LIL' JON
Lil Jon was born Jonathan Mortimer Smith in 1971. He is an Atlanta-based rapper and producer. He is best known as a pioneer of the sub-genre of hip hop known as "crunk.” He began as a club DJ before Jermaine Dupri invited him in 1993 to come work for So So Def Records, where he served as the executive vice president of A&R. Jon also hosted a radio show at V103 and began producing tracks for major Atlanta-area artists. After making a name for himself, Jon then debuted his Eastside Boyz on “Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album” in 1996 and scored a club anthem, "Who You Wit?" He broke into the national market with the single "Bia', Bia'," from the album Put Yo Hood Up in 2001. In 2002, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz released their breakthrough album “Kings of Crunk,” which reached the top twenty of the U.S. album chart in September 2003. The single “Get Low" became a breakout hit as it topped worldwide charts and Internet download charts. Lil Jon put out a compilation CD and DVD in 2003 called “Alpha N---a” featuring remixes of past songs. Jon also produced the hit single "Salt Shaker" for the Ying Yang Twins, #1 hit "Goodies" for R&B artist Ciara, and “Freek-A-Leek" for Petey Pablo. By the end of 2004, Lil Jon's famous expressions "Yeaaahh?!" and "Whaat!?" became fodder for numerous comedians. For most of 2005, Lil Jon concentrated on production for several artists off of his BME Recordings. His first solo album “Crunk Rock,” was released in 2006 with the hit single Snap Yo Fingers.
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