Lil Jon’s Electronic Journey

Lil Jon got his start in music as the lead front man for the multi-platinum selling rap group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Jonathan Smith was one of the founding fathers of the popular hip-hop sub-genre Crunk and is credited for bringing the genre into mainstream success. In 2005, the group disbanded, and Lil Jon began pursuing his solo career.

As a solo rapper, Lil Jon went on to produce a successful solo album, Crunk Rock, on Univeral Republic Music. This album is the tip of the iceberg in his electronic journey. The album features collaborations with artists like LMFAO, Pitbull, Ice Cube, and Waka Flocka Flame. For the first time, Lil Jon was releasing pop and electronic influenced tracks, instead of straight hip-hop songs. That same year, his collaboration with 3OH3, “Hey,” was featured on MTV’s Jersey Shore. Additionally, his still highly-praised track “Outta Your Mind” was featured in the infamous party movie Project X.

In the following years, Lil Jon would go on to produce “Turn down for what” on Columbia Records with DJ Snake. The song went on to reach No. 1 on Billboards Rhythmic and Hot Dance/Electronic charts. The track also reached No. 2 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay and No 4. On the Hot 100 list. The rack went on to become a certified 5x platinum hit.

This was just the beginning of Lil Jon’s journey into the world of EDM. The rapper has gone on to become a staple in festival recordings and has worked with huge artists like Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Steve Aoki, Hardwell, DJ Diesal (Shaq), and Borgeous.

To this day, Lil Jon’s vocals in booty-shaking, head banging, dance music is still commonplace. His voice has become the official anthem of getting the party started and turning up. Lil Jon is helping bring the electronic industry into a mainstream spotlight, and as a fan, I’m excited to see what he will work on next. He’s going to leave the following generation with a taste of his success as well. His son Nathan, has been DJing since the age of 11, and it’s great to see the family go full circle with music production.

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