里尔·乔恩（Lil Jon），原名乔纳森·史密斯（Jonathan Smith），1971年1月27日出生于美国亚特兰大，美国说唱歌手、制作人，嘻哈音乐子类Crunk创始人之一。
演艺经历
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz说唱组合是近两年来逐渐走入主流市场的一支美国南方说唱组合。Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz最初成立于1996年，当时在美国南部的佐治亚州首府亚特兰大市，在Lil Jon的带领下，Big Sam和Lil Bo与他一起组成了这个说唱三人组合，歌手兼制作人的Lil Jon就成为了乐团绝对的领导者。在组织乐团之前，LilJon的发迹是在亚特兰大的一家知名夜总会里开始的，90年代初，作为那里的DJ，Lil Jon经受到人们的称赞，而在光临这家夜总会的人中也经常包括一些颇有名气的说唱歌星和制作人，著名流行音乐制作人Jermaine Dupri就是其中之一，他不仅对Lil Jon的技艺非常赞赏，还让他到So So Def唱片公司供职，担任A&R的执行副总裁，这个工作从1993年持续到2000年，同时Lil Jon又开始在亚特兰大电台主持节目。在唱片公司里，他参加了一些列大牌歌星作品的录制工作，其中包括著名流行歌星Whitney Houston，Usher，以及说唱组合112，Too $hort。这些工作为Lil Jon音乐事业的发展奠定了坚实的基础。
组建了Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz说唱三人组合之后，1997年，Lil Jon开始了自己的音乐生涯，他和他的说唱组合在这一年发行了首张专辑《Get Crunk, Who You Wit: Da Album》，可惜这张专辑并没有在更大范围内造成影响。2001年，Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz又发行了第二张专辑《Put Yo Hood Up》，这张专辑取得了突破，不仅名列独立专辑榜榜首也在Billboard 200排行榜上位居第43位。随后又在2002年发行了第三张专辑《Kings of Crunk》，在发行首周就名列Billboard 200排行榜的第15位，这张专辑最终销量超过了220万张。不过之后2003年的专辑《Certified Crunk》在发行之后销量平平，仅在独立专辑榜上排名第九。在这期间，Lil Jon经常参加一些大牌明星的专辑录制，并且屡有献声，这也为他积累了人气。2004年Lil Jon和Ludacris一起与Usher录制了《Yeah!》，这首单曲在单曲榜冠军宝座上连续保持了12周之久，成为2004年最成功的单曲。随后，2004年11月16日，Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz乐团发行了乐队第五张专辑《Crunk Juice》
So So Def Recordings: 1992–2000
After graduating high school, Lil Jon continued to work as a DJ in a popular downtown Atlanta club. It was there he met Jermaine Dupri and MC Finchy, who was said to be the inspiration of his future work. When it came to hiring an A&R to lead his Atlanta-based music label So So Def, Jermaine Dupri stated that "All I could think about was Lil Jon, because he was the person in the clubs. He knew people, DJs knew him. I had to hire him."
After he was promoted to Executive Vice President of A&R, Lil Jon recruited local producers and rappers DJ Smurf, Shawty Redd, Raheem the Dream, Playa Poncho with others to create the compilation album series, So So Def Bass All Stars as his first project. Released on May 22, 1996, the album was a success, selling over 500,000 units and was certified Gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1995, four months after its initial release. The album, executive produced by Lil Jon, included the hit single, My Boo by Ghost Town DJs. It was sampled by Ciara in her 2013 smash, Body Parts In 2016, 20 years after its initial release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 29. Lil Jon completed the series, releasing So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. II (1997) and So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. III (1998).
Apart from his label commitments, Lil Jon was a radio personality/DJ on Atlanta radio station, V-103, continued to produce music for outside music artists, and was still working as a DJ at popular clubs around the city.
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz: 1995–2005
Lil Jon collaborated with Big Sam (born Sammie Dernard Norris) and Lil' Bo (born Wendell Maurice Neal) to form a musical rap group. Sam and Bo both grew up on the east side of Metropolitan Atlanta area (Dekalb County) and thus chose the name, The East Side Boyz.
In 1996, the group released their debut single, "Who U Wit?" The song is credited as bringing the term "crunk" into hip-hop currency. In 1997, the group released their debut album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. The singles, "Who U Wit?" (produced by Lil Jon) and "Shawty Freak a Lil Sumthin" (produced by DJ Toomp), charted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 70 and No. 62, respectively. In 2000, through the newly created label Black Market, the group released their breakthrough album We Still Crunk! which featured the single, "I Like Dem Girlz," which reached No. 55 on the Billboard R&B and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks charts.
