The cause of death forLil Jon's son, Nathan Smith, has been revealed after the 27-year-old's body was recovered from a pond near his home in Georgia on Feb. 6.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner's confirmed that Smith's cause of death was "drowning in the setting of psilocybin use,"PeopleandE! Newsreported, citing an autopsy report.
The autopsy also stated that Smith's blood had tested positive for "a pharmacologically active hallucinogenic compound of psilocybin — hallucinogenic mushrooms," according to E! News and People.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Fulton County Medical Examiner.
Smith, who went by the stage name DJ Young Slade, was found dead after running out of his home without his phone on Feb. 3 around 6 a.m, according toa missing persons report. The Milton Police Department in Milton, Georgia, said at the time that he "may be disoriented and in need of assistance."
After police confirmed his death on Feb. 6,Lil Jon shared a statementsaying he and Smith's mother, Nicole Smith, were "extremely heartbroken" and "devastated."
"Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet. He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warmhearted."
"He loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest. He was an amazingly talented young man; a music producer, an artist and engineer, and graduate of NYU," the statement continued. "We loved Nathan with all of our hearts and are incredibly proud of him. He was loved and appreciated, and in our last times together we're comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him."
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Lil Jon and Nicole Smith married in 2004 and later separated in 2022. The rapper is also a father to daughter Nahara, whom he shares with girlfriend Jamila Sozahdah.
DJ Young Slade attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Sept. 11, 2024, in Elmont, New York." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Lil Jon's son found dead at 27. Revisit his career as DJ Young Slade.
DJ Young Slade attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Sept. 11, 2024, in Elmont, New York.
Who was DJ Young Slade?
Nathan Smith was a DJ and musician, just like his father, Lil Jon.
"Lade released this when he graduated from college. He was so happy to express his art n do it himself. I was so proud of him for doing it all on his own," Lil Jon wrote on Instagram promotinga song called "Move Thru Fire."
Under the stage name DJ Young Slade, Smith aimed to follow in his father's footsteps while also paving his own lane. In March 2025, he dropped anew single titled "Feels"that premiered on MTV.
"It's dope to appreciate my dad, show respect, and just look at all the things he's done, and it's nice to get the torch passed down and do my own thing," Smith toldThe Quintessential Gentlemanfollowing the release of the track in March. "Because it's like it comes from him, but also I'm definitely taking it and making it my own."
Lil Jon previously said his son started DJing at age 11 and graduated from the Scratch DJ Academy in Los Angeles at age 12, according toPeople. As a teenager, he DJed at various LA clubs before making his own music.
"It's literally in your kid's genes to do what you do," he said, per People. "It is in their genes. It is in their DNA. We pass everything we get and we learn down to our children. So he was destined to be in the music business and do music."
Contributing: Anika Reed and Anna Kaufman
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Lil Jon's son Nathan Smith's cause of death confirmed
