I Completed Lil Jon’s Meditation Album

When I first found out about Lil Jon’s “Total Meditation” album, I laughed. The Youtube comments were amazing. “He’s gone from crunk to monk” and “sanskreet, skreet, skreet, skreet skreet”. But Lil Jon took this endeavor seriously, hiring the best in the business to help him sculpt a credible meditation practice as a way to help himself work out his recent divorce. Physician, heal thyself.

There are two advantages that famous rappers have over the usual mediation guru. The first is that rap transfers to voice narration like college credits. It’s like their usual gig but slower and they don’t need to rhyme. Proper mic technique isn’t usually covered in spiritual retreats. The second is a dream team of productions who know nuances of a Neumann microphone versus a Shure.

Producer Douglas David has some Grammys under his belt, as well as Aretha Franklin broadcasts. Billboard Magazine lists him as one of the top philanthropists in the world.

The members of the recording engineering team of Wayne Sunderland and Nathan “Slade” Smith have heavy reps in the audio industry. Sunderland is a mastering Engineer at Suture Mastering, and Slade Smith has collaborated with Lil Jon his whole life, being his son. DJ Slade is a sought after DJ in his own right.

The mixes are perfect and his voice has enough cool tricks to keep one engaged. Mixing engineer Trammell Starks has toured with Patti Labelle and Roberta Flack as a keyboardist, produced albums for the London Symphony Orchestra, and composed over 40 songs for the Weather Channel.

Lil Jon brought in a ringer to help him out with the content. Kabir Sehgal is a jazz bassist, former JPMorgan Vice President, published author, navy veteran, composer, and Grammy Award-winning producer. He has produced albums for Deepak Chopra, who is huge in the meditation game. Like appearing on Oprah huge.

While none of the practices break new ground, they are a nice collection of the old tried and true ancient techniques with a modern flavor. Lil Jon and Kabir Sehgal cover everything from anxiety to grieving in bite-sized ten minute chunks. Sure, Lil John gets a little cheesy sometimes with whispered call and response, but his enthusiasm makes up for it.

My favorite session is the breathing one. In the wrong hands, this exercise can be a bit boring, but Lil Jon captures my attention the entire time. I also like the one based on nurturing friendship. We are all guilty of not giving one hundred percent in our relationships sometimes, and Mr. Jon is right to call us out and remind us that a little relationship maintenance can go a long way. I’m hoping my friends notice a difference with my moody ass since I’ve taken to self care. The things I do for those people.

After completing the circuit can I say that Lil Jon meditations are worth the ride? As an experienced meditator, I’d say yes. These are the perfect gateway meditations, especially for people who hate meditation. And if Lil Jon helps just one person on their journey to self actualization, then I must say “OKAAAAAAAYYYYY!”