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"Little Jon" redirects here. For the character in the Robin Hood legend, see Little John.
Jonathan Smith (born January 27, 1971),[2] better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper and music producer who was a member of the group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004. Besides the group, Lil Jon has also produced many hit urban singles.
[edit] Life and careerLil Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He worked for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000.[2] [edit] Lil Jon & the East Side BoyzSmith took the stage name Lil Jon and formed musical group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz with rappers Big Sam and Lil Bo. The group signed to the Atlanta-based Mirror Image Records and were distributed by Ichiban Records. In 1997, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz debuted with Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. It included singles "Who U Wit?" and "Shawty Freak a Lil' Sumthin'", the latter of which came out in 1998.[2] Both singles charted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #70 and #62 respectively.[3] Under BME Recordings, the group followed in 2000 with We Still Crunk and scored a hit with "I Like Dem Girlz", which reached #55 on the R&B chart and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz signed to TVT Records in 2001 and debuted there with Put Yo Hood Up. That album combined previously released tracks with new ones. "Bia' Bia'" was the group's first nationally played single; it featured rappers Ludacris, Too Short, Big Kapp, and Chyna Whyte.[2] "Bia' Bia'" peaked at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #47 on the Billboard R&B chart.[3] In 2002, the group released Kings of Crunk. "I Don't Give A..." was its first single; it featured Mystikal and Krayzie Bone and peaked at #50 on the R&B chart.[3] The group's next single, a collaboration with fellow Atlanta hip hop group Ying Yang Twins titled "Get Low", became popular in nightclubs nationwide and reached the top ten of the Hot 100.Crunk Juice followed in 2004, led by "What U Gon' Do" featuring Lil Scrappy. "What U Gon' Do" peaked at #22 on the Hot 100, #13 on the R&B chart, and #5 on the rap chart; its follow-up, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at #3 (Hot 100), #2 (R&B), and #1 (rap).[3] [edit] Solo career and productionIn addition to leading Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, Lil Jon has also produced many hit urban singles. From 2003 to 2005, while still with the East Side Boyz, Lil Jon produced hits like "Salt Shaker" by Ying Yang Twins, "Yeah!" by Usher, "Freek-a-Leek" by Petey Pablo, "Shorty Wanna Ride" by Young Buck, "Shake That Monkey" by Too Short, "Let's Go" by Trick Daddy, and "Girlfight" by Brooke Valentine.[2] Lil Jon entered the San Francisco Bay Area hyphy music scene in 2006 with his collaborations with Bay Area rapper E-40: Lil Jon produced E-40's single "Tell Me When To Go" and had E-40 and Atlanta rapper Sean P on his own "Snap Yo Fingers".[4] In 2006, 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] He also began recording a rock music album, Crunk Rock; in May 2006 he began recording in Las Vegas, Nevada because rock band The Killers was recording its upcoming album Sam's Town there.[6]
MTV News reported in March 2008 that Crunk Rock was taking more time to complete than Lil Jon already planned.[7] 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 ofCrunk Rock.[8] [edit] Musical style
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". With the guest performers featured on that album much more than the East Side Boyz, Birchmeier remarked: "[T]he end result is an album that resembles a street-level mixtape rather than a traditional artist-oriented album".[9] Alex Henderson, also of allmusic, compared Lil Jon's style of "rowdy, in-your-face, profanity-filled party music" to other Southern rappers' gangsta rap sound that he perceived as delivering "serious sociopolitical messages".[10] Lil Jon has also found influence in rock music, having worked with Rick Rubin and Korn.[11] For Trick Daddy's "Let's Go", Lil Jon sampled the bass line from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".[6] [edit] Other endeavorsLil Jon has his own energy drink, called CRUNK!!![12], his own line of Oakley Sunglasses[13], and his own brand of wine, Little Jonathan Winery, which produces a Merlot, a Chardonnay, and a Cabernet Sauvignon.[14] [edit] Personal lifeLil Jon is a big fan of Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL[15] and writes a blog on NHL.com.[16] 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.[17] In April 2009, Lil Jon acquired the former cell phone number of Miley Cyrus; despite that, he still received messages intended for Cyrus.[18] [edit] DiscographyMain article: Lil Jon discography Main article: Lil Jon production discography [edit] Albumswith The East Side Boyz
Solo Albums
[edit] Video games
[edit] Filmography
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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