Lil Jon Pioneered "crunk", sub-genre of hip hop

The rapper born Jonathan Smith was born in Atlanta in 1970. His stage name is Lil Jon, and he is a rapper/hype man who also produces for hip hop artists. He is credited as a leader in the emergence of a hip-hop sub-genre known as “crunk,” which combines aspects of South hip-hop and bass music. His group, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, is arguably one of the subgenre’s most recognized acts.

Early in his career, Lil Jon hosted a radio show on BET and worked on remixes for artists including, Too Short, Jamal, Escape From Prison, and Total. From 1993 to 2000, he worked as an A&R man for Jermaine Dupree’s So So Def label. In 2000, he would release an independently recorded album, We Still Skeet, which was distributed by Southern Music Distribution. In the following year, Lil Jon teamed up with the East Side Boyz to release a new album, Put Your Hood Up, which included the hit single, “Biatch Biatch”.

In 2002, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz would release their breakthrough album, entitled Kings of Crunk, which included hit singles, “I Don’t Give a F*#k” and “Get Low”. Based on the popularity of such singles, the album would crack the top 20 of the U.S. album charts in September 2003. Later that year, Lil Jon released a compilation CD and DVD, entitled Alpha Nigga, which included remixes of “Get Low” featuring the Ying Yang Twins, Elephant Man, and Busta Rhymes. Lil Jon blew up to superstar status in 2003 when Usher requested that Lil Jon produce and appear on his track called “Yeah!” The single was the runaway hit for 2004, hitting the top of charts around the world. In 2004, Lil Jon, teamed up with the Ying Yang Twins to produce their hit single, “Salt Shaker”. Furthermore, he produced the hit single, “Goodies” for rising R&B artist, Ciara. “Goodies” would go on to top the Billboard Hot 100. In the summer of 2004, Lil Jon would help produce another big hit, Petey Pablo’s “Freek-A-Leek”.

In 2004, Lil Jon released another album, Crunk Juice, which included contributions from several popular artists and comedians including: R. Kelly, Ice Cube, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, Usher, Ludacris, Dave Chappelle, and Chris Rock. For the majority of 2005, Lil Jon focused on production and supervising impending albums from several artists off of his BME Recordings like: Lil Scrappy, Oobie, E-40, BHI, BoHagon, and Trillville. He also made cameos in two comedic films, Date Movie and Scary Movie 4.
The rapper-producer has been married since 2004. His next album, Crunk Rock, is scheduled to be released later in 2006.

Freelance writter covering the music industry