Lil Jon, Toys 'R' Us Flip Thanksgiving Parade Virality Into Autism Speaks Fundraiser

Lil Jon rides the Toys“R”Us float during the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. His viral “Turn Down for What” moment has since spun into a fundraising campaign for Autism Speaks, raffling the custom jacket he wore in the parade. (Courtesy photo)

Somewhere between the marching bands, the inflatable Pikachu, and a sea of corporate branding, Lil Jon managed to make the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade feel like a block party again.

His performance on the Toys“R”Us float went viral not because of any big-budget pyrotechnics, but because the Atlanta-born king of crunk somehow made a 99-year-old holiday institution shout back “Yeah!”

Now, a few weeks later, Lil Jon and Toys“R”Us are turning that unlikely viral moment into something bigger — and a little bit better — a charity raffle that supports Autism Speaks. The campaign, announced this week, lets fans donate through toysrus.com/donatenow for a chance to win the custom jacket Lil Jon wore during the parade. The top-tier prize includes a meet-and-greet with him in Los Angeles, airfare and one night’s hotel stay.

For every five-dollar donation, fans get a shot at the jacket. One hundred bucks? One hundred entries. And, naturally, there’s an “extra entry” if you tag a friend on Instagram.

It’s all in support of Autism Speaks, an organization that’s spent more than two decades funding research, services and advocacy for autistic individuals and families.

 

“I’m excited to partner once again with Toys“R”Us — giving fans the chance to win my custom jacket that I wore during the parade — in support of Autism Speaks,” Lil Jon said in a statement announcing the project. “Donate now, let’s gooo, YEAHHH!!”

If it sounds both genuine and absurd, that’s because it is. Lil Jon, the same artist who turned “Shots!” into a generational chant, cleaning up Turn Down for What for the Macy’s Parade, is the kind of cultural full circle that only hip-hop could pull off.

Kim Miller Olko, global CMO for Toys“R”Us, framed it as a continuation of their long-standing charity work. “We’re thrilled to carry that momentum forward through this unique initiative,” she said, adding that the company has previously supported Autism Speaks and wants to “expand that partnership.”

Still, there’s something poetic about it — a once-bankrupt toy company teaming with a former club-scene megastar to raise money for a cause that hits close to home for many families. A kid-friendly parade float turned into an act of giving.

Lil Jon has been on plenty of big stages — from Grammy wins to EDM festivals — but this particular spotlight, wholesome and weird as it may be, might be his most unexpectedly human. In a landscape where celebrity charity drives can feel transactional, this one at least carries some of the chaotic sincerity that’s kept the rapper relevant for twenty years.

Because sometmes, giving back doesn’t have to be quiet.

For more information or to participate click here. 

Tyrone ''Fly Ty' Williams, Cold Chillin’ Founder and Hip-Hop Pioneer, Dies at 68

Tyrone “Fly Ty” Williams, the pioneering founder of Cold Chillin’ Records and one of hip-hop’s first major-label executives, in an undated photo shared on his Instagram. The Brooklyn-born architect of rap’s golden age — who helped launch Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane and Roxanne Shanté — died Monday. (Photo via Instagram / @flytywilliams)

Tyrone “Fly Ty” Williams, a foundational architect of hip-hop’s golden era who founded Cold Chillin’ Records and helped launch some of rap’s most influential artists, died Monday in New York. He was 68.

Williams’ passing was confirmed on social media by the Hip-Hop Museum and peers in the culture, though no official cause of death has been publicly disclosed.

Rocky Bucano, CEO of the Hip-Hop Museum, shared a personal tribute on Facebook:

“This afternoon I received the heartbreaking news that my friend and brother in this culture, Tyrone ‘Fly Ty’ Williams, has passed away,” Bucano wrote. “Fly Ty was more than the former CEO of Cold Chillin’ Records — he was a pillar in the architecture of hip-hop. A trusted colleague, a champion for artists and one of the earliest executives to truly understand the power and potential of our culture.”

Artists and fans flooded social platforms with remembrances, celebrating Williams not just as a label head but as a mentor and cultural catalyst. Among them was MC Shan, a longtime Juice Crew member whose career Williams helped shepherd. Popular hip-hop feeds on Instagram and Facebook honored his legacy with tributes citing his vision and influence.

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Born and raised in Brooklyn, Williams came of age deeply steeped in music and culture before finding his calling in hip-hop. In 1986, at 27, he founded Cold Chillin’ Records — originally a subsidiary of Prism Records — which went on to become one of rap’s most influential labels during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Under his leadership, Cold Chillin’ became synonymous with the Juice Crew, the groundbreaking collective that included artists such as Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shanté, Kool G Rap and MC Shan. Their records helped define New York rap’s early identity and set the template for lyricism and cohesion in hip-hop.

