Knoxville was granted the chance to witness the King of Crunk himself when he came all the way from Las Vegas to his late-night set at The International on Nov. 8.
Platinum-selling artist-turned-DJ, Lil Jon has made an even greater name for himself lately in the Knoxville community after befriending the University of Tennessee Volunteers’ football program.
The relationship began with a mysterious transformation of Jon’s banger “Turn Down for What” into “Third Down for What,” which is played preceding each opponent’s third down play in Neyland Staduim.
The song has turned in to the Tennessee footballs team’s battle cry and has propelled the team to lead the SEC in third down efficiency (at print time).
A simple tweet from Lil Jon, otherwise known as Jonathan Smith, showing his support before the UT vs. Florida game, made the relationship mutual. Then in early October, fans then honored the rapper for showing his support by painting his face on The Rock on Volunteer Boulevard.
Since he has recently become one of the highest-profile supporters of UT football, it was no surprise he strolled on stage that Saturday night decked out in Vols attire from snapback to hoodie. He greeted fans by welcoming everyone to Knoxville and misting the crowd with water from multiple water bottles.
Although Jon is well-known for his hip-hop hits – his most recent being “Bend Ova” – his DJ set was just as exhilarating for the crowd. He turned it all the way up for this show, and the crowd didn’t hesitate to follow suit. Soon after the show got underway, Jon turned up the partying to a new degree.
His assistants began handing out shots to those fans lucky enough to meet the rapper and watch the show from the side of the stage. One of those lucky fans happened to be a Pellissippi State professor. Jacqueline Kessler was so excited about the prospect of meeting the rapper that she fashioned a large pink sign saying, “I will not assign any more homework for the year if I meet Lil Jon.” Her students shouldn’t get too excited however; Kessler says she assigned students homework for the rest of the year before the show.
For this artist – and most others hoping to remain in the limelight – there is a constant struggle to stay relevant and keep his fan base revolving around 17 to 25 year olds. Because of this, Jon turned first to collaborations with EDM artists and then to his DJ sets instead of continuing with his live show tours.
After wilding out at his late-night show, the Atlanta rapper spent the entire next day at UT touring the practice facility, meeting Coach Jones and the entire football team, and sitting in on the team’s Sunday practice. The rapper had such a good time he posted about the experience multiple times on both Twitter and Facebook.
The International has numerous other DJ sets occurring within the coming months. Infected Mushroom will be playing next door at The Concourse on Nov. 20, while a Game of Thrones DJ set featuring Hodor is already scheduled for Feb. 11, 2015. A number of rock groups can be found playing at the venue as well. Powerman 5000 will be performing at The Concourse on Nov. 23, while 10 Years will be playing at The International on New Years Eve. View their full calendar of events at InternationalKnox.com.
