Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. He was the frontman of the multi-platinum selling rap group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz and was instrumental in the emergence of the hip/hop subgenre crunk. He is credited with bringing the genre into mainstream success, producing Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles “Get Low,” “Goodies,” “Cyclone,” “Freek-a-Leek,” and “Yeah!”. “Yeah!” won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance. Lil Jon is also a frequent collaborator with friend and fellow rapper Pitbull. In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with DJ Snake and released the electronic dance music multi-platinum hit, “Turn Down for What,” that won Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. The music video for the single, released in 2014, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and has been viewed over 900 million times on YouTube as of October 2019. As of 2016, Lil Jon is listed as one of the Top Billboard Music Award Winners of All Time. In 2019, Lil Jon achieved his 8th #1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Chart as a songwriter on the song “My Type” by Sacramento rapper Saweetie.
instruments played
drum
keyboards
machine
sampler
turntables
Vocals
Associated Acts
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Pitbull DJ Snake Steve Aoki Hardwell W&W E-40 Kilo Ali Lil Scrappy LMFAO Ludacris Mario Pastor Troy Petey Pablo Too Short Trillville Ying Yang Twins YoungBloodZ El Cata Usher
Birth Name
Jonathan H. Smith
Genres
Hip hop crunk
Occupations
Rapper songwriter DJ record producer
Website
Years Active
1991 present
Name
Lil Jon
Nationality
United States of America