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Lil Jon reveals that he accidentally stabbed himself in the eye in a freak accident that has caused him to wear sunglasses all the time.
The Grammy winner shares the story in his upcoming memoir, “I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me,” which comes out on Tuesday.
The 54-year-old rapper — whose real name is Jonathan Smith — reveals he saw his diabetic mother, Carrie, take insulin shots throughout his childhood. At the age of 6, the “Turn Down for What” rapper took one of his mom’s syringes and curiously tried to see what the air felt like on his eye.
Instead, he accidentally ended up stabbing himself in the eye.
The rapper went to several doctors, who told him that he had a “traumatic cataract from the needle.”
After the accident, he had to undergo multiple eye surgeries, including a corneal transplant.
The trauma to his eye caused him to have to wear a metal eye patch in school, which led to bullying. “I definitely was teased in school,” the rapper shared with People ahead of his memoir’s release.
“At that age if somebody’s different, they’re going to pick on you.”
The Atlanta native recalled becoming shy after the teasing. Despite being different, the rapper shared that he wanted to “always prove people wrong.”
As an adult, he developed a lazy eye as a result of the childhood incident and underwent surgery to help the condition; however, the rapper still constantly wears sunglasses.
“Whenever people have put me down,” says the musician, “I used that as fuel in my fire to excel.”
Just before the accident, the “Get Low” singer had learned to play the drums and became enthralled with music at a very young age. The rapper did not let the childhood incident hinder his success in any way.
“I got to figure out how to pave my way no matter what. I got to prove people wrong,” he shares.
“I’m the type, if an obstacle is put in front of me, I’m going to figure out how to go through it, over it, under it, around it.”