Jonathan Smith Biography
Summary
"Jonathan Smith" (born January 27, 1971), better known by his stage name "Lil Jon", is an American rapper, hype man, and producer. He is best known as a pioneer of the sub-genre of hip hop known as 'crunk' (a combination of elements of Bounce Music, Disco music, Southern hip hop and bass music). His group, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, which includes Big Sam and Lil Bo, is one of crunk's most notable acts. He is also a prolific producer for other groups, and frequently makes guest appearances.
Biography
Personal life
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Lil Jon graduated from Douglass High School in Atlanta, Georgia in 1989. He hosted a radio show on BET and started doing remixes for artists like Matty-K, Jamaal, Too $hort, Kim Murdah, Xscape, and Total. He worked for So So Def between 1993 and 2000. In 1993 he was in a car accident, losing his little finger which was later reattached in surgery.
In April 1998 the artist was involved in a Anti-rape campaign with fellow rap artists 50 cent and Dr Dre. He protested that rape 'wasn't crunk'.
Lil Jon is a big fan of the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL; he attends games regularly and is friends with several players including goalie Kari Lehtonen, who wears the rapper's likeness on his goalie mask. Lil Jon also writes for a blog on NHL.com and his son plays youth hockey in the Atlanta area, and also plans to popularize ice hockey in the African American community. Lil Jon also scored on Kari Lehtonen 10 straight times during a community fundraising event. Lil Jon's son is also deemed the 'black Crosby' of Atlanta area youth hockey leagues.
Career
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz returned in 2001 with 'Put Yo Hood Up'. 'Bia Bia', the single from the album featuring Ludacris, Too $hort, and Chyna Whyte, became a hit in clubs throughout the U.S., and also made the top twenty downloads on MP3.com.
In 2002, Lil Jon looked onto old school Miami bass artist Rick Taylor (also known as Disco Rick), one of the bass music kings and legends of Miami, who gave Lil Jon his first MPC-3000 in 1996. Taylor was then called by Lil Jon to come down to Rick's studio in Miami and work with him on The Kings Of Crunk LP. Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz released their breakthrough album "Kings of Crunk". The first single, 'I Don't Give a Fuck' featuring Mystikal and Krayzie Bone became another dance floor filler. However, it was 'Get Low' with the Ying Yang Twins and its catchy hook that became a breakout hit. It reached the top five in a composite worldwide chart (compiled from U.S., German, French R&B charts) in 2003 and Internet download charts. It also went into the top 40 in markets such as Germany and Australia in 2004. Based on the success of 'Get Low', "Kings of Crunk" reached the top twenty of the U.S. album chart in September 2003. Lil Jon put out a compilation CD and DVD in 2003 called "Part II" featuring remixes of Get Low featuring Busta Rhymes and Elephant Man as well as the Ying Yang Twins. Jon also produced the hit single Salt Shaker for the Ying Yang Twins.
In 2004, Lil Jon produced what would be his breakthrough, Usher's hit single Yeah!. The track which featured Ludacris quickly skyrocket to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lil Jon also helped produce two other big hits of the year. One was for the new R&B artist Ciara, also out of Atlanta. 'Goodies' her debut single, featured Petey Pablo and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lil Jon also helped produce Petey Pablo's Freak-A-Leak.
Lil Jon released his new album called "Crunk Juice," which features contributions from proteges Lil Scrappy and Bo Hagon, Grammy Award-winning record producer Rick Rubin, R. Kelly, Ice Cube, Timbaland, Usher, Three 6 Mafia, Gangsta Boo, and Ludacris, and one of Lil Jon's punk heroes, The Bad Brains. The double-CD "Crunk Juice" includes remixes of Daddy Yankee's Reggaeton hit 'Gasolina', Terror Squad's 'Lean Back', and others. Lil Jon worked with Ko?n for a track on their album released later in 2005.
For most of 2005, Lil Jon concentrated on production, overseeing forthcoming records for several artists off of his BME Recordings including: Trillville, Lil Scrappy, Oobie, E-40, BHI, and Bo Hagon.
On February 22, 2006, Lil Jon announced that he had settled business matters with TVT: 'After a long battle and negotiations with TVT, we worked out our differences. TVT cut the check and now itıs time for me to get back to work.' The 'work' in question is his first solo album, "Crunk Rock", the release of which was planned for 2006. After numerous delays, Crunk Rock remains unreleased. The hit single 'Snap Yo Fingers' received heavy radio and TV airplay.
Lil Jon also starred in the music video of 'Twisted Transistor,' a song by the nu-metal band Korn along with Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and David Banner. He also made a cameo in Date Movie and in Scary Movie 4. He is also a fan of skateboarding and is a good friend of Greg Lutzka. He also hosted an online blog during X-Games 13 Skateboard Street final on expn.com.
Lil Jon's Music
Lil' Jon's songs have a strong relation to Miami Bass, in that it shares the avid use of the Roland TR-808 kick, high dance tempos, and explicit lyrical content, usually dealing with sexual themes and expressing the language of the Miami streets. His productions show a preference for, as said by Philip Sherburne, 'Sharp, spiky rhythms programmed on primitive drum machines and bass synthesizers.' The Roland TR-808 is the core of Lil Jon's music, with its 'crisp handclaps and dull, trunk-thumping bass drums'.
Lil' Jon has become well known for his famous chants and excessive interjections (most commonly 'Yeah!', 'What?!', and 'Okay!'), but his hits are made infectious by his raw and unprocessed synthesizer riffs. One can easily stumble upon the very same sounds 'within five minutes of sitting down at a keyboard store's display model' which only adds to the raw-edge of his Crunk Music.
He claims that he 'was inspired by the synthesizer sounds of rave/dance music he heard playing in Atlanta strip clubs."
Television
Lil Jon co-hosts Pimp My Ride International, along with Fat Joe, which is a version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride. He also guest stars in "Chappelle's Show" as himself in a skit with comedian Dave Chappelle impersonating as Lil Jon and speaks to the real Lil Jon.
Lil Jon also appears in a Subway commercial. He appeared as a guest star on MTV's sketch comedy show "Short Circuitz" in 2007, in every season of Wild N Out except Season 1, was a stranger in the NBC game show Identity, and also appeared on MTV's show "MTV Cribs" and "The Andy Milonakis Show".
Discography
Albums
1997: "Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album"
2000: "We Still Crunk!!"
2001: "Put Yo Hood Up" (Certified Gold)
2002: "Kings of Crunk" (Certified 2x Platinum)
2003: "Part II"
2004: "Crunk Juice" (Certified 2x Platinum)
2008: "Crunk Rock"
Solo singles
2002: 'Get Low' (featuring Ying Yang Twins)
2003: 'Play No Games' (featuring Fat Joe, Trick Daddy & Big Sam)
2003: 'I Don't Give a Fuck' (featuring Mystikal & Krayzie Bone)
2004: 'What U Gon' Do' (featuring Lil Scrappy)
2004: 'Real Nigga Roll Call' (featuring Ice Cube)
2006: 'Snap Yo Fingers' (featuring E-40 & Sean Paul of The YoungBloodz)
2006: 'Act a Fool' (featuring Three 6 Mafia)
2007: 'I'm a J' (featuring Gucci Mane and Fabo)
Video games
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
25 To Life (cameo appearance)
Def Jam: Icon
Need for Speed: Underground 'Get Low'
Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Remix
Movies
2001: "Volcano High"
2004: "Soul Plane"
2006: "Date Movie"
2006: "Scary Movie 4"
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Jonathan Smith.
