Sing along with Lil Jon

US crunk legent Lil Jon will sing for the first time for the first time in China on Sunday night at Spark Beijing.[photo/China Daily]

While Beijingers might not know Atlanta Georgia native Lil Jon, many have definitely heard his music. He's a "crunk" legend. The rowdy southern style of hip-hop has been gracing the Chinese party scene with hit songs such as Get Crunk and Get Low.

Since gaining notoriety after a sketch comedy portrayal of him by Dave Chappelle, Lil Jon has been the focus of many jokes, including one that has people screaming at him saying "Yeah", "What" and "Okay". He expects things to be a little better in China, but he isn't sure.

"Who knows? The show might've been popular in China, but I'm sure it won't be like America (where) I can't walk through the airport, go to the grocery store or go anywhere without somebody screaming it really loud," Lil Jon says. "Say I'm going through the airport and the TSA screeners, they see me and they scream out loud and I'm looking at them like 'you gonna get fired' trying to imitate me.

"It's just so out of place. I think they're going to scream that at my funeral."

With roots in crunk, Lil Jon is more than just a crunk artist. He describes himself as a party guy, and his music seems to invoke a sense of party.

"Back in the early days I did consider myself a crunk artist," Lil Jon says. "As I got older and the music started to change. And through the evolution of an artist, I became the party guy. That's what I am now."

Lil Jon will be playing for the first time in China on Sunday night at Spark Beijing. For his set, he says he will probably play one new song called Drink, which is already a club party favorite. Lil Jon says that he will definitely give the people what they want.

"I don't really like to do a lot of new songs. I believe the people want to hear your hits. A lot of artists get caught up and want to do a lot of new songs. They don't realize that nobody knows those songs yet," he says. "They want to sing along to the songs they know, and that's what I'm going to give them."

ericjou@chinadaily.com.cn