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Lil Jon
In September 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Jonathan Smith12
Born	January 27, 1971 (1971-01-27) (age 38)
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, US
Genres	Crunk Rapcore Rap rock Hip house Reggaeton Crunkcore
Occupations	Rapper, Singer, Producer, Vintner
Instruments	Keyboards, Synthesizers, Roland TR-808, Drum Machine, Sampler
Years active	Since 1993
Labels	BME Recordings Universal Republic Records TVT Records (2001-2008)
Associated acts	Pitbull, The East Side Boyz, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Ying Yang Twins, DJ Drama, T.I., Usher, E-40, Diplo, T-Pain, R.Kelly, Soulja Boy, Lil Wayne, Swizz Beatz, Three 6 Mafia
Website	Official Website

Jonathan Smith (born January 27, 1971),² better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American composer, producer, promoter, and rapper. He is best known as a pioneer of the hip hop sub-genre crunk. His work is recognizable by his distinctive hype shouts of "What?!","Hey!", "Yeah!", and "Okay!", which have earned him a part as a regular character in the repertoire of popular comedian Dave Chappelle.

Early life

Lil Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Douglass High School (Georgia) in 1989. He worked for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000, which is where he got his stage name.²³

Musical career

Lil Jon says that he is a full time rapper who "was inspired by the synthesizer sounds of rave/dance music he heard playing in Atlanta strip clubs."⁴

In 2006 before recording the album Crunk Rock, 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.⁵

Jon said in a statement: "Crunk Rock is going to be some next level shit."⁵ 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 his constantly delayed LP, Crunk Rock.⁶

Other endeavors

Lil Jon is a big fan of Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL⁷ and writes a blog on NHL.com.⁸ On the blog, he has stated that his son plays hockey. Atlanta Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen has a picture of Lil Jon on the back of his helmet.⁹

Lil Jon has his own energy drink, called CRUNK!!!¹⁰, his own line of Oakley Sunglasses¹¹, and his own brand of wine, Little Jonathan Winery, which produces a Merlot, a Chardonnay, and a Cabernet Sauvignon.¹²

Discography

Albums

with The East Side Boyz

• 1997: Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album
• 2000: We Still Crunk!!
• 2001: Put Yo Hood Up
• 2002: Kings of Crunk
• 2003: Certified Crunk
• 2003: Part II
• 2004: Crunk Juice

Solo Albums

• 2009 Crunk Rock

Video games

• Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
• 25 To Life (cameo appearance)
• Def Jam: Icon
• Need for Speed: Underground "Get Low"
• Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Remix

Filmography

• 2004: Soul Plane
• 2005: Boss'n Up
• 2005: Hip-Hop Honeys: Las Vegas
• 2006: Date Movie
• 2006: Scary Movie 4
• 2008: Smoke and Mirrors
• 2009: Pimp My Ride International

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lil Jon

• Official website
• Complete Discography of Lil Jon^{dead link}
• Lil Jon at the Internet Movie Database
• Lil Jon at MySpace