Lil Jon explains why he took out a government loan in the midst of a pandemic crisis.

(All HipHop news) Rapper and producer Lil Jon defended a US federal government loan amid the coronavirus pandemic, insisting he had to shell out a lot of money to make sure his home DJ sets are up to date. height.

The 49-year-old musician was among the big names to accept a loan from the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) due to COVID-19, preventing him from going on tour.

But while some artists were the center of backlash for their acceptance of the loan, Jon – real name Jonathan Smith – said Rolling stone that he had no other choice.

“With everything that was going on, I decided that every Saturday night I did live DJ sets from my house – which, in order to put it together – I not only had to immerse myself completely and learn new skills (with streaming technology), but it costs money, ”he said. “To do these streams properly every week there is a lot of production and equipment involved, that I actually had to acquire a new employee who takes care of my video content and the technical aspects.

“It was important to me that the fans could see my DJ sets while having the best possible experience from home, so with that comes the expense and the work.”

According to the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department, Lil Jon Touring received between $ 150,000 and $ 350,000 in his loan, with the rapper naming 11 employees at his request, as well as the new worker he has hired since the pandemic.

The Eagles, Kanye West, Pearl Jam, Guns N ‘Roses and Green Day are among the other artists who took out PPP loans during the pandemic.