Lil Jon
American rapper and record producer (born 1972) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jonathan H. Smith[1] (born January 17, 1971),[2] better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper and record producer. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre.[3] He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums.[4][5] In addition, Lil Jon served as a producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Pitbull, Too Short, E-40, Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.[6]
Lil Jon | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Jonathan H. Smith |
Born | (1971-01-17) January 17, 1971 (age 53) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
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Discography | |
Years active | 1991–present |
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Formerly of | Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz |
Website | liljon |
As a producer, Lil Jon has produced several Billboard Hot 100 hit singles including "Salt Shaker", "Cyclone", "Get Low", "Snap Yo Fingers", "Damn!", "Freek-a-Leek", "Lovers and Friends", "Goodies" and "Yeah!".[7] The latter of which won Lil Jon a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance as part of his five Grammy Award nominations.[8]
In 2013, Lil Jon released "Turn Down for What" (with DJ Snake), an EDM single which was certified octuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[9] The song went on to win the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song.[10] The accompanying music video was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and passed the milestone of 1 billion views on YouTube seven years after it was released.[11] Listed as one of the Top Billboard Music Award Winners of All Time in 2016,[12] Lil Jon has amassed his eight number one singles on Billboard's Rhythmic chart.[13] He is often noted for his loud and excited vocalizations included in his song, becoming a part of his public persona, yelling things such as "YEAH," "OKAY," "GET CRUNK," and most famously, "WHAT?!?". The characterization was mimicked to great success by Dave Chappelle on his Comedy Central television program, which Lil John himself would actually get involved with. The most famous sketch to come from this featured the real Lil John calling Dave Chappelle's version of Lil John and having a conversation with each other as if they were both the same person, eventually having a heartfelt conversation with each other in dramatic british accents.