Lil Jon

Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, record producer and hype man. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s, and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre. He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums. In addition, Lil Jon served as a record producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Miami-based rapper Pitbull, Bay Area-based rappers Too Short and E-40, and fellow Atlanta-based artists Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.As a producer, Lil Jon has produced several Billboard Hot 100 hit singles including "Salt Shaker", "Cyclone", "Get Low", "Snap Yo Fingers", "Damn!", "Freek-a-Leek", "Lovers and Friends", "Goodies" and "Yeah!". The latter of which won Lil Jon a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Performance as part of his five Grammy Award nominations.In 2013, Lil Jon released "Turn Down for What" (with DJ Snake), an EDM single which was certified octuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song went on to win the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song. The accompanying music video was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, and passed the milestone of 1 billion views on YouTube seven years after it was released. Listed as one of the Top Billboard Music Award Winners of All Time in 2016, Lil Jon has amassed his eight number one singles on Billboard's Rhythmic chart.