Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz

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，Lil Jon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经常受到人们的称赞，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》。
Exuberant, loud-mouthed, and regularly adorned with a bejeweled pimp chalice at hand, Lil Jon was the charismatic figurehead of the Dirth South crunk movement that arose from the Atlanta area around the turn of the century. Born Jonathan Smith on January 27, 1971, in Atlanta, GA, the producer/rapper began his rap industry ascension as part of Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, for which he worked from 1993 to 2000. In the mid-'90s Lil Jon began making a name for himself as a producer with a knack for club remixes. Before long he formed his own group, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, comprised of Big Sam and Lil Bo, in addition to himself.
Essentially a means of showcasing his production talent, and profiting from it as well, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz signed to Mirror Image Records, an Atlanta-based label distributed by Ichiban Records. In 1997 the label released Who U Wit?, a CD single, and Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album; a second CD single, Shawty Freak a Lil Sumtin', followed in 1998. The regional success of "Who U Wit?" brought with it plenty of outside production opportunities for Lil Jon, and so it wasn't until 2000 that he returned with another East Side Boyz album, We Still Crunk, this one released independently by BME Recordings. A contract with TVT Records followed, as did the group's label debut, Put Yo Hood Up (2001), which boasted some previously released material (e.g., "Who U Wit," "I Like Dem Girlz"), as well as "Bia' Bia'," the first Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz single to get national airplay, thanks in part to the song's guest features (i.e., Ludacris, Too Short).
Led by the single "I Don't Give a @#&%," Kings of Crunk (2002) capitalized on Lil Jon's breakthrough, spawning the Top Five hit "Get Low." Featuring the Ying Yang Twins, "Get Low" was a club phenomenon throughout 2003; Part II, a CD/DVD EP released toward the end of the year, featured dancehall and merengue remixes of the song, along with additional material. Lil Jon's production style became ubiquitous on urban radio thereafter, as "Salt Shaker" (a production for the Ying Yang Twins), "Goodies" (Ciara), "Yeah!" (Usher), "Freek-a-Leek" (Petey Pablo), "Shorty Wanna Ride" (Young Buck), "Damn!" (YoungBloodZ), "Let's Go" (Trick Daddy), "Culo" (Pitbull), "Head Bussa" (Lil Scrappy), "Neva Eva" (Trillville), and "Shake That Monkey" (Too Short) all garnered significant airplay in 2003-2004.
By this point, the celebrity of Lil Jon was such that comedian Dave Chappelle was memorably satirizing him (especially his signature "yeaaah!" and "whaaat!?" expressions) on a couple episodes of The Chappelle Show. Toward the end of 2004, "What U Gon' Do," a Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz single featuring Lil Scrappy, announced the release of Crunk Juice, a star-studded album featuring guest features on nearly every song. "Friends & Lovers," featuring Usher and Ludacris, became the most successful single, reaching the Top Three of the Billboard 100. In the wake of Crunk Juice, Lil Jon receded from the spotlight somewhat, enjoying his celebrity while continuing to produce hits for others: "I'm a King" (T.I., 2005), "Touch" (Amerie, 2005), "Girlfight" (Brooke Valentine, 2005), "Okay" (Nivea, 2005), "Presidential" (YoungBloodZ, 2006), "U and Dat" (E-40, 2006), "Gangsta Gangsta" (Lil Scrappy, 2006), and "Dime/Tell Me" (Pitbull, 2006), among others.