Jonathan H. Smith[1](born January 17, 1972),[2]better known by his stage nameLil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenrecrunkin the early 2000s and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre.[3]He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums.[4][5]In addition, Lil Jon served as a producer for most recordings by artists who popularized the genre; these includePitbull,Too Short,E-40,Ludacris,Ciara, andUsher.[6]
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.[3]
Smith attended Beecher Hills Elementary School and Southwest Middle School, both located within the Atlanta Public School district.[14] His mother described him as a high achiever early on in addition to being independent and a passionate reader.[14] While in middle school, Smith became lifelong friends with Robert McDowell, Dwayne "Emperor" Searcy (future DJ and radio personality for Radio One's WHTA),[15] and Vince Phillips (named as one of Billboard's Top Music Lawyers since 2020),[16][17][18][19] 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.[3] They also began to frequently attend concerts at the Masquerade, to see their favorite bands, including Agent Orange and Red Hot Chili Peppers.[14]
At the age of 15, Smith taught himself how to DJ,[3] 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".[20] 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.[3] 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.[21]
After graduating high school, Lil Jon continued to work as a DJ in popular downtown Atlanta clubs.[3] 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, 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 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.[22] 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.[23] The album, executive produced by Lil Jon, included the hit single "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's.[24] It was sampled by Ciara in her 2013 hit "Body Party".[25] 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.[26] Lil Jon completed the series, releasing So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. II (1997)[27] and So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. III (1998).[28]
Apart from his label commitments, Lil Jon was a radio personality and DJ on Atlanta radio station, V-103,[29] continued to produce music for outside music artists, and was still working as a DJ at popular clubs around the city.[3]
In 1995, Lil Jon collaborated with Big Sam and Lil' Bo to form a musical rap group: the East Side Boyz.[30]
In 1996, the group released their debut single, "Who U Wit?". The song is credited as bringing the term "crunk" into hip-hop currency.[3] 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.[31]
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.[31]
Bryan Leach, formerly an A&R executive at the now defunct New York based label TVT Records, heard about the group and 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."[32] 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'", which featured Ludacris, Too Short, Big Kap, and Chyna Whyte was the group's first single to be played nationally.[33] "Bia' Bia'" peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 47 on the Billboard R&B chart.[31] The album was certified gold by the RIAA in June 2002.[34]
In 2002, the group released their sophomore studio album under the label Kings of Crunk with the song "I Don't Give a Fuck" 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 BillboardR&B chart.[31] 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 BillboardHot 100.[31] The album was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA in August 2004.[34] The song was also featured in Need for Speed: Underground, which plays in the main menu as well as gameplay. 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 Lil' Scrappy) peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 13 on the Billboard R&B chart, and No. 5 on the Billboard Rap chart. The second single, "Lovers and Friends" (featuring Usher and Ludacris), peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and No. 1 on the Billboard Rap chart.[31]The album was certified multi-platinum in January 2005, two months after it was released.[34] In 2005, after releasing six studio albums together and amidst ongoing creative and financial conflicts with TVT, the group disbanded.
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 Recordings artist E-40 and Sean P. The song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum on November 22, 2006.[4] After the song was released, Lil Jon vowed to never to record for TVT Records again.[35] In 2008, TVT Records, embroiled in legal battles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[36]
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,[41] as a digital download in the United Kingdom and was released on July 17, 2011, as an EP. The radio editversion of the song was included on the bonus track version of Aoki's debut album Wonderland. The song is also the current official goal song for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with DJ Snake and released "Turn Down for What" on Columbia Records. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Rhythmic and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs charts, No. 2 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, No. 4 on the Hot 100, and No. 5 on the Mainstream Top 40. The song has had significant use in media and was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA.[42] 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.[43][44] 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.[45] In December 2018, Lil Jon released the Christmas single "All I Really Want for Christmas" (featuring Kool-Aid Man) in cooperation with the Kool-Aidbrand of soft drinks.[46]
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Jonathan H. Smith
