Atlanta  artist Lil Jon often talks about the value of education.

Now, the award-winning rapper and producer has put his influence behind helping children go to school in rural eastern Ghana.

He recently partnered with the nonprofit Pencils of Promise to open a school in Abomayaw  in memory and honor of his mother, Carrie M. Smith.

Ribbon cutting ceremony at a school in Ghana, which Lil Jon helped build. HANDOUT

Students in that community have been “taught in unfavorable learning conditions. Kindergarten students are learning in open pavilions with unfinished walls and dirt floors, and without formal doors or windows.” according to Pencils of Promise.

Lil Jon is  known for hits like Get Low”,  with the East Side Boyz, and “Yeah” with Usher and Ludacris. To help raise money he asked friends and fans to donate to the project in lieu of birthdays gifts ealier this year.

Related:

The three-unit school, which will also have an ancillary office and washroom facilities. According to PoP’s website, the school will impact hundreds of students  over the lifetime of the school.

In addition to the new kindergarten classrooms, repairs will be made and windows fitted to the primary students’ classrooms, providing the students with more light during class hours and better ventilation. The Abomayaw community committed to providing up to 20 percent of the labor and resources needed to complete  construction.

Lil Jon is also helping build a second school in Ghana.

Pencils of Promise currently works in Ghana, Laos and Guatemala.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Fireworks will be set off at dusk at Alpharetta’s Independence Day event at Wills Park. The photo shows a view of a previous year’s fireworks from the nearby Walk of Memories at American Legion Post 201. (Courtesy of Alpharetta Convention & Visitors Bureau/Jack Tuszynski)

Credit: Jack Tuszynski/PhotoJack.net

Featured

Roey Shoshan sits inside the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in Dunwoody on Friday, June 27, 2025. Shoshan was born and raised in Israel and has lived in the United States for more than a decade. (Natrice Miller/AJC)