INTERVIEW: Lil Jon Opens Up About Mental & Physical Transformation, Origins Of Crunk, Meditation Album + More

Summary

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The Breakfast Club: Lil Jon Opens Up About Mental & Physical Transformation, Origins Of Crunk, Meditation Album + More

Date: October 8, 2025
Guests/Hosts: Lil Jon, DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God, Jess Hilarious

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Episode Overview

This in-depth interview welcomes Lil Jon for his first appearance on The Breakfast Club. The episode explores Lil Jon's evolution—from his roots in Atlanta's party scene to the chart-topping pioneer of crunk, and now, his roles as a wellness advocate and meditation album creator. Lil Jon shares candid reflections on the transformative moments in his career, personal growth, mental health, and why positivity is now central to his life and music.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Positivity and Morning Rituals

• Lil Jon emphasizes the power of starting each day with good energy and affirmations.
  • "We don't say good morning enough to our fellow brothers and sisters... Once I started to change my mindset, I realized that's a good way to start your day." (03:02, Lil Jon)
• He begins his mornings with a skincare routine, healthy breakfast, and positive affirmations.
  • "One rule for that is positivity, Positive energy, positive thoughts. Because if you're a negative person, all this negativity is going to wear the flesh down." (05:33, Lil Jon)

2. Origins in Atlanta and Music Industry Entry

• Lil Jon recounts being Atlanta’s go-to DJ in the '90s, hosting legendary parties, and connecting with Jermaine Dupri.
  • "I was the man. I did all the parties... Jermaine came to me...and he was like, I need someone like you to represent my label." (07:32, Lil Jon)
• He contributed to the birth of So So Def Bass All Stars and Atlanta’s bass-driven sound.
  • "That changed music too. Like, it gave us a whole genre that had never been...done before." (10:14, Lil Jon)

3. The Birth and Significance of Crunk

• The Eastside Boys and Lil Jon encapsulated the raw party energy of Atlanta’s club scene, giving young Black audiences an outlet for expression.
  • "We were the sound of the rowdy guys in the back of the club. That's what we were...crunk music was able to reach so many people...an outlet of energy for black youth." (14:46, Lil Jon)
• Crunk music’s physicality and intensity famously led to club bans but became an era-defining movement.

4. Musical Evolution and Distinct Production Style

• Lil Jon is known for not repeating sounds; every track is an experiment in energy.
  • "Did you try to make it your business not to sound the same?...every time I make the best stuff when I'm in the studio." (26:14, DJ Envy & Lil Jon)
• He details the inspiration behind classics like “Get Low,” which was influenced by DMX’s “Party Up,” and the collaborative stories behind “Tell Me When to Go,” “Blow the Whistle,” and Youngbloodz’s “Damn.”
  • "Get Low came because I was trying to make Party Up. I love DMX's party up so much..." (26:35, Lil Jon)

5. Crunk's Globalization & Mainstream Moment

• MTV’s embrace of “Get Low” signaled crunk’s arrival as a worldwide phenomenon.
  • "They let me get in Times Square on a double decker bus...doing what you gonna do." (29:40, Lil Jon)
  • Charlamagne and Lil Jon reminisce about the cultural impact, including iconic MTV VMA performances and Dave Chappelle’s skits.
• Lil Jon discusses how his collaboration with Usher on “Yeah!” and “Lovers and Friends” happened, including label politics and industry obstacles.

6. Pivot to Wellness, Meditation & Mental Health

• Turning 50 launched Lil Jon’s introspective journey: meditation, daily affirmations, therapy, and fitness.
  • "I started to like meditate every day. I started to say affirmations every day. And it helped me to be in a better mental state..." (45:08, Lil Jon)
• The creation of a meditation album was sparked by personal transformation and a desire to share positivity.
  • "We went in, we recorded these albums...now I'm using my voice and my power in a good way to push positivity into the world." (49:31, Lil Jon)

7. Physical Health Journey and Sobriety

• Lil Jon quit drinking after health scares and embraced fitness as a method of personal renewal and inspiration to others.
  • "I would drink a bottle of 42 a night...I'm the party guy...So when you lay off the alcohol, you come out of that fog and it's like everything is clearer." (67:07–67:34, Lil Jon)
  • "I have a daughter now, you know, she's 10 months old...I gotta be here for her. So health is even more important to me." (55:28, Lil Jon)

8. Masculinity, Vulnerability, and the Need for Therapy

• Lil Jon advocates for Black men embracing vulnerability, therapy, and emotional expression.
  • "We need to cry. When you get more in tune to your higher self...we should. We don't have to be tough all the time." (56:00, Lil Jon)
  • "I'm gonna tell everybody out there, get therapy...Sometimes you need to talk to someone that's a qualified person." (70:23, Lil Jon)

9. Legacy, Purpose, and the Next Chapter

• Lil Jon frames his legacy around positivity, healing, and service to others, not just party anthems.
  • "I think my legacy is going to be all about positivity. Because every step of the way...it's been crunk was positive...now in my latter years, it's meditation, mindfulness. Get therapy, fellas." (69:45–70:23, Lil Jon)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On crunk’s deeper meaning:
  "You hear that f---ing crunk music and you get in that damn mosh pit and you let all of that out and you feel amazing." (15:17, Lil Jon)
• On musical originality:
  "I don't like to be expected. So I was like, let me make it 100 whatever bpms." (28:10, Lil Jon, on "Blow the Whistle")
• On global crossover:
  "Mtv...let me get in Times Square on a double decker bus with Lil Scrappy on TRL...that was a big time." (29:40, Lil Jon)
• On health and fatherhood:
  "I gotta be here for [my daughter]...health is even more important to me. It was something I was doing to just, you know, live a long, full life..." (55:28, Lil Jon)
• On the need for emotional support and therapy:
  "We don't have to suffer in silence. We suffer in freaking silence. Call your homie sometimes and just be like...how you mentally doing, bro?" (56:00, Lil Jon)
• On meditation albums and healing:
  "I'm helping so many people and inspiring people...with the fitness journey, with the bodybuilding thing...So you can do it too." (72:46, Lil Jon)
• On legacy and purpose:
  "Everything with me is the right timing. When the universe tell me it's time for it, that's when it happened." (75:28, Lil Jon)

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Key Timestamps

| Segment | Topic | |---------|-------| | 03:00–05:56 | Morning routines, positivity, personal early rituals | | 07:24–11:53 | Atlanta DJ days, entry at So So Def, meeting Eastside Boys, origins of crunk | | 14:46–17:30 | The philosophy and energy of crunk; significance for Black youth | | 26:14–29:25 | Production methods, distinctiveness, stories behind “Get Low,” “Tell Me When to Go,” “Blow the Whistle” | | 29:40–30:29 | Crunk goes global—MTV and crossover moments | | 33:25–36:35 | Crossover into R&B and pop; making “Yeah!”, “Lovers and Friends”—label obstacles | | 45:01–50:16 | Mental health battles and transition to meditation album | | 54:43–55:52 | Fatherhood, personal health motivations | | 56:00–58:14 | Vulnerability, therapy, men’s mental health | | 63:19–68:19 | Burnout, stopping drinking, health changes, clarity from sobriety | | 69:45–73:36 | Reflections on legacy, peace, purpose, inspiring others | | 73:46–75:31 | Possibility of the crunk era’s return, wisdom about timing and legacy |

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Final Thoughts

Lil Jon’s debut on The Breakfast Club is more than an artist profile—it’s a testimony to personal evolution, resilience, and the healing power of creativity. Through humor, raw honesty, and wisdom, Jon bridges the gap between his party-starting past and his mindful present. Listeners come away inspired by a story that champions vulnerability, growth, and always, the energy of crunk.

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For more details and further inspiration, catch Lil Jon performing live at the Atlanta Jingle Ball (74:04).

Transcript

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

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[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Lil Jon]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Short on time, but big on true crime. On a recent episode of the podcast Hunting for Answers, I highlighted the story of 19 year old Lachey Dungey. But she never knocked on that door. She never made it inside. And that text message would be the last time anyone would ever hear from her. Listen to Hunting for Answers from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Sami Gente. It's Anna Ortiz and I'm Mark and Delicato. You might know us as Hilda and Justin from Ugly Bet. Welcome to our new podcast, Be My Besties.

