{"id":464073,"date":"2026-02-07T08:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T08:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/464073\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T08:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T08:48:09","slug":"rapper-lil-jon-heart-broken-as-he-confirms-his-sons-death-days-after-he-went-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/464073\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapper Lil Jon heart broken as he confirms his son’s death days after he went missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A person believed to be the son of rapper Lil Jon<\/a> has been found dead in a pond north of Atlanta, police said on Friday.<\/p>\n

Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, left his home in Milton “under unusual circumstances” early on Tuesday morning, local police said.<\/p>\n

Lil Jon said in a statement posted to his Instagram page that he and Smith’s mother, Nicole Smith, are “extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son.”<\/p>\n

\"InA person believed to be the son of rapper Lil Jon has been found dead in a pond north of Atlanta, police said Friday. (AP)<\/p>\n

“Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet,” the statement reads.<\/p>\n

“He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warm hearted \u2014 he loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest.”<\/p>\n

Nathan Smith, 27, “ran out of his house and has been missing since,” police said in a missing person poster they circulated on social media.<\/p>\n

He “left on foot and does not possess a phone,” police said. “He may be disoriented and in need of assistance. Family and friends are concerned for his safety.”<\/p>\n

\"DJNathan Smith, 27, “ran out of his house and has been missing since,” police said in a missing person poster they circulated on social media. (Getty Images for MTV)<\/p>\n

Milton police immediately began searching for Smith, police said.<\/p>\n

After being unable to locate him, police and other agencies expanded the search include a pond near Smith’s residence.<\/p>\n

Shortly before noon on Friday, Cherokee County Fire Department divers found a body in the pond.<\/p>\n

“The individual is believed to be Nathan Smith, pending official confirmation by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office,” police said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"DjLil Jon confirmed his son’s passing. (Getty)<\/p>\n

The medical examiner did not immediately respond to inquiries about the case on Friday.<\/p>\n

“Based on the investigation to date, there is no indication of foul play,” police said.<\/p>\n

“However, the Milton Police Department Criminal Investigations Division will continue to treat this as an open and active investigation.”<\/p>\n

Police said no further details would be released until the cause and manner of death are determined by the medical examiner.<\/p>\n

\"LilLil Jon and DJ Young perform during the 97.1 AMP RADIO’s Amplify 2014 concert. (Getty)<\/p>\n

Milton is a suburban town about 48 kilometres north of Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Lil Jon, born Jonathan Smith, is an Atlanta rapper and producer who was a central figure in the crunk subgenre of hip-hop.<\/p>\n

He’s known for songs including 2002’s Get Low with his group the East Side Boyz and 2013’s Turn Down For What with DJ Snake.<\/p>\n

He also has a daughter, Nahara, who was born in 2024.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A person believed to be the son of rapper Lil Jon has been found dead in a pond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-464073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}