Lil Jon

Atlanta had always been a breeding ground for heavy bass music and hard party rap during the final decade of the 20th century. Pioneering this scene was Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, who delivered their revolutionary Dirty South sound to the hard-partying masses.

Lil Jon began his music career as a club DJ in Atlanta before being invited to work for So So Def Records in 1993 as the Executive Vice President of A&R. Meanwhile, he began hosting a local radio show and started producing and remixing tracks for several big name artists in the Atlanta area, including Usher and Too Short. While making a name for himself as a producer, Lil Jon joined up with Big Sam and Lil Bo (The East Side Boyz) and, in 1996, cut their first album, Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album.

While his initial success was confined mostly to the local underground music scene, his next big hit, "Bia', Bia'" from the 2001 release of Put Yo Hood Up, broke Lil Jon into the national market. Wasting no time, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz released Kings of Crunk in 2002, scoring another big hit with "I Don't Give A …". By 2003, Lil Jon was solidifying his national popularity, with hits like "Get Low" (featuring the Ying Yang Twins).

In 2004, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz gathered a number of rap stars in studio and released their next album, the hugely successful Crunk Juice. His latest effort, released in May of 2005, is a joint with Pastor Troy entitled Proud to Be American: Slowed and Chopped.