[DJ Envy]

Yay.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

We're rewatching the series from start to finish and getting into all the fashions, the drama, and the behind the scenes moments that you've never heard before. But you were still bartending. I didn't know that. The bar pack is like, is that.

[Lil Jon]

You and I turn around and it's.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

A commercial for Betty. And I was like, I gotta go.

[Lil Jon]

I quit.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Listen to Viva Betty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Advertisement Voice]

Hold up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up.

[Lil Jon]

Wake your ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne, the guy. We are the breakfast club. Lon LaRosa is here as well and we got a special guest in the building.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

A icon guy.

[Lil Jon]

I thought he was up here.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

This is his first time up there, which is crazy.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, that's a.

[DJ Envy]

That's crazy.

[Lil Jon]

Seen you on the road.

[DJ Envy]

I know, but I thought you'd Been up here.

[Lil Jon]

Ladies and gentlemen, Little John.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Little John. What's up?

[Lil Jon]

Hey, man. Hey. Thank you all for having me. Thank you.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

Good morning.

[DJ Envy]

It's about time.

[Lil Jon]

Good morning, everybody. We don't say good morning enough to our fellow brothers and sisters. That is true. That's right. I was a victim of that until I started to change my mindset. Sometimes I would come down, get in the car, going, you know, on the road, I didn't say good morning. And once I started to change my mindset, I realized that's a good way to start your day. And a gesture to someone, whoever you're riding with, you know, the driver, whoever.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Ask them how they're feeling, and then ask them how they feeling.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes that's also the case. Sometimes just say, how is your day going? You know, because I found myself. Sometimes I'm a. I'm a. I'm really in tune to my spiritual side. I've been for a long time. Sometimes I might just be in. I remember being in the club, and I might walk by a random person, and I can feel their energy, and I'll be like, let me just give you a hug. Oh, wow. And sometimes that just changes somebody's life.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What about the. What about when you were the person that might have been creating the energy, though? Like, if you felt, like, some aggressive angriness from this person, but it was your fault because. No, your set that you just did.

[Lil Jon]

Well, you know, I, I, I, I'm tell you, one time I was in South Carolina and a Hole in the Wall club way back in the day, and it was supposed to be a night where cash money was supposed to be there, and they called me because cash money couldn't come. So these folks in South Carolina was mad than a motherfucker, and we was not cash money. Little John Eastside boys show up. And so I understand it's a hostile situation, but I said, I looked out on that crowd and I said, the biggest dude in this crowd, I'm about to make him my best friend. And I made him my best friend during the show, like, playing to him, giving him drinks and hyping him up. And then he turned, like, it turned the whole crowd around. And then they were fans of us after that. But it was a way. You can always change the energy of a situation if you approach with a calm manner. That's why good security don't go and, like, try to fight somebody. They try to diffuse the situation. That's the first rule, is diffuse it, not be the aggressor Right.

[DJ Envy]

And look, Little John, I want to go back, since this is your first time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Hold on real quick though. What is a Little John morning routine?

[Lil Jon]

Like, I knew you were going to ask me that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes. What is a Little John morning routine?

[Lil Jon]

So this morning I woke up, had a little water, of course, you know, I do my, I do this Korean facial stuff. So I do skin. You know, my skin is very important.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Skin looks very good.

[Lil Jon]

How do my skin look, ladies?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

It looks really good.

[Lil Jon]

One, one rule for that is positivity, Positive energy, positive thoughts. Because if you're a negative person, all this negativity is going to wear the flesh down. So get up in the morning, do my skincare routine, brush my teeth, all that good stuff. And then since I'm on the road, a nice healthy breakfast for me was two hard boiled eggs, some yogurt, some berries and a grapefruit.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Lil Jon]

That simple, easy. And start with a positive mindset. It's going to be a great day. I'm always in my mind saying affirmations for the day, even before I go to bed in my dreams. Like last night I was like, it's going to be a great interview. It's going. This is, I look at this as one of the biggest interviews I've ever done in my life because it's like some 50 minutes, 45 minutes, 50 minutes, a long interview. It's a lot to talk about. Charlamagne, you seen me grow from. I think one time we talked, you were like, you came to the radio station in South Carolina one time. That was early on. He wasn't even on air yet. Right. Were you on air?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think it was a phone or you called in, you had just put out. I think you had just put out BIA. BIA.

[Lil Jon]

Wow. So that's 20 years ago.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We were talking about you having the Confederate flag in the video and I was talking about that.

[Lil Jon]

So that's, you know, you've seen the growth and it's. I think it's important because, yeah, you've seen the growth. You've seen it from a different angle. You've seen it from a different angle. You've seen it from a different angle. And you know, you guys move the needle of culture and you've had everybody and their grandmama on this show. So I think it's one of the most important and, you know, best interviews I think I'm gonna have because. Because of all of that.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Let's claim it.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah, let's claim it.

[DJ Envy]

I want to go back, I want to Start from the beginning. These are the interviews I love because for some reason I thought you've been up here before. So I want to start when you first got in the music industry, right?

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

Let's start with. You started working for Jermaine Dupree.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, 93.

[DJ Envy]

Start from there. So how did you hook up with Jermaine Dupri and what did you do for Jermaine Dupri?

[Lil Jon]

So I used to be in Atlanta in the 90s. I was like the hottest DJ in the city. I was the man. I did all the parties and I would see Jermaine all the time at the clubs. And then I did this one club called the Phoenix Nightclub, which was the hottest nightclub in Atlanta at the time. We brought Biggie. We brought Biggie. I got Biggie and Craig Mack together when they did the Big Mac tour. Wow. So I got him. That's an interesting story because we got. We.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We.

[Lil Jon]

I worked on the radio station, but I wasn't the pd. And you know how back then you had to go through the PD because you wanted to get the spins for your artists. So Diddy, you know, we. He let us get Biggie and Craig because he thought I was like the pd. And he get there and the club is slammed like a million people, and he's like, yo, what the heck, yo, we need some more money because this thing is packed. And then he found out that I wasn't the pd. Oh, damn. And so he was extra pissed. And then he even tried to get the rep that worked for BMG at the time fired because she got. Cause we got Craig and Biggie for free. Wow.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So, yeah, that was normal back then when artists were on promote all.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, but you had. You wanted to go through the station so you can make sure you get the spin and get the look. And we wasn't that, but we were hot promoters. So I was doing all the hot parties and I would just see Jermaine all the time. Like, even if I wasn't DJing, I was everywhere. Like, I had a thing where I was. I wanted to be from. I called it from Bankhead to Buckhead. I was from the bougie spots to the. The most hood you can get in Atlanta. So I was literally everywhere. And Jermaine came to me. Well, for one thing, people don't really know. Dallas Austin's brother came to me first. So his name was Claude Austin. He passed away, but Claude Austin came to me first and wanted me to work for Rowdy. But then Jermaine came to me around the same time. And Claude ended up passing and so. And Jermaine came because I was just everywhere. And he was like, I need you, someone like you to represent, you know, my label. Cause you everywhere. So he hired me in 1993. I started working at so so Dev. And I was hired to do A and R and street promotions because I was everywhere, right. So he wanted. He wanted someone that had respect in the city, that could go anywhere, and someone like me that I was always out. So that was represent Social Death from Bankhead, like I said to Buckhead.

[DJ Envy]

And what artists did you have? Being an A R for Social Death.

[Lil Jon]

At that time, I. I had. I put together all of the so. So Deaf Bass All Stars.

