Lil Jon is opening up about the childhood accident that led him to hide his eyes behind sunglasses throughout his career.
The legendary producer and artist discusses the incident in his upcoming memoir, I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me. Speaking to PEOPLE about the book in an interview published on Friday (Oct. 16), Jon reflected on how the experience shaped his life and career.
Growing up, the Atlanta native watched his diabetic mother, Carrie, take insulin shots. Around six-years-old, he took one of her syringes and wanted to see how air would feel on his eye, but ended up accidentally stabbing himself in the eye instead. Doctors later diagnosed him with a “traumatic cataract from the needle.”
The injury led to multiple surgeries, including a corneal transplant, and required him to wear a metal eye patch to school. The experience also made him a target for being made fun of.
“I definitely was teased in school,” he told PEOPLE. “At that age if somebody’s different, they’re going to pick on you. I became shy. But somehow I turned it into, ‘I want to always prove people wrong.'”
Jon learned to play drums shortly before the accident and eventually channeled his energy into music. As an adult, he developed a lazy eye linked to the childhood injury. And though he had another surgery to address the condition, he continues to wear sunglasses.
“Whenever people have put me down, I used that as fuel in my fire to excel,” he added. “I got to figure out how to pave my way no matter what. I got to prove people wrong. I’m the type, if an obstacle is put in front of me, I’m going to figure out how to go through it, over it, under it, around it.”
I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me is due out Oct. 20.
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