Lil Jon received some unexpected news about his family later in life.
The rapper and producer is sharing details about his personal life and career in his upcoming memoir, I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me, set to be released on Tuesday, Oct. 20. In the book, Jon reveals that he recently discovered the man who raised him was not his biological father.
“You never think that will happen to you,” Jon, born Jonathan Smith, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “And when it happens to you, it just knocks you back, and you got so many questions.”
The “Turn Down for What” hitmaker grew up with his mother, Carrie, and the man he believed was his biological father, Willie. He was raised alongside his two biological brothers, Willie Junior and Chris, as well as his adopted siblings, Mario and Sheena. Jon developed an interest in music during childhood and learned to play the drums by age 6. “My mom and dad didn’t really understand it at first,” he recalls.
During Jon’s rise to fame in the early 2000s, Willie passed away from bone marrow cancer. “He didn’t really see me become a star,” says the Grammy-winning artist, who believes Willie “would’ve just been so proud” of his achievements.
Carrie lived to see Jon achieve stardom and celebrated his success. “She was just so happy because I was the firstborn, so I was the baby,” Jon says of his mother, who passed away in 2013 after suffering a stroke caused by complications from diabetes.
Jon only recently discovered that Willie was not his biological father after a cousin took a DNA test to learn more about their family history. “He shared his map with me,” says the “Get Low” hitmaker. “We weren’t matching for some reason.”
Jon’s cousin quickly reassured him that he still considers them family despite the discovery. However, the revelation has left the memoir’s author with many unanswered questions. “Neither one of my fathers are here anymore, nor my mother, so I can’t get answers,” he says. “And that drives you crazy as well, until you get to the point where you have to accept that you will never get answers.”
More recently, Jon has had an opportunity to learn more about his biological family. “I have had my brother and sister reach out on my biological dad’s side, but I haven’t been ready to process that yet and have that conversation, because it’s just so heavy, man,” he explains. “It’s just hard to process. It takes time.”
Jon became a father in 1998 when he and his ex-wife, Nicole Smith, welcomed their son, Nathan, who followed in his father’s footsteps and pursued music under the name DJ Young Slade. Nathan died unexpectedly at age 27 earlier this year after going missing in early February. He was found dead days later in a pond near his home in Milton, Ga. His cause of death was ruled accidental “drowning in the setting of psilocybin use.”
As Jon continues to cope with the loss, his family remains a source of strength and motivation, including his 22-month-old daughter, Nahara, whom he shares with his partner, Jamila Sozahdah. “The No. 1 lesson I tell people now is, don’t feel like you can put something off for tomorrow, because you don’t know how much time you have with people,” he says. “Fatherhood has taught me that family is everything.”
