Lil Jon Details Childhood Eye Injury Behind Signature Sunglasses in Memoir

Rapper Lil Jon has shared the deeply personal reason behind his iconic dark sunglasses: a severe childhood eye injury. In his new memoir, "I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me," the artist, whose real name is Jonathan Smith, recounts an accident at age six that resulted in a traumatic cataract and necessitated a corneal transplant.

According to the memoir, the incident occurred when Smith was playing with one of his diabetic mother's insulin syringes and accidentally stabbed himself in the eye. Doctors informed him of the injury, which required multiple surgeries. In the years that followed, the injury left him with a lazy eye, prompting him to start wearing eye protection, beginning with a metal patch at school.

"I definitely was teased in school," Lil Jon told People. "At that age if somebody's different, they're going to pick on you." He described himself as a shy boy in Atlanta who felt "different" from others. This experience, he explained, fueled his drive to succeed and "always prove people wrong."

Despite undergoing surgery to address the lazy eye, Lil Jon has continued to wear sunglasses consistently. He stated that obstacles have served as motivation, pushing him to excel. "Whenever people have put me down, I used that as fuel in my fire to excel," he told the outlet.

Even before the injury, Lil Jon had aspirations in music, learning to play the drums and taking his performances to local nightclubs. He emphasized his determination to find a way forward regardless of challenges, saying, "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."

The release of his memoir, which is set for October 21, comes several months after the death of his son, Nathan Smith, also known as rapper DJ Young Slade. Nathan's body was recovered from a pond in Georgia in February, with the medical examiner ruling the cause of death as drowning in the setting of psilocybin use. Lil Jon and his estranged wife, Nicole Smith, with whom he announced their split in February 2024 after a two-year separation, shared Nathan.