Lil Jon had already turned in his final pages. The memoir was done. Then his son died, and he went back to work.
The rapper and producer, born Jonathan Smith, was set to release his music industry memoir, I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me, later this year when his 27-year-old son Nathan Smith, who performed as DJ Young Slade, drowned in a water retention pond near his house in Milton, Georgia in February. Jon, 55, returned to the manuscript and added a new section about his son's death and how he processed the loss.
According to a report by Billboard, TMZ caught up with the Get Low rapper on June 17, where he described the book as covering "everything in my life, how I got my start, all the ups and downs of the music industry." When his son died unexpectedly, he said, he felt compelled to add that chapter to the story.
"I look at it as me telling my story and what I'm going through could help someone else to get through it. Because I'm not alone," he said. "And that's one thing that helped me to get through it too is so many people reaching out and sending me prayers and love and also other celebrities reaching out that have experienced loss, similar loss, giving me the opportunity to speak with them if I needed to."
Jon said he needed to put his emotions on the page so that others going through similar losses could see a path forward. When asked whether he felt God was giving him a new mission, he said "100%, I kinda get into that in the book a lot. And it's also like God was preparing me for everything that was starting to happen," describing how that mindset helped him deal with the loss without beginning to "spiral."
Nathan Smith was reported missing on February 3 by the Milton Police Department in Georgia. His body was discovered three days later, on February 6, by the Cherokee County Fire Department in a nearby pond.
Shortly after the death, Lil Jon shared a tribute on social media. "On the first day of Ramadan yesterday, We laid my only son to rest. In this holy month, I'm asking for extra du'a for him and for our family," he wrote, alongside a slideshow of photos taken over the years with his son. "Please pray that Allah grants him Jannah and grants us sabr, mercy, and strength. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un."
He continued: "I love you, son. Life will never be the same without you. Allah, give me strength. Also thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences, love, and prayers we appreciate you all. I will make sure the world knows your talent and never forgets your name. Nathan Murray Smith."
Nathan Smith was a graduate of NYU. I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me is scheduled for release on October 20.
