Long before the days Lil Jon called himself the "King of Crunk" he had aspirations of climbing the Hip-Hop ladder with childhood friends Big Sam and Lil Bo, aka The East Side Boyz. In 1997, they had an incredible following in the Atlanta hip hop scene and Lil Jon came on board as the leading front man.

Charismatic and loud mouthed, Lil Jon was the figurehead for this rapidly growing music team. In 1997 they released their first album "Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album" with Mirror Image. The single "Shawty Freak a Lil' Sumthin" reached #36 on the Hot Rap Singles charts as well as #62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard. The other major single from the album "Who U Wit?" also charted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard at #70.