[DJ Envy]

And at night, I think the whole.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Very slept on era of Atlanta, by the way.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

And that changed. That changed music too. Like, it gave us a whole genre that had never been created, like, had never been done before. And that all started because in Atlanta we used to do like, it was DJ Jelly, Shout Out, DJ Jelly, Shout out, the J Team, DJ Smurf and all of those guys, they would take like slow jam acapellas. Like say one famous mix was can you stand the rain New edition and put it over a bass beat. So they used to do all of these mixes like that. They would just do a whole mixtape. It'll be all bass beats and then these R and B acapellas. And so I was like, we love this so much in the city. Let's take that and make a record from that. Nobody made an actual song. So I came up with that concept and I went to my boy, DJ Cool Kali, AKA Rodney. And then at the same time I met Carl Mo. He used to call the phone at so so Deaf and. And play his tracks on the phone. Interesting story about that. So one day I'm like, these tracks is dope. So I called him to the. To the office and he comes up there with a freaking keyboard and plays the keyboard. Like just playing the keyboard. Not like no CDs, no cassette tape, just playing the keyboard. I'm like, this is crazy. So I ended up using him and we did My Boo. And so, yeah, I did all of the Social Deaf Base All Stars. And then out of that we had Play a Poncho. He got signed and we did a couple records with Player Poncho. And Player Poncho is actually how I met the Eastside Boys.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Lil Jon]

Because Player Poncho would always. When he would go out, he would have a whole like 20, 10, 20 guys with him. And the Eastside Boys was always with him, even if it was just like two or three guys with him. And so I was always with Pancho because he was my artist, you know? And so me and the Eastside Boys, just one day we were in the club, and I think we're in Club 559, and we just start chanting this. Chant, who you with? Who you with? Get crunk. Who you with? And then everybody in the club start chanting. And then I look at Big Sam, I'm like, we need to turn this into a song. And so I know I have access to people with labels and stuff. So I called somebody I knew, actually I called Cool Ace, this guy named Cool Ace. And Cool Ace connected me with this guy named Carlos Glover. And we ended up going in the studio and we made the song who youo With? And that started everything for Lil Jon as an artist.

[DJ Envy]

When did you start producing? When did the production bug come in?

[Lil Jon]

Probably like 92.

[DJ Envy]

And you never. You never made beats at that time. You just bought a machine and said, I'm on.

[Lil Jon]

No, it started off with me and my partner. I used to do a show in Atlanta called Reggae Jamming on the, like, main station in Atlanta, V103. And me and Paul. I was in the sound system with Paul Lewis called Four Seasons. So I was like a selector, like, for the Jamaican sound system.

[DJ Envy]

Did Jamaican music, every type of genre of music.

[Lil Jon]

We had a. We had a dance hall. We had a reggae show on Friday nights on the station. And what we would do is I would take hip hop acapellas and put them over dancehall beats and dance all acapellas, put them over hip hop beats. Through that, we got linked up with Signet Records to. And we got. We convinced them to give us the Cableton Tour Acapella. That's how I got to do the Cableton Tour remix. Wow. Like, when I did verses, I remember playing it, and people were like, you ain't do that. Like. And I remember, like, in real time, DJ Scratch pulled the vinyl out and he put in the chat. Like, I'm looking at the credits. He actually did produce it. So crazy what we did at that time, we would kind of tell somebody how we wanted to produce the records. And later on, we bought a drum machine. I learned how to produce. By the time we got to who you with? Which was 95, 96. But before that, we kind of just told somebody like, yo, chop this, chop that, do this, Yo.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did you have production credits on my boo as well?

[Lil Jon]

I did not.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Okay.

[Lil Jon]

I. I Should have gotten some because I really co produced the song with them. But I thought it's part of my job description as an A R. It's the first project I'm doing that. That was just part of the job. But I was really there every step of the way of inception of putting that song together.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I'm glad you mentioned Sam and Bo too, because people always seem to forget about the Eastside Boys. Yeah, what did they bring to the table? What made Little John and the Eastside Boys such an amazing group?

[Lil Jon]

We was just like. Because we were. We were the sound of the rowdy guys in the back of the club. That's what we were. We was them niggas that was turned up in the back that you just be looking back like, make sure they ain't coming over here with that bullshit. So we were that. And what people don't understand about crunk music, I know some people are like, why was. Why did it do what it do? Why did it spread? Why did it become big? Because it was an outlet of energy for black youth.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes.

[Lil Jon]

When you went to the club, you had a hard ass week. You had a hard life. Whatever the fuck was going on in your life. You hear that fucking crunk music and you get in that damn mosh pit and you let all of that out and you feel amazing. You know what I mean? So that's why crunk music was able to. To reach so many people. That's why I still like going like I see you talking about all the time about Knuckles. You buck as a negro spiritual. And it is like, it touches your soul in a certain way. And I think we do. And. And like crunk music, tap into music to their ancestors because they were chanting and so on and so forth.

[DJ Envy]

What did you do when you were banned from clubs? I remember in college there was some clubs that were like, you cannot play none of that in this club.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, put your hood up and all that stuff. We just kept going. Cause when you tell somebody they can't have it, they wanted more, you know, but it was crazy that the music got people so rowdy that they were like losing. I've seen people. I was in Louisiana one time, we did a show and they got so turned up, they start fighting the police in the club.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Amazing times. Amazing times, man.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, it was crazy. I want to just talk about one thing real quick that I've. It's been going viral. It's the. The video of the two Dollar Bill concert that we did in Atlanta. It's a viral video. Of me performing Get Crunk and that whole concert. And you can see the energy on each and every. If y' all look at the video, each and everybody in there's face is turned up. It ain't nobody, not one cell phone in the air. Everybody's enjoying the moment. Everybody is energized. And even you can see that the ground was shaking because the camera, when it's steady is like moving. That's how much energy was in that place. And I think it's just a testament to like we just brought something different, you know. And like the kids now think they are turning up, but they have no idea what a real turnt up time was from the 2000s.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And get crunk was such a great record because I didn't think you could get crunker than Kings of Crunk, you know, I'm not even joking. I didn't think you could get crunking that. But as soon as you hear who am I, Bohegan being me, motherfucker. You like God.

[Lil Jon]

God killed that salute to Bohagan out there.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How did you. How did you even have the mindset to take that to another level? How did you take that energy to another level?

[Lil Jon]

That beat was produced by Lil J, who produced Knuck of youf Buck.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow.

[Lil Jon]

So it was time to, you know, come and work on the album. And you know, everybody down with bme, of course, people that don't know Crime Mob, part of that was through bme. So we are part of putting them out there. So of course I call all of the squad, you know, Trioville helped me write some of the songs. And yeah, I. Lil J sent me. I think he sent me some beats and that was one of the beats. And I was like, this is insane. Wow. I thought it was one of the correctest beats ever too.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Absolutely.

[Lil Jon]

I think my favorite beats that I've produced or co produced or been on is Get Crunk and what you going to do and what you going to do is unique. I was in New York when I did that beat. I remember I was on TBT and Steve Gottlieb and shout out to Brian Leach. My boy Brian Leach. He was the A and R at the time. Salute. He was like, Brian Leach. Brian Leach was like, yo, you got to go in and knock out this song for this. I think it was like a Christmas album or something. Christmas Crunk album that Steve Gottlieb wanted to put out. And I'm like, he can't put no fucking album out called Crunk without me. So I'M like, fuck this guy. And so I was in the new I was in New York and Brian was like, you gotta go in and record this song. So I was angry when I made that beat. I'm never mad when I make tracks, but that's one of the only beats I've ever made when I was angry. And that's why I sound so aggressive, because I was mad that I had to go in the studio and record this. I wanted to just go out. Like, I was like, I ain't, I'm going, going to the club. He was like, no, you got to go in and do this song. And so that's my anger coming out through the drum machine.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Did you ever trademark the word crunk?

[Lil Jon]

I can't remember. Probably did all my ad libs.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I know that cause you're the face of crunk. But to me I would have to give, I would say 36 mafia the.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

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[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

All I know is what I've been told and that to have truth is a whole lie.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

For almost a decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

I'm telling you, we know Quincy killed her.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

We know a story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

[Lil Jon]

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I did not know her and I did not kill her or rape or burn or any of that other stuff.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

That y' all said. They literally made me say that I took a match and struck and threw it on her.

[Lil Jon]

They made me say that I poured gas on her.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

From Lava For Good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame.

[Lil Jon]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava For Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[DJ Envy]

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[Lil Jon]

Probably the so that's another argument going around. It's an argument that says Memphis started crunk. Here's here's My. Here's what I will say. We in Atlanta. You couldn't be Atlanta in the 90s and not be listening to 8ball MJG. You couldn't be riding around not listening to Master P. Master P. Master P changed the landscape of the South. The south, period.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Lil Jon]

He was the first one that really got us rowdy. I would say it was Master P, but we was listening to Ball and G and of course Three Six Mafia came around.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You think he got us rowdy before Three Six?

