Lil Jon Shares His Top 3 Jet Lag Hacks That Keep Him Energized on Tour—Plus His Go-to Travel Playlist (Exclusive)

If you need a playlist for your next trip, whether you are flying to Las Vegas or road tripping up the coast, Lil Jon has got you. According to the Grammy winner, it all comes down to the vibes you want to set for your trip.

“If you’re traveling, the soundtrack is everything. It depends on where you’re going. If you’re going to Vegas, you want to play some party tunes. You play ‘Get Low,’ play some EDM songs, play whatever you want to hear that’s going to turn you up! But let’s say you’re sightseeing, you’re going on a cross-country trip, you might not want to be as hyped. It’s something more R&B, 90s R&B, 2000s R&B, you know, chill. Or, I get into a vibe where I listen to some Jon Batiste. I like the album he put out recently called ‘Beethoven Blues.’ A lot of that type of new age piano music, that’s good stuff. It just depends on where you’re going, and how hyped or how not hyped you want to be.”

Lil Jon, born Jonathan Smith, certainly has experience with all types of travel, considering he has been touring consistently since 2000, all over the world with the likes of Usher, Eminem, Ludacris, Ciara, and Akon (to name a few). He also performed at the Super Bowl in 2024 when Usher headlined, and for his next tour, starting this month in Australia, he will perform with Mariah Carey. 

Lil Jon and Andre 3000 at the Hakkasan Nightclub in Las Vegas.

Lil Jon

With Lil Jon

Go-to room service order?

Postmates. Middle Eastern food, when you travel on the road, especially internationally, is always a safe, healthy bet. If I do get room service, I’ll get some kind of fish dish.

Favorite business-class airline experience?

I think Singapore is the one with the suites? I think that one. And, of course, Emirates.

Go-to snack or drink order on the plane?

I sometimes take my own yogurt, grapefruit, and that’s pretty much it. Sometimes the meals aren’t for me, really. I just get fruit.

Favorite hotel?

The One & Only chain, in general, is my favorite hotel. Literally anywhere in the world you go to, a One & Only property is going to be amazing.

Best celebrity travel companion?

E-40. E-40 would be an awesome travel buddy because he would always be saying some crazy lingo. And plus, he’s a good dude.

Thanks to his decades of touring experience, Lil Jon definitely has a few tricks up his sleeve when it comes to traveling to a different time zone and still having the energy to perform for thousands. His top travel hack for jet lag—which he will definitely use in Australia—is an LED light to help reset his circadian rhythm. “Set it to the time zone you’re in. I carry that with me when I’m doing long flights for five hours or more, and I want to get over the jet lag quicker,” he told Travel + Leisure in a recent interview. 

His other two jet lag hacks are to always push through the jet lag when you arrive somewhere and to stay up as late as possible, as painful as it may be. He compares the exhaustion of jet lag to getting a punch in the face, but says it’s worth staying up and getting on the new time zone. 

Lil Jon performs during a game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks at halftime on September 25, 2025.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Though he has conquered jet lag, even superstar rappers still have to deal with canceled flights and lost luggage. Just recently, after performing at a Cardinals half-time show in Arizona, he tried to make a flight to Vegas for another gig. A flood alert shut down the airport, and his flight was delayed three times—which he says is the magic number for it eventually being canceled. His luggage was lost amidst all the planes being diverted, and they ended up having to drive to Vegas in the middle of the night. 

When he does actually get on the plane, Lil Jon listens to binaural beats—with two tones at slightly different frequencies that are played simultaneously in each ear—to help him relax and be calm on the flight. He also listens to the sounds of rain and the ocean. Lil Jon, who has a meditation album coming out this month, said, “The binaural beats actually help you to get a deeper sleep than you normally would on a plane, because you don’t really rest on the plane. But you get some rest when you listen, when you can go into that REM sleep”.

Lil Jon in a campaign with Hyundai.

Hyundai

After Australia, Lil Jon may be focusing more on road trips instead of long-haul flights. The Atlanta native just partnered with Hyundai for their “I See You” marketing campaign for the 2026 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. He had never experienced a Hyundai before, but he spent a lot of time in the sleek new car to shoot the commercial for the ad. “I was highly impressed with the luxury of the car, the look of the car. I love the way the grill is on the car, the color of the car, the interior of the car, the dash has a nice big screen inside, not too big, not too little, right?” Throw in a great sound system for that perfect travel playlist, and Lil Jon is set.