Lil Jon is asking for privacy and prayers as a search ensues for his missing son, 27-year-old Nathan Smith, in Georgia.
According to local authorities, Smith, who also performs as an artist under the name DJ Young Slade, has been missing since Tuesday, Feb. 3. Police say he ran out of his home barefoot around 6 a.m. local time and has not been seen or heard from since. He does not have his phone and “may be disoriented and in need of assistance.”
“Friends and family are concerned for his safety,” police said, urging anyone with information to contact the department.
The 55-year-old rapper, born Jonathan Smith, welcomed Smith in 1998 with his ex-wife Nicole Smith. The former couple married in 2004 and separated in 2022. Smith, his only child and, has followed in his father’s musical footsteps.
While speaking about his son’s budding music career during an appearance on “The Big Podcast,” Lil Jon shared that he began DJing as a tween, graduated from a scratch academy by age 12, and later continued studying music at New York University.
“It’s literally in your kid’s genes to do what you do,” he said at the time, per People. “It is in their genes. It is in their DNA. We pass everything we get and we learn down to our children. So he was destined to be in the music business and do music.”
In a statement to TMZ shortly after the outlet reported his disappearance, Lil Jon said, “The family is asking for privacy at this time. We are also asking for continued prayers for Nathan to come home safe. Thank you.”