The team was well equipped with prior experience at promoting albums and worked to grow the group's fan base across radio markets. Promotional street teams that were hired major music labels to promote their repertoire, began to talk within music promotion circles on how successful Lil Jon and his team were on the ground and were gaining radio airplay in radio markets that were usually difficult for non local artists to break into.
Bryan Leach, formerly an A&R executive at New York based label TVT Records, heard about the group attended their Atlanta show. He was blown away by the group's immense energy. Leach told HitQuarters: "It was like early Beastie Boys, when they had the energy of a rock group but they were rapping, and that energy is what crunk music is all about." By 2001, Leach signed Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz to TVT Records with Black Market delivering the albums to the label. The group released the album Put Yo Hood Up, which combined previously released tracks with new ones. "Bia' Bia'," which featured rappers Ludacris, Oakland rap legend, Too Short, New York based DJ, Big Kap, along with newcomer, New Orleans's rapper Chyna Whyte was the group's first single to be played nationally. "Bia' Bia'" peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 47 on the Billboard R&B chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in June 2002.
In 2002, the group release their sophomore studio album under the label, Kings of Crunk. with the song "I Don't Give A..." as the first single. The song featured former No Limit Records artist, Mystikal and former Ruthless Records artist, Krayzie Bone. It peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard R&B chart. The group's next single, "Get Low" featured fellow Atlanta hip hop group, Ying Yang Twins and became popular in nightclubs nationwide; it reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA in August 2004. In 2003, the group released Part II, a remix album of previously released singles with a two new songs.
In 2004, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz released what would be the group's last studio album, Crunk Juice. The lead single "What U Gon' Do" featuring BME Recordings' artist, Lil' Scrappy peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 13 on the Billboard R&B chart, and No. 5 on the Billboard Rap chart. The second single, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 2 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and No. 1 on Billboard Rap Charts. The album was certified multi-platinum in January 2005, two months after it was released. In 2005, after releasing six studio albums together and amidst ongoing creative and financial conflicts with TVT Records, the group disbanded.
Solo career: 2006–present
In 2006, Lil Jon, in an attempt to fulfill his obligations to TVT released the single, "Snap Yo Fingers." The song was produced by Lil Jon and features BME Recording's artist E-40 and Sean P. The song peaked at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum on November 22, 2006. After the song was released, Lil Jon broke down vowing to never to record for TVT Records again. In 2008, Lil Jon, embroiled in legal battles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Lil Jon released his first solo album, Crunk Rock, on June 8, 2010, through Universal Republic Records. It featured artists such as LMFAO, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, 3OH3, Ice Cube, Waka Flocka Flame, Stephen Marley, Damian Marley and more. The album peaked at No. 8 on Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Albums and reached No.5 on Billboard Rap Albums. The single "Hey" featuring 3OH3 was also featured on MTV's Jersey Shore Soundtrack with the entire cast appearing the music video. The second single, "Outta Your Mind" was featured in the film, Project X and used by Alex & Twitch on the Fox television series, So You Think You Can Dance, which is considered to be the finest hip-hop routine ever performed on the show.
In July 2011, he released a song with LMFAO called "Drink" through Ultra Records. It was used in the trailer for the film The World's End. In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with DJ Snake and released "Turn Down for What" on Columbia Records. The song achieved No. 1 on Billboard's Rhythmic, and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, No 2. on Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 4 on Hot 100, and No. 5 on Mainstream Top 40. The song has had significant use in media and was certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA. In 2013, Lil Jon partnered with Zumba Fitness to create a new nightclub tour titled "Zumba Nightclub Series" and for the Zumba Fitness series, he released a new song called "Work". On July 22, 2014, Lil Jon released a single titled "Bend Ova", featuring Tyga and released on Epic Records. "Take It Off" featuring Yandel and Becky G was released on July 22, 2016 and the single "Alive" was released in 2018, featuring Offset and 2 Chainz on Geffen Records. In December 2018, Lil Jon released a Christmas single "All I Really Want for Christmas (featuring Kool-Aid Man)" in cooperation with Kool-Aid brand soft drinks.
As of 2019, Lil Jon continues to create songs with some geared specifically for use in television and/or feature films. Film highlights include; Girls Trip (2017), Superfly (2018) along with the Future-led soundtrack, The First Purge (2018), and Spies in Disguise (2019), including the Mark Ronson-led soundtrack for the film.
