About Lil Jon

For the last decade plus, the words “Yeah,” “Ok,” and “What” have been synonymous with multi-platinum, Grammy award winning artist Lil Jon. He has been one of the most prominent figures in music and pop culture alike, performing for hundreds of thousands of fans with Usher, Ludacris, Afrojack, Steve Aoki, Pitbull, TLC (on FOX’s American Idol), Yandel, LMFAO and Sydney Samson just to name a few. In 2014, Lil Jon proved once again he’s a powerhouse artist teaming up with DJ Snake for their smash hit “Turn Down for What,” which created a massive worldwide craze. The string of hit songs haven’t stopped after that, including “Bend Ova” feat. Tyga, “Prison Riot” with Flosstradamus, “Get Loose,” (out on DIM MAK) and recent singles “Live the Night,” with Hardwell “Savage,” with Borgeous and Riggi & Piros and “Take It Off” featuring Yandel and Becky G.

His success as a mainstay in the DJ-world is evident with a current residency at Hakkasan Nightclub (MGM Grand) along with Jewel Nightclub at Aria Resort & Casino. Previously, Lil Jon had a DJ residency for over five years at the Wynn/Encore (Surrender, Tryst, XS); even being named the Las Vegas Resident DJ of The Year. He has traveled the globe DJing worldwide in places such as, but not limited to France, Germany, South Korea, China, India, Dubai, London, Mexico and Australia.

Lil Jon continues to be a master at marketing and business as evident by being tapped by Bud Light in 2015 to star in their #UpForWhatever commercial and campaign. He has had an Oakley endorsement deal since 2005, became a Don Julio tequila brand ambassador, partnered with SOL headphones – which helped to launch SOL Deck by starring in the Radio Shack commercial in Fall 2013 – and has launched his own clothing line, 2Vicious. His marketing chops came in helpful when cast on NBC’s primetime show Celebrity Apprentice (Spring 2011) and quickly became a fan-favorite nationwide. Lil Jon was back on primetime television in the Spring of 2013 on the cast of Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars, where he came in 3rd and raised almost $200,000 for the American Diabetes Association.

Known best for his role in creating and popularizing the southern movement and lifestyle known as Crunk, Lil Jon delivered a string of regional hits (in the 90’s) with the East Side Boyz eventually becoming a national force in 2001 thanks to the tracks “Bia Bia” and “Put Yo Hood Up.” Crunk became so popular that Jon became a fixture on Chappelle’s Show and artists not directly connected to him (such as Mary J. Blige) began using the word Crunk in their own music. Jon helped usher the word ‘Crunk’ not only on a national scale, but worldwide. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary added the word into their book in 2007.

Lil Jon has a long list of platinum-selling productions, crafting groundbreaking hits for a diverse array of artists, such as E-40, Usher, Ciara, The Ying Yang Twins, Ice Cube and more. He’s also worked with will.i.am, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Bret Michaels, Travis Barker, Jennifer Lopez, Machine Gun Kelly, DJ Snake and many more. As an artist, he has sold millions of records as the frontman of Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, whose smash hits “Get Low” and “What U Gon’ Do” have been among some of the biggest crossover hip-hop records. His songs have been featured in huge blockbuster movies and television shows including The Hangover, Neighbors 1 & 2, The Proposal, the Step Up franchise, FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance, Black-Ish, HBO’s Ballers, Horrible Bosses, NBC’s Parks & Recreation, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and many more.

His consistent hitmaking has earned him legions of fans from Los Angeles to New York to the Midwest and of course his native region, the South. This is no more evident as Lil Jon won BMI’s Songwriter of the Year award, as well as scored eight Billboard Awards (for the two hit Usher tracks “Yeah!” and “Lovers and Friends”), a Grammy, a Radio Music Award, a BET award, two MTV Video Music Awards, and an American Music Award.

Visit www.liljon.com for more information.

About Mike Jones

Michael Jones is an American rapper, actor and entrepreneur. He initially was with Swishahouse, then left and founded his own label, Ice Age. Before he was on Swishahouse, he was in a group called Souf Folk, in which he used the alias Sache. He released one album with Souf Folk called Country Thuggin in 2003. He is also known for his catchphrase “Mike Jones, who?” usually repeated several times and for handing out shirts with his cell phone number printed on the back.

