Atlanta: Lil Jon

"The Geographic Flow of Music," which studied the musical preferences and trends, found that Atlanta was the overall leader in hip hop music listening habits. Let's take a look at which artists hailed from some of the music-influential cities.

Atlanta-bred rapper Lil Jon first came on the scene as a DJ at Atlanta night clubs. In 1993, he signed on as a producer for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label. The artist, born Jonathan Smith, soon formed his own group, Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, featuring Big Sam and Lil Bo. Through the years, Lil Jon has continued to produce hits for other artists. He has put out mixed tapes and released a solo debut in 2010.

Credit: Jason Merritt