里尔·乔恩（Lil Jon），原名乔纳森·史密斯（Jonathan Smith），1971年1月27日出生于美国亚特兰大，美国说唱歌手、制作人，嘻哈音乐子类Crunk创始人之一。
演艺经历
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz说唱组合是近两年来逐渐走入主流市场的一支美国南方说唱组合。Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz最初成立于1996年，当时在美国南部的佐治亚州首府亚特兰大市，在Lil Jon的带领下，Big Sam和Lil Bo与他一起组成了这个说唱三人组合，歌手兼制作人的Lil Jon就成为了乐团绝对的领导者。在组织乐团之前，LilJon的发迹是在亚特兰大的一家知名夜总会里开始的，90年代初，作为那里的DJ，Lil Jon经受到人们的称赞，而在光临这家夜总会的人中也经常包括一些颇有名气的说唱歌星和制作人，著名流行音乐制作人Jermaine Dupri就是其中之一，他不仅对Lil Jon的技艺非常赞赏，还让他到So So Def唱片公司供职，担任A&R的执行副总裁，这个工作从1993年持续到2000年，同时Lil Jon又开始在亚特兰大电台主持节目。在唱片公司里，他参加了一些列大牌歌星作品的录制工作，其中包括著名流行歌星Whitney Houston，Usher，以及说唱组合112，Too $hort。这些工作为Lil Jon音乐事业的发展奠定了坚实的基础。
组建了Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz说唱三人组合之后，1997年，Lil Jon开始了自己的音乐生涯，他和他的说唱组合在这一年发行了首张专辑《Get Crunk, Who You Wit: Da Album》，可惜这张专辑并没有在更大范围内造成影响。2001年，Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz又发行了第二张专辑《Put Yo Hood Up》，这张专辑取得了突破，不仅名列独立专辑榜榜首也在Billboard 200排行榜上位居第43位。随后又在2002年发行了第三张专辑《Kings of Crunk》，在发行首周就名列Billboard 200排行榜的第15位，这张专辑最终销量超过了220万张。不过之后2003年的专辑《Certified Crunk》在发行之后销量平平，仅在独立专辑榜上排名第九。在这期间，Lil Jon经常参加一些大牌明星的专辑录制，并且屡有献声，这也为他积累了人气。2004年Lil Jon和Ludacris一起与Usher录制了《Yeah!》，这首单曲在单曲榜冠军宝座上连续保持了12周之久，成为2004年最成功的单曲。随后，2004年11月16日，Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz乐团发行了乐队第五张专辑《Crunk Juice》
So So Def Recordings: 1992–2000
After graduating high school, Lil Jon continued to work as a DJ in a popular downtown Atlanta club. It was there he met Jermaine Dupri and MC Finchy, who was said to be the inspiration of his future work. When it came to hiring an A&R to lead his Atlanta-based music label So So Def, Jermaine Dupri stated that "All I could think about was Lil Jon, because he was the person in the clubs. He knew people, DJs knew him. I had to hire him."
After he was promoted to Executive Vice President of A&R, Lil Jon recruited local producers and rappers DJ Smurf, Shawty Redd, Raheem the Dream, Playa Poncho with others to create the compilation album series, So So Def Bass All Stars as his first project. Released on May 22, 1996, the album was a success, selling over 500,000 units and was certified Gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1995, four months after its initial release. The album, executive produced by Lil Jon, included the hit single, My Boo by Ghost Town DJs. It was sampled by Ciara in her 2013 smash, Body Parts In 2016, 20 years after its initial release, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 29. Lil Jon completed the series, releasing So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. II (1997) and So So Def Bass All-Stars Vol. III (1998).
Apart from his label commitments, Lil Jon was a radio personality/DJ on Atlanta radio station, V-103, continued to produce music for outside music artists, and was still working as a DJ at popular clubs around the city.
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz: 1995–2005
Lil Jon collaborated with Big Sam (born Sammie Dernard Norris) and Lil' Bo (born Wendell Maurice Neal) to form a musical rap group. Sam and Bo both grew up on the east side of Metropolitan Atlanta area (Dekalb County) and thus chose the name, The East Side Boyz.
In 1996, the group released their debut single, "Who U Wit?" The song is credited as bringing the term "crunk" into hip-hop currency. In 1997, the group released their debut album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. The singles, "Who U Wit?" (produced by Lil Jon) and "Shawty Freak a Lil Sumthin" (produced by DJ Toomp), charted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 70 and No. 62, respectively. In 2000, through the newly created label Black Market, the group released their breakthrough album We Still Crunk! which featured the single, "I Like Dem Girlz," which reached No. 55 on the Billboard R&B and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks charts.
