Key Takeaways
- Lil Jon said he ended his marriage to Nicole Smith because he was "tired of walking on eggshells," describing himself as an "extreme optimist" and her as an "extreme pessimist."
- In a new interview, he said their opposing outlooks fueled constant arguments and that frequent touring kept the marriage going longer than it otherwise would have.
- He acknowledged that anger during their separation kept him from considering Smith's perspective and said he later embraced a more positive mindset through meditation and a morning routine.
Lil Jon has claimed that his ex-wife, Nicole Smith, carried a sense of "pessimism" which contributed to the dissolution of their marriage.
The crunk music pioneer married Smith in 2004, six years after the birth of their son, Nathan, who died from an accidental drowning in February. In November 2024, he welcomed a daughter, Nahara, with his current partner, television personality Jamila Sozahdah.
On the Wednesday (November 4) episode of podcast Angie Martinez IRL, Lil Jon discussed the breakdown of his marriage and explained the difference in personalities between him and his former spouse.
"I decided I wanted a divorce because I was like, I'm tired of walking on eggshells," he said around the four-minute mark of the video above. "And then another thing that happened, I looked at my relationship and I looked at our personalities. I'm an extreme optimist and she was an extreme pessimist."
The producer added that he realized the personality clash between him and Smith was why they would "always argue."
"We can never be on the same page. We're totally opposite in our way of thinking," he continued. "And there's no amount of therapy is going to change that 'cause it's the way we are wired. So those things made me just say, 'I want a divorce. I want a change.'"
Lil Jon also referenced his new memoir, I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me, where he said that constantly touring kept his marriage intact. "If I was there working a 9-to-5 and home every day, it probably would have ended years before that," he said. The musician acknowledged that because he was "angry" throughout their separation, he hadn't taken a moment to consider Smith's perspective.
"And so, I started to tell myself, 'I need to change my mindset. I need to be in [a] more positive mindset,'" he said.
Along with developing a morning routine of making ginger tea and meditating, in 2024, Lil Jon released a mindfulness album titled Total Meditation. The following year, the 55-year-old finished third place in the Muscle Beach Venice competition.
