Lil Jon Wants Mainstream America
By: Yeahh!!
It's good to be Lil Jon these days.
After ending up in the final four on "Celebrity Apprentice,"the shade-wearing, bejeweled-tooth deejay is seeing a flurry of business spin his way.
"I'm older now," he tells me, "thinking harder and really strategically trying to pick things that go along with where my movement is going."
Where is that? "Mainstream America."
Lil Jon already endorses Oakley and Crunk Energy Drink. His latest endorsement is NoHo, the No Hangover Defense. He found out about the product from a friend, tried it, and became a believer. NoHo provides him with all the free product he wants, which he, in turn, displays while working. "Working in Vegas, I have to deejay in the daytime, and I have to do night time work as well, so that's the only thing that kinda helps me." He hints he may want more of a business relationship with the company in the future.
Meantime, he's planning more television (the day I saw him he was preparing to appear in an upcoming episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), and more music.
While he credits Donald Trump's show with launching his profile to the point where "I notice a lot of elderly women coming up," he says it was Dave Chappelle's original spoof of him that put Lil Jon on the map.
Here is more of my interview with Lil Jon, as he explains why NoHo works—and why he's not drinking so much anymore. Check out the video clip where he describes his branding plans going forward. He even tells me the one offer he turned down.
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