The team was well equipped with prior experience at promoting albums and worked to grow the group's fan base across radio markets. Promotional street teams that were hired major music labels to promote their repertoire, began to talk within music promotion circles on how successful Lil Jon and his team were on the ground and were gaining radio airplay in radio markets that were usually difficult for non local artists to break into.
Bryan Leach, formerly an A&R executive at New York based label TVT Records, heard about the group attended their Atlanta show. He was blown away by the group's immense energy. Leach told HitQuarters: "It was like early Beastie Boys, when they had the energy of a rock group but they were rapping, and that energy is what crunk music is all about." By 2001, Leach signed Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz to TVT Records with Black Market delivering the albums to the label. The group released the album Put Yo Hood Up, which combined previously released tracks with new ones. "Bia' Bia'," which featured rappers Ludacris, Oakland rap legend, Too Short, New York based DJ, Big Kap, along with newcomer, New Orleans's rapper Chyna Whyte was the group's first single to be played nationally. "Bia' Bia'" peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 47 on the Billboard R&B chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in June 2002.
In 2002, the group release their sophomore studio album under the label, Kings of Crunk. with the song "I Don't Give A..." as the first single. The song featured former No Limit Records artist, Mystikal and former Ruthless Records artist, Krayzie Bone. It peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard R&B chart. The group's next single, "Get Low" featured fellow Atlanta hip hop group, Ying Yang Twins and became popular in nightclubs nationwide; it reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA in August 2004. In 2003, the group released Part II, a remix album of previously released singles with a two new songs.
In 2004, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz released what would be the group's last studio album, Crunk Juice. The lead single "What U Gon' Do" featuring BME Recordings' artist, Lil' Scrappy peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 13 on the Billboard R&B chart, and No. 5 on the Billboard Rap chart. The second single, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 2 on the Billboard R&B Chart, and No. 1 on Billboard Rap Charts. The album was certified multi-platinum in January 2005, two months after it was released. In 2005, after releasing six studio albums together and amidst ongoing creative and financial conflicts with TVT Records, the group disbanded.
Solo career: 2006–present
In 2006, Lil Jon, in an attempt to fulfill his obligations to TVT released the single, "Snap Yo Fingers." The song was produced by Lil Jon and features BME Recording's artist E-40 and Sean P. The song peaked at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum on November 22, 2006. After the song was released, Lil Jon broke down vowing to never to record for TVT Records again. In 2008, Lil Jon, embroiled in legal battles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Lil Jon released his first solo album, Crunk Rock, on June 8, 2010, through Universal Republic Records. It featured artists such as LMFAO, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, 3OH3, Ice Cube, Waka Flocka Flame, Stephen Marley, Damian Marley and more. The album peaked at No. 8 on Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Albums and reached No.5 on Billboard Rap Albums. The single "Hey" featuring 3OH3 was also featured on MTV's Jersey Shore Soundtrack with the entire cast appearing the music video. The second single, "Outta Your Mind" was featured in the film, Project X and used by Alex & Twitch on the Fox television series, So You Think You Can Dance, which is considered to be the finest hip-hop routine ever performed on the show.
In July 2011, he released a song with LMFAO called "Drink" through Ultra Records. It was used in the trailer for the film The World's End. In 2013, Lil Jon collaborated with DJ Snake and released "Turn Down for What" on Columbia Records. The song achieved No. 1 on Billboard's Rhythmic, and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, No 2. on Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 4 on Hot 100, and No. 5 on Mainstream Top 40. The song has had significant use in media and was certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA. In 2013, Lil Jon partnered with Zumba Fitness to create a new nightclub tour titled "Zumba Nightclub Series" and for the Zumba Fitness series, he released a new song called "Work". On July 22, 2014, Lil Jon released a single titled "Bend Ova", featuring Tyga and released on Epic Records. "Take It Off" featuring Yandel and Becky G was released on July 22, 2016 and the single "Alive" was released in 2018, featuring Offset and 2 Chainz on Geffen Records. In December 2018, Lil Jon released a Christmas single "All I Really Want for Christmas (featuring Kool-Aid Man)" in cooperation with Kool-Aid brand soft drinks.
As of 2019, Lil Jon continues to create songs with some geared specifically for use in television and/or feature films. Film highlights include; Girls Trip (2017), Superfly (2018) along with the Future-led soundtrack, The First Purge (2018), and Spies in Disguise (2019), including the Mark Ronson-led soundtrack for the film.
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