[Lil Jon]

I think for Bout it, bout it, bout it, bout it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah, but tear the club up. I bet you won't hit him.

[Lil Jon]

Tear the club was 97. What year did Bouti Bout it come out?

[DJ Envy]

I was in college. Had to be 95.

[Lil Jon]

I think it was like 95. 95. I remember what happened was in the club in Atlanta, it was playing bass music. And then when Master P came, that was over.

[DJ Envy]

Bouti bout, that was 95. Definitely. I was a freshman in college.

[Lil Jon]

That was the record. Motherfuckers in the Hood was getting no limit tattoos.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

1995. 95.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, exactly. That's true. That's what changes for us. So I will say Memphis is part of the influence, but our sound is different. Yeah, Memphis was getting buck.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

They said body was 97. That seemed late, though.

[DJ Envy]

No, no, no. It came out in 95.

[Lil Jon]

When we got. When we got Tear the club, it was. When they redid it, that was 97. Because I remember it says on the vinyl, tear the club up 97. So. But it started for us with Master P. Master that Body just changed everything. But we are influenced. But it's all different sounds, so. But it all intertwines and works together.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So what would you call what Three Six was doing?

[Lil Jon]

They called it in Memphis. Memphis Buck. But Three Six was doing it even. We wouldn't even buck music. I think it was just 36 created. 36 created their own lane of Memphis music. And then they changed the landscape of what Memphis music is. So Salute Paul, Juicy and the whole squad. That's family too.

[DJ Envy]

You know what I want? You know what I will ask too. When you made. When you were making these tracks, did you try to make it your business not to sound the same? Because, you know, when you look at just your discography, to see some of the records that you did, I like, I'm so amazed. Because they don't sound the same. Right? You can go to the window, to the wall, you could blow your whistle over here and then you like. The shit is amazing.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, well, it depends. Well, a lot of it. So. So let's talk get low. Interesting story of Get Low. Get Low came because I was trying to make Party Up. I was inspired by Party up. I love DMX's party up so much. I was like, I want to make something like that. Let me go in the studio. This was like, 99. And so I go in and I come out with Get Low. If you listen to it, it's got the whistle, like, party Up. It's some similarities. I'm inspired by it, but it. I sat on the beat, I couldn't really come up with nothing. And then I. I had a session with Yin Yang, and I pulled that beat out, and we make Get Low. So it comes out like that just came, like I said, because I was trying to do something different. But it turned from, like, a rowdy party up type song to a twerk song.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

But then, like, say, tell me when to go E40. We were in the studio together, and that's the energy of what he's giving me and his squad is giving me, and it comes out into the drum machine. So every time I make the best stuff when I'm in the studio. Youngblood's Damn. We were in the studio together, and it took two days for us to get that song done. Like, I did the beat the first day. We had the verses the first day, but we did not have the hook. And then the second day, we just threw a party in the studio. And then Bohagan again. Shout out. Bohagan. He was like, everybody was throwing hooks out, and then he was just kind of mumbling something. I was like, what you got? Cause I'm shooting. Everybody's down. Like, that shit's trash. And then he just mumbling, son. I was like, what's that? That's it, that's it. That's it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

If you don't give a damn, go lay that.

[Lil Jon]

And then I got the second part, you know, and sometimes that's how some of the records happen too. Like, you just stumble onto it.

[DJ Envy]

Blow the whistle.

[Lil Jon]

Blow the whistle. I did that bit that I did that beat the same week that I did. Tell me when to go. Damn. Yeah. So I was working on E40s album, and I think we had done Muscle Cars that day. So Too short. Too short. Had came to the studio a couple days after that. So before, like, earlier in the week, I was making beats, and I was going through sounds, and I found that sound, and I was like, oh, this sound. Like freaky tails. Bass line. Like, This, a bass like that. I was like, let me make some with that. And I don't know what made me. Instead of making it slow, make it fast. Because I like to do stuff different. I don't like to be expected. So I was like, let me make it 100 whatever bpms. So I put it to the side. And when Too Short came to the studio a couple days later, I was like, here you go, you know, I got something for you. But first, 40 turned it down.

[DJ Envy]

40 didn't want it.

[Lil Jon]

40. 40 had to remind me of this the other day. He was like, you know, you gave me that beat first. And I was like, this sound like Todd. So give it to Todd. So that's what happened.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Basically. He should get co production credit is what he.

[Lil Jon]

I did the beat I got, he didn't want it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What moment made you realize crunk had officially crossed from sovereign energy to a global movement?

[Lil Jon]

Coming up, doing mtv, they let me get in Times Square on a double decker bus with Lil Scrappy on TRL doing what you gonna do, bruh? Mtv.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I was gonna say MTV too, because I remember watching the Video Music Awards, I forgot what year it was. They played Get Low going in the commercial break and the audience went crazy. And Justin Timberlake was wilding. And I just remember thinking to myself, oh, Get Low is out of here.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. And then we end up performing Get Low. Add to MTV Video Music Awards. Get Low. Yeah, Lean back. And what else we did that year, I can't remember. But that was. That was a big time. And Dave Chappelle was the host. So that was pretty insane. That was a pretty insane year for me.

[DJ Envy]

And when. When you touched. When you started doing R and B, did you think you could do R and B? Or was one of the things. How did you get introduced to say, let me try to make R and B records for doing all of them.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

He was already doing them with the so so Base also.

[Lil Jon]

Well, that was different. So here's what happened. So Sean Garrett, Shout Out. Sean Garrett, incredible songwriter. He reached out to. I guess he was trying to get in touch with me and he couldn't get in touch with me. So he knew somebody that worked with me. Her name was Delicia. Delicia had all my beats. So she gave him a beat CD and that's how he got the beat. Basically the freak Elite beat, which turned into yeah, so she gave him the beat. So thank you, Delicia, for giving Sean those beats. And Sean wrote yeah, to that Freak Elite beat. So crazy thing about that is that beat was for mystical. Freak Elite's beat was for mystical. So I did, though. I used to, like, have labels book me in Circle House, shout out BB Circle House in Miami. And I like, take a week and I just go and do as many beats as possible. And the label could take all the beats, put them on whatever artist they want. So these particular sessions was for mystical. That beat was in there. He passed on it. And so I think co. Shout out co. He got the beat and he wrote Freak Elite. My. I don't even know this, but he wrote that and submitted it to the label. Petey Pablo, he ended up recording, but I don't even know this. So Sean Garrett has the beat, he writes. Yeah. Usher don't want to record no more songs. He done with the damn album. He's like, I'm good. I got burned. I got all these other songs. I'm good. We good. LA Reid like, no go record the damn song. So he goes and records the song and we come out with it. I remember going in and doing the sessions too. Like, we. I think we recorded in la and we were like, this is a smash, right? And so the song is in the can. And then I remember it was around Christmas time the album was done. LA Reid is in Miami and he calls JD Going insane. And JD Called me on three way. And LA Reid is like, why am I hearing this Usher record on the radio? And basically it was the Freak Elite instrumental playing as a bed. They had released the song as a single, Freaka League, and we didn't even know. I didn't even know they had used the beat. So LA Reid's going crazy. And then we like, all right, we just gonna go in and do a new beat. Thank God we did. Because yeah, over Freaka League is not as good as. Yeah. As yeah now. Right? That's how God worked. And crazy story is when I went into the studio to, like, redo the beat, I'm like, ah, that Petey Pablo record ain't gonna be that big. Just take all the keys off. Let's just play a new, simpler pd.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I don't know.

[Lil Jon]

Because it's Usher, you know?

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

I mean. Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

And I don't. You know, I. I just didn't think it was gonna be that big. It could have been a cool record, right? But I didn't think it was gonna be a number one song like it was. So that's why the. The beats sound similar, is because I just use the same exact drums, but I played a different synth line. So. Well, I got my Boy Elrock. My boy Elrock played the synth line. So we just played a new synth line. And here we are with two monsters at the same time.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Well, yeah. Probably help frequent league though, because. Yeah, you play. Yeah. Now you want to play frequently.

