Try this New Lil Meditation

Just when we thought we knew Lil Jon, he flips the script. The ATL rapper and producer famous for ‘Turn Down For What?’ has changed lanes and wants to help “you find tranquility and serenity” (as he mentions in the intro track) with his latest record, ‘Total Meditation,’ a 10-track guided meditation album bringing focus to mindfulness, concentration, and peace. It’s a surprising but welcome shift for the artist known for paving the way for crunk.

But he’s only one of Hip Hop’s most influential figures to have found a profound connection between the practice of meditation and their creative and personal success, and we’re all about more artists sharing what they discover and practice. In 2020, Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA shocked (and soothed) fans by putting out a Meditation EP, André 3000 dropped his cosmic flute record New Blue Sun earlier this year (still so much we want to unpack with André on this one) and Snoop Dogg released his Affirmations for kids in 2023.

This recent drop of releases from Hip Hop artists underscores one of our favorite subjects which is how modalities like meditation are finding their way into mass consciousness and hopefully if more people see the impact it’s made on these artists’ lives and their work, it can work for them too.

Kendrick Lamar, widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of his generation, is perhaps hip hop’s most vocal proponent of meditation. His advocacy is not limited to interviews or public speeches; it’s right there in the music. In an industry where lyrics often revolve around material success and external validation, we’re totally here, or *ahem* ‘fully present’ for Lamar’s focus on inner peace and self-reflection.

We’ll also never forget Frank Ocean cold plunging into the world of Wim Hof when he was in the early stages of grief following the death of his younger brother Ryan Breaux. He later released an uninterrupted interview with Wim for his show blonded, where Wim shared how he used his now famous techniques to get through his own grief. Frank released this with “sounds underneath to heighten the feeling”… It’s a guided-type of meditation unto itself.

And if chants and mantras are more your vibe to get into a meditative state, our fave hip hop meets meditation record is ‘Now’, released in 2002 by Bhagavan Das and produced by the one and only Mike D.

While Lil Jon’s ‘Total Meditation’ may seem like a pivot, in the context of hip hop’s growing embrace of meditation and mindfulness, it’s right on track.