Today, Jan. 17, is the 48th birthday of Atlanta rapper, producer and DJ Lil Jon!

Born and raised in the ATL, Jon got his start in the music world by DJ'ing at local clubs. After getting a job at So So Def in 1993, Lil Jon formed the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon, Big Sam and Lil' Bo signed to Mirror Image Records in 1997 and dropped their debut album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album the same year. Two of the group's singles, "Who U Wit?" and "Shawty Freak a Lil' Sumthin'" charted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz continued to be the faces of crunk music into the new millennium, but their career highlight came in 2003 when they dropped the song "Get Low" featuring the Ying Yang Twins. The bass-heavy club track became the standout song for the crunk sub-genre. As the lead single off Kings of Crunk, "Get Low" peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The rapper used his personality and catchphrases ("Yeahh!," "What?!," "Ok!") to be a celebrity in his own right. In 2004, Lil Jon teamed up with Usher and Ludacris for the single "Yeah!" and the track—another party starter—won a 2005 Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In 2010, Lil Jon officially went solo and dropped his debut album Crunk Rock. In 2011, he appeared on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice, and made it all the way to the show's Final Four, despite President Trump recently claiming that he doesn't remember the "Get Low" artist.

He dropped "Turn Down for What" with DJ Snake in 2014, a song that would go on to be certified five times platinum. The Atlanta legend also released "Take It Off" featuring Yandel and Becky in July 2016.

Nowadays, he's an in-demand touring DJ, being booked for gigs all over the world. Most recently, the King of Crunk opened up his second school in Ghana and took part in the ill Christmas collab alongside the Kool-Aid Man. Yes, that Kool-Aid Man.

Happy Birthday, Lil Jon!

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