[Lil Jon]

Mix them together. Yep.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Lovers and Friends.

[DJ Envy]

Ah.

[Lil Jon]

So that I was gonna get to that.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

That origin story. Tell them.

[Lil Jon]

So when we. When I came, we were working on my album Crunk Juice, right? So instead of going with another up tempo, I like to be different. I could have certainly went to Usher, John and Luda with another fast song. I said, let's do something different. And at. In Atlanta, we go to strip club for everything. So we always in. You know, I was in the strip club one day and the DJ played the Michael Sterling Lovers and Friends. And I was like, huh, that could be pretty cool for Usher to do. So let's back up. So this is before Usher's album is done. I give Usher the Michael Sterling on the cd. Like, check this out. We should do this over. This nigga don't listen to it. He don't listen to it. So we on my album. So I'm like, I'm gonna take that Lovers and Friends idea and do it for my album. So I do the beat over, and I let Usher know, yo, I got this joint for us. Like, come, you know, let's do it. So he flies in, he records it, and he's out. And after he does his parts, I'm just like, wow, this is a smash. So I call Luda. I'm like, bro, we got another one. Like, I need you on this asap. Send it to Luda. He did his part, and then I go in last because I'm not the rapper. And so I was like, I need to take my time to make sure my verse is as catchy is possible. Cause I can't compete against Ludacris. And then it's Usher like, come on. So I was like, let me take something from this record. We had a record called. It's a record we did with ubi. I forgot the name of it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Nothing's Free.

[Lil Jon]

Nothing's Free.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How you forget that? That's a classic.

[Lil Jon]

Nothing's Free. So we did Nothing's Free, like in the 90s. And so I was like, that Sade part was really catchy on that song. But it was regional. Nobody really heard it out of the South. So I was like, let me take that same little thing and put that in Lovers and Friends. And that will be the little catch for my verse to make it catchier. And little did I know that that was going to be like people's favorite verses.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

Because it's so simple. It's so simple and it's catchy. And. Yeah, that's one. That song went number one without a video because it was the labels and superstar this and superstar that and da da da, da da. But number one song, rap song of the year without a video in the 2000s is impossible.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I was watching real quick. You got three of. And you made me think of it when you said nothing's free. You got three artists that I feel like should have been way big.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

China White.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

UBI and Bohegan.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What you. What do you think was. Why did those dots didn't connect?

[Lil Jon]

We. We worked hard. Like, UBI was with me for a long time. We did a lot of records, but we just never got the right one. Just how. It just happens like that sometimes with artists. Chyna went to jail right when we shot the video for bbia. And me and my boy Rob Mack left the video at the end of the video shoot. We drove her to prison after the video shoot, all the way in Louisiana. So how much time did you get? I don't remember how much time. It was at least five years.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That sound on Brand, though, when you did. When I hear. Trying to put that.

[Lil Jon]

No.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Based off the lyrics, she went to.

[Lil Jon]

Fair time for gun running.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Damn.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. So she. She didn't even get to perform the song at its peak at all. So that. That messed her window up. And then Bohagan. The same thing. We were just trying to get the records. We just never got the records. I, you know, we set him up nicely on Get Crunk and, you know, he did the hook on Damn, but we just never was able to translate. Those are things that, you know, hurt me to this day because those are people that down with me for a long time. And I was pushing, pushing, pushing and working to make the records, but sometimes they just. It just don't come out.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

You know, I was gonna say with the Lovers and Friends video. When I talk. When I watched you tell the story you talked about. I know you mentioned labels loosely, but you said that the labels didn't look at you as a comparable artist to.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Which when I heard you say that at that time, like, I just. I mean, I don't know, it made me upset when I heard you say it.

[Lil Jon]

Well, you gotta think Ludacris is a rapper. Def jam in the 2000s. Usher is Usher at monster. Biggest guy in R B. And I'm this guy doing crunk music. You got it? It's not the time. It's not the same times now as I'm. I'm known, I'm established, I've proven myself over and over again.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

But early in those. In those days, it hadn't happened yet, so.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Really?

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I feel like you helped define that whole sound of the early dude.

[Lil Jon]

But they didn't. I. I don't feel like, you know, Def Jam, you know what I mean?

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

They didn't get it.

[Lil Jon]

Usher.

[DJ Envy]

I don't think nobody got it back then.

[Lil Jon]

No.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah, Lil John was. It was. He wasn't looked at as an artist.

[Lil Jon]

Per se, like Luda or Usher.

[DJ Envy]

He was a host dj. Like, you used to love his music production. Yeah, that's what it was.

[Lil Jon]

Hype man, producer.

[DJ Envy]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

You know, that's how I think.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I can't imagine the clubs without you. What was the clubs without crunk music, Little John back then, like. No.

[Lil Jon]

A lot less energy.

[DJ Envy]

Was there ever a low period for Lil John?

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, I got burnt out probably after. After E40s album, and I think I tried. We tried to do a second trill bill and scrappy album, and I just was fried from all. You know, you got to think about. I've been going for. Since the 90s. 93, you know, producing to. Was that 2008 or 9? 2008. And I'm. I'm just depleted. I have no creative juices left. I go in the studio, I'm trying to produce and trying to make stuff. I think, yeah, nothing's coming out. I think that's also what happened with two with those artists too, because I. I might have gotten to the point where I was just. Yeah, I had nothing left. I couldn't. I couldn't created. And then. So what I started to do was just go back to the foundation dj, Go back to the clubs. Right. And what happened was Reggie Bush invited me out to the first game in the Superdome after Katrina. So I went there, and that night he had after party, went to the after party, and it was a DJ DJing. And I was just like, this dude is freaking dope. So I met the dude, and he was cool. And so the next day, I was in his name. No, no, I'm gonna say his name. Oh, okay. All right. His name is DJ Spider. So the next day we were. I was in the airport, and this nerdy white dude come up to me like, hey, remember me? I'm like, who the are you, bro? He was like, oh, spider. I was DJing last night. I was like, oh. So what happened was he really inspired me to get back into DJing by the way he was mixing. So me and Spider linked up. He, like, got me on Serato. He started, like, gave me help me get my music library up and we started DJing together. So I started to kind of get back into DJing. And so DJing brought my producer creative energy back.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Is that when the records, like, shot, shot shots and all that stuff came?

[Lil Jon]

That came just by me being out and meeting people and. And, you know, learning this, you know, open format world and EDM world and. And yeah, I ended up meeting lmfao. I was kind of following their story. And a mutual friend of ours named Eric Deluxe, who kind of. He wrote shots too, he reached out to me and sent me the record. I was like, this record is a smash. But around that time, I think I first met them when we did a Pitbull video. We were on, like, I think it was crazy. I think they were in that video. So I was kind of working with Pitbull because we did Anthem, we did crazy. Then, yeah, shots came, so I was still. I started to move into another world because I saw that EDM world. I kind of jumped in right at this. Starting to get crazy.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

And I end up getting a DJ residency in 08 in Vegas. So I've been in Vegas doing a DJ residency since 08, and I'm still there now. So that was a place where I could really, you know, learn a different style, this open format world, and just get my energy back from just being in. In the midst of the people and understanding what makes people move and groove again. Because DJing is the foundation of my production. Like, I think I started playing the drums when I was in elementary school. So drums and djing are the two key elements to my production style. That's why it's more beat driven and. And that's why they're all club records. Because the DJ side, when.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

When you choose to pivot, because, you know, you pivoted a lot. When you choose to pivot, is it because of where music is going or where you're going as a person?

[Lil Jon]

Where my spirit leads me, My spirit, you know, when I started to get back into DJing, God put these people in my path to say, okay, you should now start moving over here. And I remember, like, telling my. My manager and my lawyer, I want to go over here and do this DJ stuff. They like, bro, you making 100 grand a beat. What the hell is Wrong with you. I was like, I can't do it no more. But I saw the future and I just trust. I always trust my spirit. Ladies and gentlemen, don't listen to your mind. Listen to your spirit. And you got to learn the difference between the two. And when you learn the difference, your spirit is never going to lead you wrong. Trust it, and it's going to be fine. And that's what I've been doing, you know, pretty much my whole life. And I. Everything's been okay, you know what I mean? Like, I've been able to now have a number one EDM song, hip hop song, R&B song, AC song. How many people you know had a hit song in every. In four decades, Right? I don't. I don't know. You know, we had a hit with even the Usher Glue song. I think it was an AC hit. Number one, I take it. And then I had a song with Pitbull that came out two years ago called Jumping that was like number one on some charts. So, yeah, since the 90s, I've been doing this. And I'm just thankful every day to wake up and to still be able to do this and to also, like, right now, the time where the 2000s is on fire.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

Like, it's like I'm doing so many shows that. And for crowds that I haven't seen and, you know, or maybe not have done as a headliner. I have never headlined for 10,000 people until like the last couple years.

