Crunk

• 1. Etymology And Origins

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  The word crunk first appeared in print within a 1972 Dr. Seuss book titled Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!. The author used the phrase Crunk-Car without providing any definition for the term at that time. This obscure reference sat dormant until the 1980s when Atlanta nightclubs began using it to describe being full of energy or hyped up. By the mid-1990s, publications like Rolling Stone magazine defined the word as getting excited or pumped up. Outkast became the first artist to use the term in mainstream music with their 1993 track Player's Ball. A seminal year for the genre arrived in 1996 with the release of Three 6 Mafia album Chapter 1: The End. That same year Memphis-based underground hip hop artist Tommy Wright III released his album On the Run featuring the Project Pimp track Getting Crunk.

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• 2. Musical Characteristics

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  An archetypal crunk track features layered keyboard synths and drum machine clapping rhythms alongside heavy basslines. Shouting vocals often appear in a call and response manner throughout these songs. The sound borrows heavily from Miami bass and Eurodance styles while utilizing sparse truncated 808 handclaps as staples. Roland TR-808 and 909 drum machines usually accompany simple repeated synthesizer melodies in the form of ostinato. These elements create a hypnotic effect paired with heavy bass stabs. The tempo of Lil Jon's Get Crunk sits at 78 beats per minute. Focal points of crunk are more often the beats and music than the lyrics within them. Rappers such as Lil Jon shout and scream their lyrics creating a heavy aggressive style of hip hop. Lyrics can be isolated to simple chants like Where you from or You can't fuck with me. This subgenre is almost exclusively party music favoring call and response slogans over substantive approaches.

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• 3. Pioneering Artists And Groups

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  Crunk music arose from Miami bass music before 1996 in the southern United States particularly in African American strip clubs of Memphis Tennessee. Two mixtape DJs from Memphis named DJ Paul and Juicy J started making original music distinctive for its spare low-BPM rhythms and simplistic chants. They soon became known as Three 6 Mafia and frequently featured rappers such as Project Pat Lord Infamous Gangsta Boo and La Chat on their releases. In 1997 Atlanta based artist Lil Jon released his first album titled Get Crunk Who U Wit with his group the East Side Boyz. He was one of the key figures in popularizing crunk during 1998 and 1999 before signing to TVT Records in 2001. Other artists helped popularize the genre including Ying Yang Twins White Dawg Bone Crusher and Lil Scrappy from Atlanta. David Banner from Mississippi also contributed significantly to the early stages of this movement. The New York Times denied that Get Crunk Who Are You With was the first crunk album ever but acknowledged Lil Jon's role in bringing the term further into the mainstream.

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• 4. Mainstream Breakthrough Era

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  Some crunk music hits climbed to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 charts between the early and mid-2000s. Songs like Get Low Goodies Yeah! and Freek-a-Leek produced by Lil Jon achieved massive commercial success. The song Get Low performed by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz with the Ying Yang Twins reached number two position on the chart. It spent more than 21 weeks inside the charts overall. Busta Rhymes and Nelly accepted offers to perform on remixes of Get Low despite previously avoiding Southern hip hop associations. Lil Jon's album Kings of Crunk containing Get Low became double platinum. In 2004 independent label Crunk Incorporated signed a major distribution deal with Reprise Warner Bros. Records for the group Crime Mob. They released the platinum single Knuck If You Buck followed by their 2006 hit Rock Yo Hips. R&B singer Houston released his crunk&B hit I Like That which reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2004. By 2005 crunk&B reached the Billboard Hot 100 number one position with the song Run It! performed by Chris Brown.

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• 5. Cultural Stigma And Media Reaction

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  The term evolved to take on a negative stigma involving police parents and media outlets throughout the 2000s. In 2011 the company manufacturing the alcoholic drink named Crunk Juice brought out an alcoholic version targeting 19 to 21 year olds. This demographic falls under the US legal drinking age resulting in the drink being blamed as a cause of crime or victimization. Mainstream media began publishing stories where the word referred to crazy and drunk criminals. The drink was allegedly marketed towards those under the legal drinking age leading to public backlash. Non-alcoholic drinks were also manufactured and marketed under the Crunk brand name with Lil Jon serving as spokesman. This usage became synonymous with the meaning crazy drunk rather than just energetic or hyped up. Law enforcement agencies started using the term to describe criminal behavior associated with intoxication.

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• 6. Evolution Into Trap Music

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  Growing interest among music producers outside the Southern hip hop scene led to various subgenres including Eurocrunk and acid crunk. Most recently trap music emerged as a dominant force replacing older styles. By the end of 2009 crunk had seen relative decline in mainstream American music due to rising popularity of trap and drill subgenres. Electropop and EDM also contributed to this shift away from the original sound. In 2015 singer Tinashe incorporated crunk elements into her single All Hands on Deck featuring Iggy Azalea. That song contained themes of girl power and self empowerment. Rapper Saweetie sampled Petey Pablo's 2004 crunk hit Freek-a-Leek for her song My Type in 2019. Despite these modern references the genre eventually gave way to new sounds that dominated the charts after 2009. Atlanta R&B group Cherish gained prominence with their summer 2006 song Do It to It which debuted at number 86 before peaking at number 12.

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