Jones originally wanted to be a National Basketball Association player who rapped on the side. He transferred from school to school many times, forcing him to only play in YMCA leagues due to transfer rules after the 9th Grade. Jones dropped out of high school and briefly took jobs at fast food restaurants. He worked at a Compaq plant and sold cell phones from an apartment on Antoine Drive. T. Brown, Jones’s partner in several financial ventures, said that he sold some “dime bags” for six months, but the two mainly bought “T-Mobile Sidekicks” and sold them for an inexpensive price. Jones often visited his grandmother’s house in the Studewood area of Houston. He credits her with giving him the ideas to pursue rap, to use his real name, and to write songs for strippers.

Jones began his musical career in a group called Souf Folk, using the alias Sache. He released one album with Souf Folk called Country Thuggin. In 2001, Jones formed his own independent record label, Ice Age Entertainment, and began solo rapping. He independently promoted and distributed his music on the streets and pressed it on DJs at strip clubs.

Jones eventually signed with the upcoming southern record label Swishahouse after meeting with Swishahouse A&R T. Farris. At that time, Swishahouse was signing fellow upcoming southern rappers Slim Thug, Paul Wall and Chamillionaire. Farris recalled signing Jones, saying, “I heard him on one of my partner’s mixtapes and I wanted to meet him and try to get him to rap on our mixtapes. We linked up, signed him.” DJ Casual from Meridian, Mississippi was the first person to play Jones on the radio. He loved what Jones was doing and passed it on to several fellow DJs.

In 2004 after the release of his breakout single “Still Tippin'”, which was receiving lots of radio play, Jones signed a major deal to Jive Records and Warner Bros. He quickly released his second single, “Back Then”, which eventually went Platinum, making it Jones’s first Platinum single. In April 2005, Jones released his debut album, Who Is Mike Jones? After two months the album also achieved Platinum status, eventually reaching double Platinum. It is Jones’s highest selling album to date.

After leaving Jive Records Jones signed a distribution deal with Asylum Records for his label Ice Age. In September 2006 Jones released the single titled “Mr. Jones”. It debuted at #92 on the Billboard Charts. The song gained further recognition when fellow rapper Lil Wayne freestyled on his version “Sky Is The Limit” for his “Da Drought 3” mixtape. In January 2007, Jones announced an upcoming EP and a movie, both titled The American Dream; and, in April of that same year, Jones released the second single from the EP, titled “My 64”, featuring Bun B and Snoop Dogg. The single debuted at #1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Jones then released The American Dream in November 2007, and it debuted on the Billboard charts at #183.

In November 2007, Jones also released the debut single “Drop & Gimme 50” for his second solo album, titled The Voice. “Drop & Gimme 50” featured Hurricane Chris. In May 2008, Jones released the album’s second single, called “Cuddy Buddy”. The single did well on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at #78; and, in December 2009, the third single from The Voice was released. Titled “Next To You,” it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #63. The Voice was released in April 2009, debuting on the Billboard 200 at #12 and selling 25,000 copies in its first week.

During 2010 and 2011, Jones went on a hiatus. In August 2012, he announced his return, explaining the reason for his hiatus was due to financial disputes with his former label, Asylum Records, and that money had been taken from him. He announced he was finished with his next album, Where Is Mike Jones? and that he was working on its follow-up, titled WHO!Print, with further plans to release a mixtape called Ballin Underground 2. Jones would release a mixtape titled Back Ballin’ Underground in October 2013. This was followed by a mixtape titled Money Train (January 2015). In February 2015, Jones announced he was working on another mixtape entitled Money Train: Reloaded, which will be a sequel to his mixtape Money Train. And, in October 2018, he announced that his third studio album (Where Is Mike Jones?) was slated for a 2019 release.

His first acting role was a minor part in the Fox television series Prison Break as Darius Morgan, C-Note’s brother-in-law. In 2007, Jones released his movie The American Dream, in which he starred, with much of the plot based on his life. Jones also has his own line of Cognac called “House of Dobbe”. Jones has also been actively involved in many charity programs, such as his Ice Age for Kids and The American Dream Foundation, through which he hosted community youth events and donated thousands of dollars to help. For more information, follow Mike Jones on Instagram (@where_mikejones).