Q&A: Lil Jon remixes 'Get Low' to encourage colorectal cancer screening

Key takeaways:

• Exact Sciences partnered with Lil Jon to encourage people to get screened for colorectal cancer.
• Healio spoke with Lil Jon to learn more about the remix of his iconic song and what the campaign means to him.

Grammy award winning rap artist Lil Jon has revamped the meaning of one of his most popular tracks to encourage colorectal cancer screening.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the top causes of cancer death in the United States, but if caught early, it is far less deadly. New screening options have expanded access to testing and offered an alternative to more invasive methods like a colonoscopy. For example, Cologuard is a multitarget stool DNA test and is a noninvasive tool for people aged 45 years and older at an average risk for CRC.

Exact Sciences Corporation, Cologuard’s manufacturer, recently partnered with the multi-platinum artist to spread awareness about the screening method and improve uptake.

Healio spoke with Lil Jon to learn more about what it means to ‘Get Low’ for preventive health care.

Healio: Why did you decide to do this project? Do you have any personal tie to CRC or early cancer detection?

Lil Jon: Exact Sciences contacted me about an idea of using “Get Low” to influence people to go get screened for colon cancer using the Cologuard kit. I had seen Cologuard commercials on TV, but I really didn't know what it was all about. And at this point in my life, I'm really all about health and wellness. I've been really [big] on taking care of my body for some years now, and even more so in the last 2 years. Also, since I started to read, since I started to drop my meditation album, and seeing the effect that's had on people, and how people are coming back to me saying, “Thank you. I might not have ever meditated, but you turn me on to something I understand.” My platform can be used to influence people for good things. And if I'm all about health and wellness right now, why can't I share this knowledge with people?

So, it was a great idea for this campaign to use the song because when you screen for colon cancer, you have to take a number two, so you have to get low. I thought it was genius. And then the fact that, if you were young when the song came out, you're probably at the age when you need to get screened.

I had a colonoscopy, like, 5 years ago, but if I would have known more about the Cologuard, I would have used the Cologuard kit instead. So, the all-around is just a fit with where I am mentally and what I want to put out there for people.

Healio: What do you hope the song will accomplish?

Lil Jon: I just hope it'll push more people to get screened. People of average risk 45 years of age and older, they can just get screened at the crib, at home. A lot of millennials are out there walking around that haven't been screened, and this is an easy way to do it. I really just want to push people to take their health more seriously; don't only take it seriously when something's wrong. Prevention is everything.

Healio: Research has shown significant racial disparities in CRC diagnoses and mortality, especially among Black patients, and you’re known for your advocacy work in several different areas. Was that important to you when you decided to remix the song?

Lil Jon: That's one statistic I didn't know until I really got involved with the campaign. People can see someone that looks like them, that they can relate to, [tell them] to go get screened using the Cologuard kit. So 100%, that was something that I thought was really important. The song could definitely hit some of that demographic — or a lot of that demographic — and push some of those people to go get screened.

We did an event with the Atlanta Falcons, and some older Black women came up to me and were like, ‘this is a really good thing you're doing,’ so that shows that it's already impacting those communities as well.

Healio: It’s so cool to see such a prominent musician using his platform to spread awareness about preventive health care in this way. Will you discuss the unique position you are in as a celebrity to advocate for public health and reducing these disparities?

Lil Jon: As a good human being, you don't keep knowledge for yourself, you share knowledge. So, if I'm doing practices to help me stay healthy, why shouldn't I share it with other people? And if I have a platform where I can turn people on to something that could potentially prevent some bad things happening to them, why wouldn't I step up and be a part of that and push that out there?

I think I'm all about health with where I'm at in my life — mental health, physical health — and I'm going to keep pushing that and championing that to the masses and get people to take it more seriously. When I was younger, people didn't tell me, “hey, in about 20 years, you're going to need to go get screened.” Or “this processed food is kind of bad.” ... No one really talked to me like that about any of that stuff.

When you're in your 20s, you think you're Superman. Just like all rappers. We think we Superman. We think nothing's gonna ever happen to us. But you get older and life really starts to happen. And all of that bad stuff you were doing and excess stuff you were doing when you were younger, it catches up to you. All of those crab boils and chicken wings at 2 in the morning; it ain't good. Your cholesterol is high or whatever, your arteries are clogged. So, it's just good to turn people onto it, because I wasn't turned on to it. And if I can turn people onto it, I feel like I'm doing a great service for the world.

Healio: As an artist, what was it like to reinvent the concept of getting low?

Lil Jon: It's crazy because the song is over 20 years old now, and for the commercial, I had to replay everything. I listened to the original song, and then I re-did everything from scratch, even my vocals, the Ying Yang twins' vocals, we went and re-recorded everything over. It's crazy, because I think I did that beat in 1998 or 1999, that's when I produced the song, the beat, and then I didn't use it till early 2002. For something that old, we had pulled it back up and were listening to each sound and just replaying it. It's crazy how when you're making something, you never know where it's going to go. A song we made about people shaking their booties is now used to bring awareness and to push people to go get screened for colon cancer. That's a wonderful thing.

Healio: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Lil Jon: If you want to get a Cologuard kit, you can go to www.getlow2.com and you can get more information on the kit, order your kit, see the video, all that good stuff. And then I have meditation albums out. We have ‘Total Meditation’ and then we have ‘Manifest Abundance: Affirmations for Personal Growth.’ Both of those are out, and people can check all of that out.

References:

• Exact Sciences and Lil Jon partner on “Get Low #2” campaign to encourage colon cancer screening. https://www.exactsciences.com/news-events/press-releases/exact-sciences-and-lil-jon-partner-on-get-low-35-2-campaign-to-encourage-colon-cancer-screening. Published Dec. 2, 2024. Accessed Dec. 12, 2024.
• Get low with Lil Jon and Cologuard. https://www.cologuard.com/getlow2. Accessed Dec. 12, 2024.