Lil Jon

Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper.

In 1995, Lil Jon collaborated with Big Sam and Lil' Bo to form a musical rap group: the East Side Boyz.

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.

In 1996, the group released their debut single, "Who U Wit?".

The song is credited as bringing the term "crunk" into hip-hop currency.

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 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 chart at No. 70 and No. 62, respectively.

He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s, and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre.

He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums.

In addition, Lil Jon served as a record producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Miami-based rapper Pitbull, Bay Area-based rappers Too Short and E-40, and fellow Atlanta-based artists Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.

As a producer, Lil Jon has produced several Billboard Hot 100 hit singles including "Salt Shaker", "Cyclone", "Get Low", "Snap Yo Fingers", "Damn!", "Freek-a-Leek", "Lovers and Friends", "Goodies" and "Yeah!".

The latter of which won Lil Jon a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance as part of his five Grammy Award nominations.

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 chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.

In 2013, Lil Jon released "Turn Down for What" (with DJ Snake), an EDM single which was certified octuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The song went on to win the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song.

The accompanying music video was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and passed the milestone of 1 billion views on YouTube seven years after it was released.

It was sampled by Ciara in her 2013 hit "Body Party".

Listed as one of the Top Billboard Music Award Winners of All Time in 2016, Lil Jon has amassed his eight number one singles on Billboard's Rhythmic chart.

Smith was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in a middle-class neighborhood located in Southwest Atlanta.

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.

Smith attended Beecher Hills Elementary School and Southwest Middle School, both located within the Atlanta Public School district.

His mother described him as a high achiever early on in addition to being independent and a passionate reader.

In 2016, 20 years after its initial release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 29 due to a viral dance video.

While in middle school, Smith became lifelong friends with Robert McDowell, Dwayne "Emperor" Searcy (future DJ and radio personality for Radio One's WHTA), 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.

They also began to frequently attend concerts at the Masquerade, to see their favorite bands, including Agent Orange and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

At the age of 15, Smith 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".

The parties, hosted by Smith and Searcy "Old E and Chicken Parties", 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.

Eventually Smith became an in house DJ at Phoenix, a popular Atlanta nightclub at the time.

It was there he would meet established music artists such as Jermaine Dupri, TLC, the Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack and Mary J. Blige.

After graduating high school, Lil Jon continued to work as a DJ in popular downtown Atlanta clubs.

It was there he met Atlanta music producer, Jermaine Dupri.

When it came to hiring an A&R to lead his Atlanta-based music label So So Def, 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, and Playa Poncho with others to create the compilation album series, So So Def Bass All Stars as his first project.