His group Lil Jon and The East Side Boyz received a surprising amount of mainstream attention for their 2002 single, "Get Low." The track which featured fellow Atlanta artists the Ying Yang Twins quickly became a hit both in the clubs and elsewhere. It skyrocketed into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, appeared in several movies and could be heard coming from the mouths of such unlikely suspects as middle school students and soccer moms most of whom had no idea what half of the song's lyrics meant.
Lil Jon stayed in the spotlight by producing a few tracks and making guest appearances on commercial hits such as the Ying Yang Twins' "Salt Shaker" (2003), Petey Pablo's "Freek-a-Leek" (2004) and Usher's "Yeah!" (2004).
He later dabbled with the West Coast's hyphy movement a genre closely related to crunk that was championed by such artists as Mac Dre and Keak da Sneak by producing E-40's hit single "Tell Me When To Go" and later enlisting E-40 as a guest on his own 2006 single, "Snap Yo Fingers."
Then Lil Jon's cultural force shifted from music to pop culture. He made waves by releasing his own energy drink (CRUNK!!!), starting a winery (Little Jonathan Winery), launching a line of Oakley sunglasses and appearing onstage at events such as Katt Williams' standup shows. His musical endeavors suffered, failing to generate the response caused by "Get Low" and his other early work.
In 2009. Lil Jon's most recent musical reinvention began, with a shift further into dance and club music. Videos of Lil Jon sharing studio time with Diplo the superstar DJ famous for producing M.I.A's "Paper Planes" and creating Major Lazer with Switch circulated the Internet. Soon, Lil Jon was emceeing a handful of Diplo's events suggesting that Lil Jon was preparing to release a slew of new dance singles.
Lil Jon furthered his re-emergence into the mainstream by working with electro and hip-hop stars LMFAO. He made a guest appearance on the duo's 2009 single "Shots," and LMFAO returned the favor by rhyming on Lil Jon's "Outta Your Mind" (2009).
But while "Outta Your Mind" is getting extensive club play and "Shots" has become a sorority anthem across the country, "Machuka" may represent Lil Jon's most impressive and accessible recent release. On the track, producer Kassiano samples Steve Angello and Laidback Luke's 2007 hit "Be," while baile funk legend Mr. Catra joins Brazlian Playboy model Mulher Fil to provide vocal support. Rapping alongside South American stars helps Lil Jon further the global appeal of "Machuka." And by rapping over a recent European hit track, Lil Jon makes this potential single easily digestible for European club-goers. What's more, DJs who generally avoid hip-hop seem to be drawn to the song because of its house-music roots.
Although Lil Jon has re-emerged into the musical mainstream with guest appearances on tracks like Jay Sean's "Do You Remember," it's his shift to producing more dance music that proves the most intriguing part of his career at the moment.
Lil Jon has been a party icon for quite some time now. He and his East Side Boyz declared themselves the kings of crunk at the start of the aughts, and the success of his recent electro and house hits have shown that he can still produce, creating party jams in a wide range of genres. Soon, he may simply call himself the king of the club.
