The King of Crunk Music (a subgenre of rap over club beats born in the south) and Atlanta native Lil Jon blessed a diverse crowd of fans from nearly every race on the grid during his DJ set at The Armory entertainment center on Thursday, April 27.
“We gonna party tonight,” Lil Jon shouted.
A party was definitely had during the performance. Alcohol shots were thrown out in the audience, several patrons drove the boat (tilted their heads back while liquor was poured in their mouths to take shots). Lots of twerking and gyrating took place, a smoke machine went off, and confetti exploded into the crowd.
You would’ve thought we were at a rave from how lit it was. All the guests were in great spirits having good fun.
Lil Jon cranked out the top half of his set with a lot of pop and EDM hits including his record “Shots” with LMFAO, “Drink,” FloRida’s “Low,” and Chris Brown’s “Yeah 3x.” His music of choice in the beginning left Black fans to assume he was there only to appeal to a certain demographic.
His loyal day one Black fans who’ve followed his career from his Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz days and King Of Crunk era from the late ‘90s early ‘00s grew disappointed from his initial selection of songs, but that soon changed once Lil Jon shocked us all and switched it up.
He pivoted from just doing a DJ set and transitioned to performing his classic discography of southern rap anthems including “Shake That Monkey,” and “Get Low.” He also performed songs from his fellow crunk era peers Trillville’s “Neva Eva,” and Bone Crusher’s “Never Scared.”
He closed his epic set with the timeless hit “Lovers and Friend’” featuring him alongside Usher and Ludacris. The crowd went crazy when they heard it.
Prior to his set, DJ Nico Marie and DJ Tobo had curated sets, and Zeus Rebel Waters, and Paige Alyssa also performed.