Jonathan Smith (born January 27, 1971),
[2] better known by his
stage name Lil Jon, is an American
composer,
producer, promoter, and
rapper. He is best known as a pioneer of the
hip hop sub-genre crunk. His work is recognizable by his distinctive hype shouts of "What?!","Hey!", "Yeah!", and "Okay!", which have earned him a part as a regular character in the repertoire of popular comedian
Dave Chappelle.
Lil Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Douglass High School (Georgia) in 1989. He worked for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000, which is where he got his stage name.[2][3]
Lil Jon says that he is a full time rapper who "was inspired by the synthesizer sounds of rave/dance music he heard playing in Atlanta strip clubs."[4]
In 2006 before recording the album Crunk Rock, Lil Jon severed his negotiation with record label TVT. He vowed never to record for TVT Records again, alleging that TVT owner Steve Gottlieb was shortchanging him.[5]
