We’re taking another walk down memory lane and this time, it’s with Lil Jon. The Atlanta icon has been serving out hits for decades and has become a legend in music with the help of his innate ability to craft club bangers that never expire. From his musical moments with Usher to his takeover with the Eastside Boys to his work with Jermaine Dupri over at So So Def, Lil Jon has behind-the-scenes stories that could make up a never-ending docuseries.
However, his tales were compacted for A&E’s Origins of Hip Hop as they revisit the early days of some of our favorite artists. We’ve covered Fat Joe speaking about his youth in the Bronx, and in an interview with CNN, Jon touched on why it was important for him to connect with the Hip Hop series.
“I’m always pushing forward and not really thinking about everything I’ve done in my career and … the span of it,” he reportedly told the outlet. “We go all the way back to where I started in elementary school, where I started to have a love for music.”
“Hip Hop is making money. It’s one of the top-grossing fields of music,” he said. “Hip Hop culture has influenced and continues to influence the entire world, right? No matter what genre of music people do, they dress and look like hip-hop artists and have swag like us.”
Although he isn’t a figure that often comes forward to shed details about his past or rise to fame, this is something that he feels is necessary, especially as he continues to make hits.
“I just believe I’ve been given this gift and I’m supposed to use it,” he said. “I’m continuously putting out music. It might not all be Hip Hop, but I’m putting out music that is making people move.”
[via]