Lil Jon experienced the tragic heartbreak of the death of his son, Nathan Smith, who died in February at 27 years old. And now he’s sharing his story.
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The crunk pioneer is gearing up to release his memoir, I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me, out on Oct. 20, and People obtained and published a gut-wrenching excerpt from the book on Wednesday (Oct. 14), featuring Lil Jon revealing his final conversations with his late son.
In the memoir, Lil Jon opens up about his son’s “emotional difficulties” and the “intense physical pain” he was going through. Some days were so bad, according to the rapper, that Smith couldn’t get off the couch, and he was also in EMDR therapy to combat his emotional struggles.
“I’m on you because I love you,” Lil Jon told his son in their final conversation, according to his memoir excerpt published by People. “I care about you. I want you to get better.”
Smith responded: “I’m getting there. I’ve been going through a lot. I’m working through it. Give me some credit.”
Jon wrote that Smith followed up with a heartfelt text message. “Love you dad, got so much love for you. I’m gonna try communicating better and stop letting fear hold me back. My love for you is stronger than my fear. ❤️ And I’ma get on the supplements tomorrow,” he wrote, according to the rapper. “It’s funny, I know that family bond is strong because our whole family really only argues cause we care. LMAO. I was thinking about our back and forth and i was like, damn, it’s just cause we both care.”
Lil Jon wrote that he spoke to his therapist about the exchange, who explained that his son just wanted to be seen and heard for his efforts, while acknowledging there’s more work to be done. The “Get Low” rapper’s therapy session prompted him to reach out to his son and apologize, but he didn’t know that would be his final conversation with Smith.
“I’m sorry,” he recalled telling his son. “I see that you’re trying, and I want you to know that you are seen. All the effort you’ve been putting in — I see it. And I see you.”
The next day, Feb. 3, Lil Jon got the call that his son was missing. Smith’s body was found by authorities in a nearby Georgia pond on Feb. 6, where he was ruled dead at 27.
Later in February, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office released a statement to Billboard confirming that Smith passed away from “drowning in the setting of psilocybin use,” while the manner of his death was ruled to be an accident.
Smith, who produced music under the alias DJ Young Slade, was the only son of Lil Jon and his estranged wife, Nicole Smith. The former couple was married for 18 years before separating in 2022.