While his best friends attended Benjamin E. The foursome quickly became immersed in the skateboarding culture and would later work at Skate Escape, a popular skate and bicycle shop near the city's iconic Piedmont Park. While in middle school, Lil Jon became lifelong friends with Robert McDowell, Dwayne 'Emperor' Searcy (future DJ and radio personality for Radio One's WHTA), and Vince Philips (named one of Billboard's Top Music Lawyers in 2020), who would become business partners. His mother described him as a high achiever early on in addition to being independent and a passionate reader. Lil Jon attended Beecher Hills Elementary School and Southwest Middle School, both located within the Atlanta Public School district. Three of his siblings would later follow their parents lead and also serve in the United States military. He is the oldest of five children born to his father, an aerospace engineer with former military service, and his mother, with a medical career within the military. Lil Jon was born Atlanta, Georgia and raised in a middle-class neighborhood located in Southwest Atlanta. Listed as one of the Top Billboard Music Award Winners of All Time in 2016, Lil Jon achieved his 8th number 1 on Billboard 's Rhythmic Chart as a songwriter on ' My Type' a song by Bay Area rapper Saweetie and was also a songwriter on the rapper's single ' Tap In' which reached number 2 on the same chart. The accompanying music video was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and has been viewed over 1.08 billion times on YouTube as of January 2022. The song went on to win the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with France-based producer DJ Snake and released ' Turn Down For What' an EDM single that as of 2021 has is 6x multi-platinum in the United States. As a five-time Grammy award nominee, Lil Jon won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance with Usher and Ludacris for 'Yeah!' Īs 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!'. Lil Jon frequently collaborates with Miami-based rapper, Pitbull, Oakland-based rappers Too Short and E-40, participates a one-third of an unofficial trio consisting of Atlanta-based artists Ludacris and Usher that frequently create songs together. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre Crunk, and is credited with bringing the genre into mainstream success.

Smith (born January 17, 1972) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, record producer and former frontman of the multi-platinum selling rap group, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz.

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