Lil Jon headlines free concert as part of Louisville-area Juneteenth celebrations
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Louisville-area Juneteenth celebrations start next month, and one nearby city is celebrating in a big way with a performance by one of the most influential names in hip-hop.
Lil Jon, an Atlanta-based rapper and producer, is slated to headline a show on the Jeffersonville Riverstage in Southern Indiana as part of the summer concert series "Jammin in Jeff." He's scheduled to perform at 8:30 p.m. June 18 to kick off the holiday weekend, according to the event webpage.
Lil Jon is known for Southern rap staples like "Snap Yo Fingers," "Get Low," and "Turn Down for What" as well as production work and features with popular names, including "Salt Shaker" by the Ying Yang Twins and "Shots" with LMFAO. He's been nominated for several Grammy Awards and took home the gold in 2005 with a feature on "Yeah!" alongside Usher and Ludacris for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration."
Concerts in the series are free to the public, and an opening band will go on at 7 p.m., the website said. Local food trucks, a Bud Light beer garden and cocktails will also be available.
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Lil Jon's concert isn't the only celebration happening in the region, though.
The Louisville Juneteenth Festival will host four days of events beginning June 16 and ending June 19. Activities will take place at the Belvedere and surrounding venues, the event website said, featuring "over 70 Black businesses, musical performances, panel discussions, networking events, food, and more."
For the Louisville community, "'Juneteenth National Freedom Day' commemorates the survival, due to God-given strength and determination, of African Americans through extreme adversity, hardship, and triumph," according to a website statement from Black Complex, the team that spearheads planning the event.
The first Louisville Juneteenth Festival was held by a group of activists and organizers in 2020 after protests broke out over the police killing of Breonna Taylor, the website said. The event was meant to symbolize a "glimmer of hope" for the "continuation of Black Culture in America."
President Joe Biden signed legislation in June 2021 that made Juneteenth, which recognizes the end of slavery in the country, a federal holiday and extends the reminder that "the poisonous ideology of racism has not yet been defeated," he said in a 2022 observance of the holiday.
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Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Lil Jon plans Louisville-area show as part of local Juneteenth events