Williams’ business acumen played a crucial role in positioning hip-hop for broader audiences. A distribution partnership with Warner Bros. Records helped bring Cold Chillin’ releases into national markets without diluting the music’s authenticity — a rare achievement at a time when major labels were only tentatively embracing rap as a commercial art form.

Before his label tenure, Williams worked as a radio executive and producer, collaborating closely with influential DJ Mr. Magic and helping to expand dedicated hip-hop programming on commercial airwaves — the first steps toward bringing the culture out of block parties and into mainstream listening rooms.

Though Cold Chillin’ closed in 1998, its influence persists through the artists it championed and the career pathways it opened. Generations of rappers and producers have cited the label’s work as foundational to hip-hop’s culture and business evolution.

Williams’ death marks the loss of one of hip-hop’s earliest visionaries — an executive who, at a time when few in the broader industry grasped the cultural potential of rap, believed in the music’s power and helped turn that belief into reality.

Phil Upchurch, Soulful Architect of Modern R&B and Jazz, Dies at 84

Phil Upchurch, a Chicago-born guitarist and composer whose six-decade career bridged jazz, soul and R&B and included collaborations with Donny Hathaway, Chaka Khan and Michael Jackson, died Nov. 23, 2025, in Los Angeles at 84. (Photo by Sonya Maddox-Upchurch)

Phil Upchurch’s guitar never shouted for attention, but if you grew up on Donny Hathaway, Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield or Michael Jackson, you’ve been living in his chords your whole life.

His wife, singer and actor Sonya Maddox-Upchurch, confirmed in a statement shared Dec. 2 that the guitarist died Nov. 23 in Los Angeles at 84.

“Phil was my husband, my musical partner, and my heart,” she wrote. “He touched so many lives through his gift and his spirit, and I thank everyone for the love and memories being shared. Please keep our family in your prayers as we celebrate his life and legacy.”

News of his passing spread slowly outside musician circles, as tributes from peers like Chaka Khan and George Benson began appearing in early December — a delay that feels fitting for a man who spent a lifetime behind the spotlight, shaping songs that defined modern soul and jazz without ever demanding the credit.

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A Chicago native born July 19, 1941, Upchurch came up in neighborhood R&B bands before becoming a house guitarist for Chess Records, backing artists like The Dells and Jerry Butler. In 1961 he scored his own hit with the instrumental “You Can’t Sit Down,” which reached the pop Top 40 and made his name a fixture on soul jukeboxes.

From there, he built the kind of resume that makes other musicians speak his name with reverence. He anchored Curtis Mayfield’s “Super Fly” era, worked with the Staple Singers, and became a trusted collaborator for Quincy Jones — a relationship that eventually landed him on Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” where his guitar on “Workin’ Day and Night” drives one of Jackson’s funkiest grooves.

Jazz, blues, gospel, R&B — Upchurch moved through all of it without ever sounding out of place. Over the decades he recorded or toured with B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Carmen McRae, David Sanborn and Ramsey Lewis, while still cutting his own albums like “The Way I Feel,” “Darkness, Darkness,” and the late-career favorite “Tell the Truth!”

For soul heads, his most sacred work may be with Donny Hathaway. Upchurch’s playing on “Donny Hathaway Live” helped turn those 1971 club dates into a master class in feel — the kind of record musicians still study to understand how to lift a vocalist without crowding them.

That sensitivity is exactly what Chaka Khan singled out in her tribute shared after his passing:

“Phil Upchurch was a rare light — steady, brilliant & deeply rooted in the music we created together. From the earliest days of my career, his playing carried a grace and sensitivity that lifted every note and every moment. I’m grateful for all the years of friendship, the wisdom he shared, and the joy we found in making music side by side. May he rest in peace, and may we continue to honor him by celebrating the music he helped bring into this world.”

Coming from an artist whose own catalog helped define ’70s and ’80s soul, that’s not boilerplate condolence — it’s peer-level recognition of a musician other legends leaned on.

Upchurch’s story is also a reminder of how much Black music history rests on names that never make the marquee. The same hands that drove his own hit “You Can’t Sit Down” were there for sessions and soundtracks that powered an entire era — from blaxploitation classics like “Super Fly” and “Claudine” to jazz-fusion experiments and church-bred soul.

For nearly six decades, if you cared about the intersection of jazz, gospel, R&B and pop, you’ve been hearing Phil Upchurch whether you knew his name or not.

Now the name is on the record, too.