. Lil Jon's goal with these guided meditations is to help people find peace and worry less by developing a new way of thinking through meditation. Lil Jon meditates daily with affirmations. == 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, DJ Toomp, 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. == Personal life ==

In 1998, with then-girlfriend Nicole, his son, Nathan (known as DJ Young Slade), was born. In 2004, he and Nicole married in Puerto Rico; they amicably separated in 2022. Lil Jon has stated that one of his greatest joys was seeing everything come full circle with his son, who had been DJing since the age of 11. On February 3, 2026, Nathan was reported missing. Three days later, his body was recovered from a pond at Mayfield Park in Milton, Georgia. He was 27. 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 also follows the Las Vegas teams, claiming that being in the city during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting and seeing the community response made him want to support what he calls his second home. His support for the Vegas Golden Knights led to him appearing in the team 2019 documentary Valiant, and being given a Stanley Cup ring after their 2023 title, which he wore during the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show. He is also a fan of the University of Tennessee Volunteers and DJ Sterl the Pearl, who 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; and also visited the Volunteers, giving them a pep talk. Lil Jon is a notable Atlanta resident and appears on advertisements in Hartsfield-Jackson Airport welcoming new arrivals to the city. He also appears on the Jumbotron at Mercedes-Benz Stadium during Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United games. During Super Bowl LIII held in Atlanta in 2019, Lil Jon appeared in the NFL's "This Is Atlanta" promotional video to welcome incoming visitors to the city, alongside fellow Atlanta residents, former Atlanta Hawks basketball player Dominique Wilkins, former Atlanta Braves baseball player Chipper Jones, civil right icons Congressman John Lewis and former congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations and Mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young, rappers Big Boi and Killer Mike, singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas of TLC, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, and television personality Ryan Seacrest. Organized by Jermaine Dupri, a host of Atlanta area high school drummers, local brass musicians and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra also appeared and supplied the underlying music. Lil Jon also appeared in CBS Sports' official open of the network's coverage of the game. Sometime in 2024, Lil Jon began dating Jamila Sozahdah, who gave birth to his second child. Later that year, he converted to Islam. == Philanthropy ==

Lil Jon has worked to help children in underdeveloped countries gain access to a proper education. He has helped to fund two schools 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 2019, Pencils of Promise honored both Lil Jon and Trevor Noah in recognition of their charitable efforts at the charity's annual gala. 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 school marching band to travel to New Orleans to march in the annual Mardi Gras parade. To his surprise, Killer Mike not only responded positively, but also enlisted the help of fellow alumni Lil Jon and T.I. They and donors covered the trip for the students. ==Discography==

Solo album • Crunk Rock (2010) Collaboration albums 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) With Kabir Sehgal • Total Meditation (2024) • Manifest Abundance: Affirmations for Personal Growth (2024) == Awards and nominations ==

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. BMI London Awards Broadcast Music, Inc. awards held in London to honor songwriters for their accomplishments in Europe. BMI Pop Awards Broadcast Music, Inc. awards honor songwriters for their accomplishments in pop music. BMI Urban R&B/Hip-Hop Awards Broadcast Music Inc. awards honor songwriters and publishers for their accomplishments in R&B and hip-hop. The award was previously named BMI Urban Award. 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. MTV Video Music Awards Japan MTV Europe Music Awards == Filmography ==

Film • Soul Plane (2004) • ''Boss'n Up'' (2005) • Date Movie (2006) • Scary Movie 4 (2006) Television • Volcano High (2003) • The Sharon Osbourne Show (2003) • Mad TV (2003, 2005) • All of Us (2004) • Like Family (2004) • ''Chappelle's Show'' (2004) • ''How I'm Living'' (2004) • The Andy Milonakis Show (2005) • MTV Cribs (2005) • ''Wild 'n Out'' (2006) • Criss Angel Mindfreak (2006) • Pimp My Ride UK (2006) • Crank Yankers (2007) • Class of 3000 (2007) • Robotomy (2010) • Freaknik: The Musical (2010) • Ridiculousness (2012) • The Celebrity Apprentice (2011, 2013) • The Jenny McCarthy Show (2013) • Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (2013) • Master of the Mix (2013) • The Eric Andre Show (2014) • About a Boy (2014) • Saturday Night Live (2014) • Comedy Bang! Bang! (2015) • ''Hell's Kitchen'' (2016) • Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry (2016) • Talking Dead (2017) • Tiny House Nation (2017) • The Bachelorette (2018) • Bar Rescue (2018) • Hollywood Puppet Show (2018) • The Rap Game (2019) • Lil Jon Wants to Do What? (2022) Video games • ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' (2005) • Def Jam: Icon (2007) == See also ==