[DJ Envy]

They just headline this week. Tacos and tacos and tequila.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. So it's like, it's amazing that people. The. The memories that people have from that era, the fun times they had, it's making this music, you know, now come back and it's in a major way.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

What made you do the Meditation album? So that's totally far the other end of the spectrum.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. Turning 50, turned 50. Lot of things started to happen in my life. First thing I. It hit me was like, I asked myself, what makes you happy? And I said, damn. Making sure everybody else good. But that's not what makes me, like, what makes me happy. I couldn't really tell myself. And so I was like, you know what? I need to kind of put myself first. I'm like, I'm not happy in this marriage. It's like. So I said I wanted to divorce. And also around the same time, me and my. My good friend Doug Davis, we talk like every year because he calls and gives me because he's. He's like a couple months younger than Me. So he's like, oh, you're old man. So we're talking and he was telling me he wanted to introduce me to somebody that was in this space. And I was like, oh, that's interesting because I've been listening to like all of this like Binaural beats to sleep and relax and ocean and rain and all of this type of stuff. So me and this guy, Kabir, his name is Kabir Sego, we connected. And so I'm going through the divorce and like, I didn't like where my mental state was at because I'm angry. I'm like, ah, why can't she just do this and that? And so I'm like mad. And I don't like, that's not me. I'm a positive at all times person. I don't think negatively. So I'm like, I started to like meditate every day. I started to say affirmations every day. And it helped me to be in a better mental state as well as having good people in my corner. Like my queen, her name is Jamila. She was there for me at that time and she would give me like, also like just positive. She would just keep me, try to keep me in a positive mindset. And she had been through a rough divorce too. So she can give me some insight and just, you know, help me keep my head up. So the affirmations, every day I would literally get a cup of tea and I had a copper pyramid on my deck. I would drink, get my tea, go sit in this copper pyramid and meditate and just say these affirmations. I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm at peace every single day and throughout the day. And so all of this happened at the same time. I meet Kabir and me and Kabir talking, he's like, let's do, we should do meditation stuff. I was like, yeah, let's do that. I'm down with that. I think that's great because I was saying these affirmations. I meditated. So we went in, we recorded a bunch of stuff. But yeah, it was because it was time for a change in my life. I needed to be in more positive mindset. One thing that I also did was I was like, I would say affirmations of I negativity can live inside of me. I, I like, I don't. I try to get rid of all negative thoughts, right? And when I did that, when I really got rid of the negative thoughts, I ain't not even saying the word hate. I didn't even use that word. So I'm always trying to change anything that happens to me in any negative situation. It's some positivity you can pull out of that. Yeah, absolutely. Focus on that. So I would always pull that positivity out. And I've learned if you pull that out, pull the positivity out of any negative situation and you let God drive. Don't try to drive and trust God, everything gonna always be all right. That's right. And so we went in, we recorded these albums, and, you know, this time of my life is feeling like I'm doing what God intended me to do. But what's amazing is everything that got me here, I was supposed to do right? And even, like, all of the music that I've given people, gave people positivity. So it's always been positivity, but it. It's meaning more now. When someone tells me, I never meditated, you help me meditate. I was having trouble getting over this grief of losing someone. Your meditation about grief helped me. I'm inspired to. You know how many people have called me about getting in the gym?

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

It's insane. Like, celebrities, all kind of people are like, you inspired me to get healthy. So I feel now like I'm doing what God intended me to do. It took me a long time to get here, but this is. This is the time it's supposed to be. And crazy. I was thinking about this the other day. I met Mr. Farrakhan at the Source Awards one time, and he basically told me, he said, you got power, you got a voice. And he basically was kind of trying to tell me, like, use it. And that stuck with me. Like, I'm like, okay. But now I'm using my voice and my power in a good way to push positivity into the world.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

So that is what makes you happy.

[Lil Jon]

That's what make. That's what.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

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[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

All I know is what I've been told and that to have truth is a whole lie.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

For almost a decade decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

I'm telling you, we know Quincy killed her.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

We know a story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

[Lil Jon]

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I did not know her and I did not kill her or rape or burn or any of that other stuff.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

That y' all said. They literally made me say that I took a match and struck and threw it on her.

[Lil Jon]

They made me say that I poured gas on her.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

From Lava for good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame.

[Lil Jon]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[DJ Envy]

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[Lil Jon]

Yeah, it makes me happy that. Okay, just to be. Just to do good, you know, just to do good. Because all that comes back and when you like. A guy came to me, I did the color guard thing, right? A guy came to me in the club one night in the club and was like, I did that cologuard test because of you and I. It came back positive. And he did, he. He didn't have colon cancer, but he had polyps. So just stuff like that, it just makes me feel like I'm doing good in the world. Yeah, definitely. Hiring people and being a good role model to my son. I have a daughter now, you know, she's 10 months old.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Congratulations.

[Lil Jon]

I look at life like, with health, like, I gotta be here for her. You know what I'm saying? I gotta be here for her first day of school. I gotta be here for high school graduation, walk her down the aisle. So health is even more important to me. It was something I was doing to just, you know, live a long, full life. But even more so now I have even more motivation because of my daughter and her mother. I gotta be here for them. You know what I'm saying?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So it's crazy to see you cry because a lot of people who never even thought you had eyes.

[Lil Jon]

No, you know what, Black men, we need to cry more.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I agree.

[DJ Envy]

Absolutely.

[Lil Jon]

We need to cry. When you get more in tune to your higher self and you stop vibrating at these low frequencies, you can let yourself, let the energy flow, because we should. We don't have to be tough all the time. And you're an advocate for therapy. I push all brothers. We don't have to suffer in silence. We suffer in freaking silence. Call your homie Sometimes and just be like, my, you good? How you doing? Not just period, but how you mentally doing, bro? Because that one little conversation could make him not go do some stupid or take his life or whatever, you know? So I started doing therapy. I pushed anything. Any knowledge that I got, I try to share with everybody because we got to help each other.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

That's right.

[Lil Jon]

We all. We got, for sure.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

What's the gym? What's the gym mean?

[Lil Jon]

This is citrine. This is positivity, abundance. And it's also my dirt, my daughter's birthstone.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

It's nice.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I want to ask you a question about marriage. Like, you never hear men say they were tired of the marriage, like, they wanted to walk away.

[Lil Jon]

It's be. What happens is when you start to walk on those eggshells, it's just not. It's just not a positive environment. And then when you get to the point where a lot of times in marriage, we're just there making sure everything's good, and who the hell. Checking on us?

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

Who's making sure we okay? Who's making. Who's coming to us and saying, what do you need today? What can I do for you to make you happy? You know, I know we're the providers and all of that, but we need that love, too. We need that assurance. Sometimes women go to your men and just make them feel, like, appreciate it. Because to live in today's society, to go out and make that money and all of the things a husband and a father has to worry about every single day, Like I said, suffering in silence that y' all have no clue about, just be that positive light. Make that house a home. Make it radiate positivity, you know? So, yeah, man, y' all got me up here crying.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Positive, man.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

It's good. I said today was gonna be a good day. Great interview you might have needed to release.

[Lil Jon]

Really good, you know?

[DJ Envy]

You know what I wanted to know when Dave Chappelle was doing the skits at first, did you take it as disrespect or did you always was like, oh, this is great?

[Lil Jon]

No cypher sounds called me. And he was like. When he did the first one, he was like, yo, Dave Chappelle did this skit on you, bro. It's crazy. It's hilarious. I was like, on me. I'm like, why he do a sketch on me? Like, I ain't nobody. And he's like, bro, trust me. And so when I saw it, I was like, that's really me. That is really me. And I got on the show because I went one day to just tell Dave thank you for doing the sketches because we have a mutual friend, his name, Corey Smith.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Salute to Corey.

