"I'm coming to Silicon Valley to turn up!" Lil Jon told BuzzFeed News.
On Friday, the producer and rapper famous for yelling "What!" and "OK!" on countless pop hits over the past 15-odd years, released his first app. It features Lil Jon doing what he does best — raspily shouting the various words and phrases for which he is known. The app is called Vext - Keyboard, a portmanteau of "video" and "text," and it's available right now for both iOS and Android.
Vext is essentially a keyboard with assigned phrases. Selecting a phrase calls up an associated video of Lil Jon's disembodied head shouting it, and the video can then be sent off to friends as a text message. Vext's menu of phrases features Lil Jon classics, like "OKAY" and "YEAH," as well as new utterances the rapper hopes to push into the current vernacular: "Send Nudes," "It's Called Google, Bitch," "Cheese," and "Fart Sound." "It's a video meme," Lil Jon explained. "A meme that talks."
Currently, Vext features Lil Jon alone, but the rapper and the app's developer, Michael Daniels of Mango Concept, hope to add more celebrities to its offerings soon. It took Lil Jon, in his estimation, only about 45 minutes to record the 58 phrases included in the first version of the app, so he figures time commitment is not a barrier to entry. "It's perfect for someone like myself, who's known for so many crazy catchphrases," he said.
So, why an app?
"As a technology guy, and someone in music, I'm on top of technology and social media," Lil Jon said. "[First it was] beepers and then pagers and then texting and emojis," he said. "This seemed like the next big thing, and I'm excited to be down with it."
Lil Jon's foray into tech follows that of many, many other celebrities — including actor Ashton Kutcher, rapper Snoop Dogg, and what increasingly seems like the entirety of the Golden State Warriors.
Vext Keyboard is not the most technologically advanced app on the market. Essentially, it's a keyboard overlay for texting. That said, the novelty of having Lil Jon invite your friend over to "Netflix and chill" might be worth the install.
"Yeah, I send myself to people," Lil Jon said, when asked if he uses the app himself. "It's just funny to hear me say funny shit."