Lil Jon looked back on his last trip with his late son Nathan Smith in an emotional social media upload.
In the clip, the father-son pair took on Japan, trying out various foods, exploring shopping malls, modeling traditional garb, checking out the Fuji Speedway, and even sketching anime characters, among other activities.
The rapper noted in the caption that he’d asked Nathan — who went by DJ Young Slade — what he wanted to do for his birthday two years ago. Lil Jon wrote he wanted to “go to Japan.”
“I had no idea that trip would become our final father-and-son trip… or his favorite one ever,” the “Get Low” hitmaker continued in part.
“We did everything—from museums and food tours to Michelin-star sushi spots. We even watched samurai swords being forged… and got to use them.”
Lil Jon noted that Nathan was “a big anime fan,” so the pair took a drawing class with an anime book author, and that he “even got to learn how to drift and drive on the streets where the drift culture began.”
While admitting that the trip was “expensive,” Lil Jon — born Jonathan Smith — said he “didn’t care.”
“I saw how happy it made him,” he wrote. “He told me it was the most fun he’d ever had on any trip. It hits different now, knowing we won’t get to make memories like that again.”
The rapper urged “anyone reading this” not to “put your family off.”
“Don’t say ‘I’ll see them later’ or ‘We can do that later,’” he wrote. “Don’t skip the long hugs dont be frugal. Make long lasting memories when you can.”
“We all think we have time… but we don’t know Allah’s plan,” he wrote in the heartfelt caption. “Love your people hard. You never know when it’s the last hug.”
The Grammy award winner confirmed his son’s drowning death at the age of 27 in a statement to Page Six on Feb. 6 — three days after Nathan went missing.
“I am extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith. His mother [Nicole Smith] and I are devastated,” Lil Jon, 55, said at the time, calling Nathan “the kindest human being you would ever meet.”
The Milton, Georgia Police Department confirmed that day that a body was recovered from a Mayfield Park pond near Nathan’s residence.
Prior to his disappearance, he’d last been seen at his home on the morning of Feb. 3, when he ran out of the residence.
“He may be disoriented and in need of assistance,” police said at the time, noting that they were “concerned for his safety.”
His cause of death was revealed on Feb. 27, with People revealing that Nathan perished of “drowning in the setting of psilocybin use.” The manner of death was ruled accidental.
The rapper’s eldest child was laid to rest two weeks after his death. Jonathan wrote at the time that “Life will never be the same without” his son.
The “Celebrity Apprentice” alum welcomed Nathan with estranged wife Nicole in 1998. He’s also dad to daughter Nahara, whom he welcomed in 2024 with girlfriend Jamila Sozahdah.