[Lil Jon]

And Corey is the reason Dave is part of the reason Dave does the sketch too. Because I think Dave might have heard this. Like, what song was it? I don't give an F. Yeah, I don't give a. He. He might have heard it. And he probably was like, this would be interesting if that's all he says. But he's actually intelligent. And then Corey was like, yeah, John. Corey thought. I went to Morehouse. I just was always hanging out in the AUC because back in the 90s, if you from Atlanta, you went to the AUC, Clark, Clark, Morehouse, all of that, to just get girls, you know what I mean? So you just used to go holler at the girls. So I used to be always up there. So Corey was like, nah, he's smart. He come from this and that. So Dave ran with it. And so I went to the show to thank Dave and Dave was like, man, hang out. I want you to. Let's do a sketch. Like, he didn't even have an. He didn't even know I was coming. And so we would just. We did one sketch and then we. He had an idea to do another one. So he just had me on camera and he was off camera and we was improving back and forth and that's how we got the Little John and Lil John sketch. And to think that I was able to improv with one of the greatest comedians of our time. How many people get to do that? Not many, you know, so that was. That was amazing. And Dave took me places that music would never ever be able to take me.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

How did that change everything for you?

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, just that sketch, it just opened me up to more people that didn't get it or didn't would have never listened to the music. I remember just being in the airport and like all kind of white people coming to me, like the whole families and all, just all types of people. Because he was moving the needle at that time of culture, so. And it just. Yeah, it just opened up a lot more doors.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

And that's when they started putting the T's in the name Little John. That's when you started hearing that.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. Okay, so. And shout out to Cat Williams too, because he. He co signed me too when he did his Pimp Chronicles. I think that's his greatest special too.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Absolutely.

[Lil Jon]

I'm going on record saying that. And you know, we. He brought me out and let me do my catchphrases. And we ended up going in the studio, working on some songs together. He was come by the house, shout out to Cat, I need to get you in the gym with me. Cat. Yeah, you can go work out. You can run, but can you put some weight up? Yes.

[DJ Envy]

Do you get tired of doing that, too? Do you. Do people come up to you all the time? Like, come on, one time.

[Lil Jon]

Oh, my God.

[DJ Envy]

Does that bother the issue?

[Lil Jon]

Yeah, man. They don't do it as much as they used to. Okay. But, like, people that used to hang out with me, like, say tooth. Early 2000s or, you know, 2010, used to be like, bro, you don't get tired of that? I'm like, I don't even hear it no more. I zone them people out. But like, yeah, I used to be at, like, tsa Grocery store. Yeah, exactly. And they do it so they. Till they expect me to do it, so they keep doing it. And I might just be like, what's up, bro?

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

But even in the meditation album, you do. It's a soft. Yeah, but you say telling universe. Ea.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. So that's the new. The new meditation album.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

So when we did the first, we. We recorded a bunch of stuff when we, you know, early two. Well, sorry. When I did the first meditation album, I recorded a couple other projects.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Got you.

[Lil Jon]

So one of the projects was something that my. My guy, Doug Davis came up with. He was like, you should take your songs and remix them into meditations. And I was like, okay. So we recorded it, but I was like, this don't need to come out first because nobody's gonna take me serious. I'm doing, like, say yeah to life. Right? Get low and ground, you know? So we not gonna do that first. So now's the time we're gonna drop that. I think it's a fun project, but it's real meditations. But it's just a playoff of the songs that you know and love.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I just got a couple more questions. You know, the. The industry rewards constant energy, right? Like, you gotta always be on. How did you learn the difference between performance energy and just personal peace?

[Lil Jon]

I just am myself. It's spiritual again. Like, I'm just. I just know when to be crazy, Lil John. I know. Be when to be just cool, chill. It's just. Just let my spirit guide me everywhere. You know what I'm saying? So, and.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

And you. You talking about the meditation and the mindfulness? Like. Well, no, I would ask, when you were at the height of crunk, did you even have the language for, like, stress and anxiety and burnout back then.

[Lil Jon]

No, I didn't. I was just, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. It was all just because I don't. I don't know where the peak is. You know what I mean? And I don't expect to get where I. You know, because I just started off. Me and the Eastside Boys, we did that first song, who you with? Just to make something for the clubs of Atlanta. And then that turned into, okay, now you got to do an album. And then that turned into being on anger management tour with Eminem and 50 Cent, and then 50 Cent even took me to Australia. I went on tour with 50 in Australia. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, I'm just happy to be here. I'm just going to keep going because. And that's how I am. Like, I just. I got to work. I got to keep working, you know, because these are opportunities that are coming to me. So I don't want of. You know, somebody's sitting at home right now wishing they could be out or somebody else could take this opportunity and use it if I don't use it. So I'm going to take advantage of all of that now.

[DJ Envy]

You were a big drinker at one time and totally stopped.

[Lil Jon]

Yes. Yeah.

[DJ Envy]

What made you stop that drinking?

[Lil Jon]

Turning 50.

[DJ Envy]

So you made it to 50 to stop drinking?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Man, why you judging yourself?

[Lil Jon]

Judgmental. You still drinking? So I turned 50, and for a while, like a year or two, I had this constant, like, discomfort. Excuse me. Discomfort in my side, and I didn't know what it was. So 50, like, I need to go get a. I need to go to the doctor, right? So I went to the doctor, and the doctor is like, okay, for one, is. I thought it was my liver because I'm like, I drink too much. It's got to be my liver. And I'm scared as f. So he's like, your liver's on the other side. It's not your. And then he's like, I is probably inflammation in your gut. He's like, you're. You're 50 years old. You need a colonoscopy anyway to check for polyps. So when I'm in there, I can check. I can do an endoscopy and check your gut, right? So comes back, and I have inflammation in my gut. So I had stopped drinking because I was scared of the liver. So I had already stopped. So by the time I had the colonoscopy, it had been, like, six months, and I was like, I'm good. I'm just gonna not drink no more. So I think I was going, like, three months, and I was like, ah, six months. I was like, nah. Then I was like, maybe I go nine months. Then I went to a year, and I was like, when I got to the year mark, I was like, I'm good. I don't even need to drink no more, you know? And I think one thing that kind of. That. That, like, brought some insight to me. Like, health has been, like, important to me for a while because I know, like, a guy that had a triple bypass. He was, like, 35. So that started me first on my. Like, I need to start correcting stuff with myself before it's too late, because the older you get, the harder it is to reverse what's going on. So that's. That started. And then when I was dating my partner, Jamila, she really pushed me into. I think she saved my life because she pushed me into getting my blood work done and getting lab work done. I found out I had inflammation in my gut. Like, I knew I had inflammation in my gut, but I. Candida, gut is the key to a lot of problems in your body. So you got to get the. I saw the Rock talking, and he said his gut was messed up, too. So no healthy bacteria in my gut. Candida, inflammation. And then I found other, like, markers in my blood work that I was like, oh, I gotta change this or take this out of my diet. So all of that helped me to, like, hone in on exactly what I needed to do also to. To get my health, like, more tuned. Tuned into.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

I saw you say it was like you came up out of a. Like a haze or a fall when you stopped drinking.

[Lil Jon]

Because if you think about it, I was drinking every weekend, so I never fully got over the drinking. Like, I would drink a bottle of 42 a night. Jesus.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Jesus.

[Lil Jon]

Like, so Friday, Saturday, a bottle 42.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

First of all, I ain't gonna let none of these alcoholics in here drinking.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

But all the nights, a whole bottle every.

[Lil Jon]

Because I'm doing shots.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

We might do a couple shots, but we ain't doing a whole bottle.

