On his upcoming album, 'Crunk Rock,' multi-platinum rapper Lil Jon is making sure there is a heavy amount of rock. "I'm collaborating with a lot of rock cats," Jon told Spinner recently at the GM Ten event in L.A. "I've been working with Green Day's producer, Rob Cavallo, and P.O.D.'s guitarist Marcos Curiel."

Jon said his rock inspiration comes from his background. "Well, my favorite band is Bad Brains. When I was younger I used to listen to a lot of punk. Bad Brains to the Sex Pistols -- even Minor Threat. I used to skate."

He's also brought in some new talent to infuse the project with the energy Bad Brains was famous for. "I got this band I found on My Space called Whole Wheat Bread," he says. "I ended up collaborating with them and doing some hot records for the album. One thing that drew me to them is they're from Jacksonville, Florida and it's an all-black band. There aren't many southern, punk black bands."

As to when fans will hear the album and see the tour, Jon is just trying to get everythig up to his high standards. "It's going to be late this year," he says of a release date. "I'm just trying to make it perfect. I had two back to back double-platinum albums, so I gotta live up to that."

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