Lil Jon, hip-hop’s forever “King of Crunk,” is ruling over a new domain these days: the health and wellness realm.
The 54-year-old rapper—born Jonathan Smith—has undergone a major transformation in recent years, shedding weight, stepping into bodybuilding competitions, and leaning deeper into spirituality. And in Men’s Health’s Winter 2026 issue, he reveals it all started with one major moment: the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show.
According to his trainer, Jay Galvin, the “Turn Down for What” artist only trained for about six weeks leading up to his performance in Las Vegas, where he joined Usher and Ludacris for their hit “Yeah!” and ignited the crowd with his signature anthem. But while the training window was short, Galvin says the discipline stuck—along with the clean eating and better habits.
Since then, Lil Jon’s transformation, which includes being at 5.4 percent body fat, has gone far beyond the physical. In 2024, he converted to Islam and later released both a meditation album and a manifestation album, which have pulled in tens of thousands of listens on YouTube and other platforms.
After his conversion, he fasted for Ramadan from March 1 through March 30—and says the results were remarkable.
“After Ramadan, my blood work came back impeccable, the best I’ve ever had,” he told the outlet.
Along with improving his overall health, the rapper also underwent a colonoscopy—an important preventive screening that many Black men his age still avoid due to stigma, misinformation, or simply not being encouraged to prioritize it.
The shift marks a striking contrast from Lil Jon’s peak “crunk” era, which was famously hard on the body: late nights, nonstop touring, and plenty of “shots, shots, shots”—often tequila—night after night. As he told Men’s Health, the grind took a toll on his physical health.
Now, his meditation albums offer a softer, calmer version of the artist who once defined dance floor chaos and demanded revelry. Some of the projects even feature relaxing remixes of his biggest hits with lyrics that hit more like soothing affirmations than party anthems now.
“Instead of turning up the volume and getting crazy, we’re doing the opposite,” he says in the intro of one album. “Slowing things down, filtering out extra layers, finding the right frequencies.”
Honestly? We love to see it.