[Lil Jon]

I'm the party guy. We don't want to drink with me, and I gotta drink with everybody. If I turn down the shot, they were like, bro, come on, man. Yeah, so I got a. It's damn near a bottle a night. So I'm always constantly getting over the hangover or the getting. My body is still trying to recover So I never am recovering. So when you lay off the alcohol, you come out of that fog and it's like, it's like everything is clearer. Everything. You know, So I just, I like the way that felt. And then, you know, when I started working out, it's like, I can work out. Like you can't work out when you're hungover and then you putting alcohol in your body. That sugar, that's. That's not gonna help you get the goals.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So if you write a book, you know, it should be to have a chapter turned down for what. And you talk about exactly. All the reasons why your ass should turn down.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. Especially. Especially when you get in your. Up there in the years, you know. Cause right. I'm 53, I'm going down the hill. You know what I mean? I wanna have. That's another thing. In my 50s, I was like, I'm over that top. I don't know how much time I got. I want to enjoy my life. I want to enjoy my life. I want to do stuff that makes me happy.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Do you think people truly understand the loneliness that can come with success in entertainment?

[Lil Jon]

No. Because they just see the private jets and the trips and all that. They don't realize, you know, sometimes you can't go nowhere because people bugging you. You can't spend time with your loved ones without people bugging you or the, the you I got to make another hit record or, you know, I mean like, or even when you start to go down, you're not as hot as you were. People not picking up the phone and all that. Yeah, it's a lot of. Most people couldn't deal with this life. They could not deal with it because it's too much pressure. Then people on the Internet with all their opinions and all of this and that. And it's a lot of pressure that you cannot be built weak to be in entertainment industry. Yeah. So.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Yes sir, when you. My last question. When you think about legacy now, how much of it is about peace and purpose rather than, I guess, the plaques and the parties and all of that.

[Lil Jon]

I think my legacy is going to be all about positivity. Because every step of the way it's been crunk was positive. It was a positive release. Then EDM stuff was positive. Positive part. Just it was all partying based initially. But it wasn't like I was saying, go do a drive by on the ops, you know what I mean? It was just like, hey, go release turn up, you know. And then, you know, now in my latter years, it's meditation, mindfulness. Get therapy, fellas. I'm gonna tell everybody out there, get therapy.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

That's right.

[Lil Jon]

Get a therapy. If you're going through it, you should not be left to your own devices to deal with some serious issues. Sometimes you need to talk to someone that's a qualified person. And I did emdr. Did you ever do emdr?

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I never did emdr.

[Lil Jon]

EMDR is amazing because it taps into your subconscious. When I did emdr, stuff came out that I didn't even really didn't know was there. So it can tap to the. It can find the root of why you got that trauma. And then, like.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

So I did that with ayahuasca.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah. I have not done any of that yet. I don't want to do it. I'm thinking about it, but I don't want it to change me. It won't, because I just feel like I'm already at a certain place. But I do want to go tap into those things that I have locked deep, deep, deep away.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

A lot of people who've done EDMR tell me that the ayahuasca experience is pretty similar because it just. Everything that is in your subconscious that you've suppressed.

[Lil Jon]

Right.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

God is like, no, look at it here. Yeah, it's all on the table.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Is that a scary feeling, though, when you got to face all that stuff?

[Lil Jon]

No, it's just. It's profound. EMDR is profound because it's like, that's why I act like that, or that's why my mother treated me that way, or this is why that happened. It helps you. And then, like, emdr, like, when I did it recently, I was able to go to my childhood self and say, it's okay.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Wow.

[Lil Jon]

I'm here. It's fine. Yeah, you're. You're loved, you're appreciated, you know, all of that. And it helped me to get past whatever that was. So that's why I like it, because it's stuff that, you know, because I was kind of not forced, but I was like. Someone was like, you should, you know, go. You should try it.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

You know, because it helped them. And I did it, and I was like, I'm good. I don't need this. And then I was like, damn.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yeah.

[Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Lil Jon]

It's like, I did not know that. And the more you do it, the more stuff comes to you, and you just realize, this is why I'm the way I am. I can now get past this, and I could change these habits, you know, And I can be living. I can Live a better life.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Wow, man. Little John, you are an icon living. You're one of the greatest producers of all time. You bought people so much joy in this next chapter of your life where you are helping people heal. I think it's going to be your best work yet, my brother.

[Lil Jon]

Thank you. I do too. I do too. It feels so good when people come to me and say you help me, you know, without me even directly doing anything for them. I'm helping so many people and inspiring people. Like with the, with the fitness journey, with the, you know, the bodybuilding thing. Coming in third in this competition, I, it was just, it was hard to just do it, period. It was hard to just even get there and I was just happy to be a part of it. And I just want to inspire people to say that, that say I can't work out, I don't have time, I'm on the road, I'm a new father, I'm in a studio, I'm doing a million things and I'm able to go to the gym and transform my body, eat right, do all these things. So you can do it too.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You could be the new Billy Blanks, man. You can do, you can do training. Hit training, where it's your music playlist, all the crunk music. Yeah, we can go in Body by John.

[Lil Jon]

Body by John. I love it. Okay, help me out with it, Charlamagne.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I got you.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

I'm coming here to make you happy though.

[Lil Jon]

Oh, no, I love it. I love to inspire. There you go.

[DJ Envy]

Well, Lil Jon, we appreciate you for joining us. And also December 18th you are performing for our sister station 96 Point Jingle Ball in Atlanta.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Jingle ball.

[DJ Envy]

So what should the people expect from Little John in that show Crunk, period?

[Lil Jon]

They want it cuz it says Little John in Friends. It's Crunk, Crunk and Friends.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Crunk, crunk, crunk.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

I can't wait.

[Lil Jon]

Ain't no commercial just it's Atlanta and I got to hit him hard. You know, Jermaine talking crap all like, ah, but Jermaine, my, that's family. Jermaine actually called me, was like, who you bringing out? So I was going to ask cuz y' all got friends that have friends, so. But I'm just gonna bring the krunk. That's what, that's what they want. That's what I'm give them. That's what they ain't seen in a while. So that's what I'm gonna give them. I ain't trying to do nothing crazy. Crunk.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

We're excited.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Could that era ever come back? Like the way Metro booming just did? Futuristic summer. Could that crunk era ever come back?

[Lil Jon]

If it did, it'll. I don't know if people can handle it.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

I think we need like grown people who don't get the release.

[Lil Jon]

Yeah.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

You know what I'm saying? Maybe you have something. You put every. Everybody put their phones up, but you.

[DJ Envy]

Don'T heal the same way. You can't be jumping around and.

[Lil Jon]

Zoom after.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

And I don't know how that was sprinkled down to the Y N's. Like, how would they.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

We don't need y' all down.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

It's gonna sprinkle. TikTok gonna get it. I think that crunk could be recreated. But I'm glad that we do have these crunk classics that'll never die. So we. I don't think it could come back.

[Lil Jon]

Maybe I'll do something next year. Maybe I'll do something like, why not? You know, Metro did. Maybe I will.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Why not?

[Lil Jon]

I was talking about it. But it's just gotta be the right. Everything with me is the right timing.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Yes.

[Lil Jon]

You know, when the universe tell me it's time for it, that's when it happened.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

That's right.

[Lil Jon]

All right, well.

[DJ Envy]

96.1. Get your tickets. He will be performing at the Atlantis Jingle ball. Can't wait to see you guys. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

[Advertisement Voice]

Hold up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

Every day I wake up.

[Lil Jon]

Wake your ass up.

[Charlamagne Tha God]

The Breakfast Club.

[DJ Envy]

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[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky was went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Lil Jon]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns.

[Narrator/True Crime Storyteller (Maggie Freeling)]

Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to binge the entire season ad Free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Short on time, but big on true crime On a recent episode of the podcast Hunting for Answers, I highlighted the story of 19 year old Lachey Dungey. But she never knocked on that door. She never made it inside, and that text message would be the last time anyone would ever hear from her. Listen to Hunting for Answers from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Anna Ortiz and I'm Markin Delicato. You might know us as Hilda and Justin from Ugly Betty. Welcome to our new podcast, Viva. We're rewatching the series from start to finish and getting into all the fashions, the drama and the behind the scenes moments that you've never heard before. But you were still bartending. I didn't know that. The bar back is like is that.

[Lil Jon]

You and I turn around and it's.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

A commercial for Betty. And I was like, I gotta go.

[Lil Jon]

I quit.

[Podcast Host (Anna Ortiz or Mark Delicato)]

Listen to Viva Betty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.