Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
It’s hard to believe it’s been two decades since Lil Jon burst onto the scene and made a name for himself with the help of the crunk music that was all the rage in the mid-2000s. He’s still going strong in his mid-50s, and he’s also gotten stronger after deciding to hit the gym to work on the muscles that held him win at medal at a bodybuilding competition over Labor Day Weekend.
As is the case with many musical fads, it’s a bit hard to explain the popularity of Lil Jon unless you were there to experience the meteoric rise he experienced at the start of the millennium.
The Atlanta native started DJing at clubs in the city when he was still in high school and eventually crossed paths with Jermaine Dupri, the wildly influential producer who tapped him to find and promote artists for his record label before he earned the chance to step into the spotlight as the founding member of Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz.
That crew led the vanguard of the crunk movement and is best known for “Get Low,” the infectious track with Usher and Ludacris that soared toward the top of the charts in 2002. Lil Jon found himself with another hit on his hands close to a decade later when he teamed up with DJ Snake for “Turn Down For What,” and while he’s taken his foot off the gas when it comes to making music, he’s still a fairly prolific DJ who regularly pops up at clubs around the world.
You may be surprised to learn he’s also a pretty dedicated gym rat, and he was recently rewarded for the time he’s spent hitting the weights while showing off the results.
Lil Jon walked away with a third-place medal at the 2025 Muscle Beach Championship in Los Angeles
If you scroll through Lil Jon’s Instagram, you’ll predictably encounter plenty of posts promoting upcoming gigs and chronicling his various escapades, but it’s also littered with videos of him putting in work at the gym over the past couple of years.
He was confident enough to enter the 2025 Muscle Beach Championship that was held during Labor Day weekend, and the 54-year-old ended up coming in third place in the Men’s Master’s Physique category reserved for entrants 45 and over.
He also chatted with ABC7 about his fitness journey while saying he hopes he can inspire other people to take the time to work on improving themselves, noting, “If I can do it, then you can do it too.”
You love to see it.