LOS ANGELES (Vivid Entertainment/ www.vivid.com) - Multi-platinum hip-hop artist the "King of Crunk," Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, will make two films with the leading adult producer Vivid Entertainment. Filming for the first feature began last weekend in Las
Vegas and will continue over the next several weeks with the title "Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Vivid
Vegas Party."
The tentative title for the second feature is "Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz Nightclubbin."
With his infectious, high-energy grin and well-known rowdiness, Lil Jon, along with The East Side Boyz, will have an active role in the productions, partying with the girls, creating the music, and setting the tone for the hardcore sex. The founder of the raucous, naughty, cutting-edge "Dirty South" musical style said he will have strong creative involvement from directing to casting and editing.
Lil Jon and his band, The East Side Boyz, were inspired to work with Vivid as part of their continued expansion into filmmaking. The Vivid films will be part of Lil Jon & East Side Boyz: American Sex Series, produced by Afro-Centric Productions and Legacy DVD Works for Vivid Entertainment.
The new films feature the world renowned Vivid Girls, including Latina sensation Mercedez, as well as the industry's top ethnic stars. The first 90-minute feature will be released as a DVD beginning in the second quarter of 2005 and the second in early 2006.
"Lil Jon is one of the great inventive legends of hip hop music. His music and lyrics have always been highly sexual, so we are delighted to be working with him on these Vivid features. His enormous success speaks for itself," said Steven Hirsch, co-founder and co-chairman of Vivid.
Asked in a recent Playboy interview if he was a big fan of adult movies, Lil Jon replied: "Yeah, I like porn. I'll watch it with ladies every once in awhile, but I mostly watch it for market research."
"Working with Vivid means we've gone right to the top of the adult industry," said Lil Jon of his new partnership. "We're gonna have some fun, with hot sex and lots of crunk-ass parties."
The crunk reference is to the Dirty South style of rap music as well as the "Pimp-cup" (a diamond studded chalice) filled with Lil Jon's own "Crunk Juice" energy drink mixed with alcohol, that has become his trademark.
Lil Jon, famous for his "shout-out" at climactic moments in his songs, explained to an interviewer from MusicToday.com recently: "We were the first ones to use that word on a record, to get up there and tell people to get crunk, get buck-ass wild, get off-the-hook, you know what I'm saying!"
The Associated Press reported recently, "with its irresistible hip-hop beats and shouted refrains, crunk music incites a fervor in fans that's reminiscent of a religious experience, but the Southern-based church of crunk also relies on R-rated chants and drink-and-toke party themes popularized by its leader: Lil Jon, a dreadlocked, metal-toothed producer whose trademark shouts of 'yeah!!!', 'oooo-kaaaay!!!' and 'whaaaaattttt???!!!!' are saturating pop radio."
The AP noted that crunk music has been around since the 1990s but "Lil Jon - a former record executive by the name of Jonathan Smith - may be most responsible for its skyrocketing popularity. Either as an artist, collaborator or producer, Lil Jon is behind many of the genre's biggest crossover successes: 'Get Low'; Petey Pablo's deliciously dirty-minded 'Freek-A-Leek'; the Ying Yang Twins shamefully catchy 'Salt Shaker'; Ciara's enticing 'Goodies'; and, of course, the year's biggest smash, Usher's superstar-making 'Yeah!' 'The thing I give Jon credit for is putting it all together and giving it a name and giving it a face,' says rap star David Banner, a longtime friend.
'The spirit has always been here. He defined it.'"
