Lil Jon

Biography & Overview

Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were instrumental in the genre's commercial breakthrough in the early 2000s. He was also the frontman of the group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums.
Having been credited on most crunk releases throughout the 2000s, Lil Jon produced several of the genre's Billboard Hot 100 hits including "Salt Shaker" by Ying Yang Twins, "Cyclone" by Baby Bash, "Damn!" by YoungBloodZ, "Freek-a-Leek" by Petey Pablo, "Goodies" by Ciara, and "Yeah!" by Usher. The latter won Lil Jon a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance as part of his five Grammy Award nominations. As a lead artist, three of his own singles—"Lovers and Friends" (with the East Side Boyz featuring Usher and Ludacris), "Get Low" (with the East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang ...