Lil Jon

Lil Jon

Аt Halo 3 Exclusive Preview in Atlanta,
September 2007.
Background information
Born January 27, 1971 (1971-01-27) (age 40)
Atlanta, Georgia
Genres Hip hop
Instruments Keyboards, Synthesizers, Roland TR-808, Drum Machine, Sampler
Years active 1993–present
Labels BME Recordings
Universal Republic Records
TVT Records (2001–2008)
Associated acts Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz, Ludacris, Pitbull, Ying Yang Twins, Ice Cube, Elephant Man
Website Official Website

Jonathan Mortimer Smith (born January 27, 1971),[1][2] better known by his stage name Lil' Jon, is a music producer, rapper and occasional disc jockey 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.

Contents

Life and career

Lil' Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Douglass High School, and later graduated from the Ohio State University in 1993, moving back to Atlanta to officially begin his music career.[3] He worked for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000.[4] 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. Both singles charted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #70 and #62 respectively.[5] 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, which combined previously released tracks with new ones. The group's first nationally played single was "Bia' Bia'", a song written about and dedicated to Lil' Jon's girlfriend at the time. 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.[5]

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.[5] 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).[5]

Solo Career and Production

In 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".[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

“ After a long battle and negotiations with TVT, we worked out our differences. TVT cut the check and now it's time for me to get back to work.[7] ”

MTV News reported in March 2008 that Crunk Rock was taking more time to complete than Lil' Jon already planned.[9] 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 Crunk Rock' Crunk Rock features artists such as LMFAO, Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins, Waka Flocka Flame and Aaron Shaw'.[10]

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".[11] Alex Henderson, also of allmusic, contrasted Lil' Jon's style of "rowdy, in-your-face, profanity-filled party music" with other Southern rappers', those who "have a gansta/thug life agenda" and those who convey "serious sociopolitical messages".[12] Lil' Jon has also found influence in rock music, having worked with Rick Rubin and Korn.[13] For Trick Daddy's "Let's Go", Lil' Jon sampled the bass line from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".[8].

Other endeavors

Lil' Jon has his own energy drink, called CRUNK!!!, which was launched with Sidney Frank in 2002, after Frank's Grey Goose company had sponsored hip hop tours which included Lil' Jon.[14][15] When Frank died, former Kimberly-Clark executive Tom Mahlke took over as chief executive, and during 2008 the drink took an estimated $15 million in sales.[14] He launched his own line of Oakley Sunglasses in 2004,[16] and his own brand of wine, Little Jonathan Winery, which produces a Merlot, a Chardonnay, and a Cabernet Sauvignon.[17][18]

Lil' Jon and his group also worked on a series of pornography releases, with the Lil' Jon and The East Side Boyz American Sex Series released in 2004.[19]

In 2008, Lil' Jon was reported by Forbes to have received a total income of 11 million US Dollars.[20]

Personal life

In 2004, Lil Jon was married.[21] Lil Jon is a fan of Atlanta Thrashers, a hockey team of the NHL[22] and writes a blog on the NHL website NHL.com.[23] On the blog, he has stated that his son plays hockey. Former Atlanta Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen once had a picture of Lil' Jon on the back of his helmet.[24] In April 2009, Lil Jon acquired the former cell phone number of Miley Cyrus; despite that, he still received messages intended for Cyrus.[25]

Discography

Albums with the East Side Boyz:

Solo albums:

Video games

Filmography

See also

References

  1. ↑ Semuels, Alana (March 12, 2007). "Rappers hear siren song of opportunity". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/12/business/fi-hiphop12. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Birchmeier, Jason (2006). "Lil Jon – Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jbfexqthldke~T1. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  3. ↑ Besthoff, Ben (July 27, 2010). "Best Lil Jon quotes". Creative Loafing Atlanta. http://clatl.com/cribnotes/archives/2010/07/27/best-lil-jon-quotes. Retrieved August 2, 2010. 
  4. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (November 1, 2004). "Lil' Jon: Big Chips (page 2)". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/bands/l/lil_jon/news_feature_041101/index2.jhtml. Retrieved May 18, 2010. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Lil' Jon > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jbfexqthldke~T51. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  6. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (February 28, 2006). "Lil' Jon Has Big Plans For E-40 And The Hyphy Movement". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1525105/20060228/lil_jon_1.jhtml. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Lil' Jon Readies Rock Album" (Online interview). SOHH.com. http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/8400/1. Retrieved February 22, 2006. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Reid, Shaheem (May 17, 2006). "Lil' Jon Wants To Double His Gold By Becoming King Of Rock". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1532005/20060517/lil_jon_1.jhtml. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  9. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (March 6, 2008). "Lil' Jon Isn't A Rock Star Just Yet, But He's Keeping Busy With E-40, Extreme Athletes". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1582900/20080306/lil_john.jhtml. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  10. ↑ VIBE: Lil' Jon Goes to the Orchard
  11. ↑ Birchmeier, Jason (May 22, 2001). "Put Yo Hood Up: Review". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kzfexqt0ld6e~T1. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  12. ↑ Henderson, Alex (2002). "Kings of Crunk: Review". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kifwxqealdse~T1. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  13. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (May 12, 2004). "Lil' Jon Bangs Head, Creates 'Crunk-Rock'". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1486976/05122004/lil_jon_1.jhtml. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 O'Malley Greenburg, Zack (2008) "The Business of Hip-Hop: From Kotex To Crunk", Forbes, August 18, 2008, retrieved January 16, 2010
  15. ↑ "Crunk!!! Energy Drink". BevNet. 2003-01-06. http://www.bevnet.com/reviews/crunk/. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  16. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (2004-11-01). "Lil' Jon – Big Chips". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/bands/l/lil_jon/news_feature_041101/. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  17. ↑ "Little Jonathan Winery". 2009-10-23. http://littlejonathanwinery.com/. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
  18. ↑ Moody, Nekesa Mumbi (2008) "Lil' Jon Gets Into Winemaking", Fox News, April 4, 2008, retrieved January 16, 2010
  19. ↑ Edlund, Martin (2004) "Hip-Hop’s Crossover to the Adult Aisle", New York Times, March 7, 2004, retrieved January 16, 2010
  20. ↑ "In Pictures: Hip-Hop's 20 Biggest Earners, 2008 - 13. Jonathan "Lil' Jon" Smith", Forbes, retrieved 2010-05-15
  21. ↑ Rashbaum, Alyssa (November 29, 2004). "'I Do ... What?!' — Lil Jon Gets Married". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1494219/20041129/lil_jon_1.jhtml. Retrieved July 3, 2010. 
  22. ↑ Golbez, Jez (2007-04-24). "Lil' Jon, the Big NHL Fan". FanHouse. http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/04/24/lil-jon-the-big-nhl-fan/. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  23. ↑ Chan, Lorne (2007-05-22). "Blogged Down". MySanAntonio.com. http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA052207.2D.ChanBlog.37f81d3.html. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  24. ↑ "For The Record: Quick News On Britney Spears, Notorious B.I.G., Carrie Underwood, Elliott Yamin, Paris Hilton & More". MTV News. 2007-04-17. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1557393/20070417/spears_britney.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
  25. ↑ Vena, Jocelyn (April 16, 2009). "Lil' Jon Gets Miley Cyrus' Old Phone Number". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1609358/20090416/cyrus__miley.jhtml. Retrieved December 23, 2009. 

External links

Lil Jon
Albums
Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album · We Still Crunk!! · Put Yo Hood Up · Kings of Crunk · Certified Crunk · Part II · Crunk Juice · Crunk Rock
Singles
"Get Low" · "What U Gon' Do" · "Real Nigga Roll Call" · "Lovers & Friends" · "Snap Yo Fingers" · "Act a Fool" · "I Do" · "Give It All U Got" · "Ms. Chocolate" · "Hey"
Featured Singles
"Damn!" · "Salt Shaker" · "Come Get Some" · "Yeah!" · "Let's Go" · "Real Gangstaz" · "Toma" · "Girlfight" · "Okay" · "Bojangles (Remix)" · "Go to Church" · "Gangsta Gangsta" · ""Get Buck in Here" · "The Anthem" · "Krazy" · "Let Me See the Booty" · "Patron Tequila" · "Do You Remember" · "Shots"
Related articles
Discography · Production discography · BME Recordings