Lil Louis

Who is Lil Louis?

Lil Louis is the stage name used by Chicago-born house-music producer and DJ Louis Sims. He scored a number of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1980s and 1990s, three of which hit #1.

His best known song, "French Kiss," featured vocals by Shawn Christopher and spent two weeks at #1 on the dance chart in 1989. The track features a several-minutes-long breakdown in which the music gradually slowed down in tempo to a stop. Even with its sensual sound, it crossed over to some pop radio stations and climbed to #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a big success throughout Europe reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart and in Germany, and number one in the Netherlands.

The video was directed by Marek Budzynski

Laurent Garnier's 1997 12" single "Flashback" contained a remix made by Lil Louis called "Lil Louis Civilized Instrumental Painting."

British Drum 'n' Bass producers Ed Rush & Optical remixed the track "French Kiss".

In 2000, fellow producer Josh Wink released "How's Your Evening So Far?"—credited to Wink vs. Lil Louis—a track that heavily sampled "French Kiss." The song peaked at #3 on the dance chart. The song was also sampled in 2000 by female hip hop emcee Lil' Kim on the track "Custom Made," which was featured on The Notorious KIM.