Crunk is a type of hip hop music that began in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the mid-2000s. It is often fast-paced and is one of the more dance-friendly styles within Southern hip hop. A typical crunk song usually includes a main rhythm made up of layered keyboard sounds, a drum machine beat, strong bass music, and vocal parts that often alternate between a singer and a group. The word "crunk" was also used during the 2000s to describe any style of Southern hip hop, partly because this genre became well-known to a larger audience. The term comes from the African-American Vernacular English past-participle form of the verb "to crank," as in the phrase "crank up." It means to feel excited or to be under the influence of drugs.
Etymology
The word "crunk" comes mainly from African-American slang and has several meanings. It most often refers to the verb phrase "to crank up." Some people think the term started from the past-tense form of "crank," which was sometimes spelled "crunk" in the South. If a person, event, or party was very energetic or excited—like being "cranked up"—it was said to be "crunk."
In books, "crunk" appears in the 1972 Dr. Seuss book Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! where the term "Crunk-Car" is used without an explanation. The word was also used in the 1980s in Atlanta, Georgia nightclubs to describe something full of energy or excited. In the mid-1990s, "crunk" was defined in different ways, such as "hype," "phat," or "pumped up." Rolling Stone magazine included "crunk" in a list of slang words from the "Dirty South," where it meant "to get excited."
The group Outkast is credited with using "crunk" in mainstream music in their 1993 song "Player's Ball." The year 1996 was important for the term, with the release of Three 6 Mafia's album Chapter 1: The End, which included the song "Gette'm Crunk," and Tommy Wright III's album On the Run, which featured the track "Getting Crunk."
Lil Jon helped make "crunk" popular in mainstream culture with his 1997 album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. He later used the term in other songs and albums, and many artists credit him with spreading the word and the music style.
Lil Jon further popularized "crunk" with his 2004 album Crunk Juice, and he is credited with creating an alcoholic drink of the same name. This drink became closely linked to the meaning "crazy drunk." Non-alcoholic drinks with the name "Crunk" were also sold, with Lil Jon as their spokesperson.
Over time, the word "crunk" took on a negative meaning, especially with police, parents, and the media. In 2011, the company that made the "Crunk" drink released an alcoholic version called "Crunk Juice." This drink was marketed to people aged 19 to 21, who are younger than the legal drinking age in the United States. Because of this, some people blamed "Crunk Juice" for crimes or being a victim of crime. The media later used the word "crunk" to describe criminals who were drunk or acting recklessly.
Musical characteristics
Crunk music takes musical ideas from Miami bass, Eurodance, and 1980s call-and-response hip hop. It often uses sounds made by electronic instruments and simple, short handclaps from the 808 drum machine. Drum machine beats and bass rhythms are repeated and looped. The Roland TR-808 and TR-909 are two popular drum machines used in crunk. These machines are often paired with simple, repeating synthesizer melodies, called ostinato, to create a hypnotic, repetitive sound. The bass in crunk music is strong and sudden. The song "Get Crunk" by Lil Jon has a tempo of 78 beats per minute.
The main focus of crunk music is usually the beats and sounds, not the lyrics. Crunk rappers, like Lil Jon, often shout or scream their lyrics, creating a loud and aggressive style. Their lyrics are often simple chants, such as "Where you from?" and "You can't fuck with me." Unlike other hip hop styles that discuss social or personal issues, crunk music is mostly about having fun. It uses call-and-response slogans instead of more detailed or meaningful themes.
History
Crunk music began in the southern United States before 1996, especially in African American strip clubs in Memphis, Tennessee. A Memphis-based hip hop group called Three 6 Mafia played an important role in creating the crunk style during the mid-to-late 1990s. Two mixtape DJs from Memphis, DJ Paul and Juicy J, started making their own music. Their music had simple rhythms, short chants, and repeating sounds that were fast-paced. This duo became known as Three 6 Mafia. They often worked with rappers like Project Pat, Lord Infamous, Gangsta Boo, and La Chat. These artists helped shape the crunk music style.
In 1997, in Atlanta, Lil Jon and his group the East Side Boyz released their first album called Get Crunk, Who U Wit. This was the first of six albums they made. The New York Times said that Get Crunk, Who Are You With was not the first crunk album ever. Lil Jon became a key figure in popularizing crunk music during 1998 and 1999. He made two gold records on his own before joining TVT Records in 2001. After being called the "King of Crunk," Lil Jon worked with many famous artists, including Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Ludacris, and Britney Spears. However, crunk music was not only connected to Lil Jon and Three 6 Mafia. Other artists, such as Ying Yang Twins, White Dawg, Bone Crusher, Lil Scrappy, Trillville, YoungBloodZ, Pastor Troy from Atlanta, and David Banner from Mississippi, also helped make crunk music popular.
In the early to mid-2000s, crunk songs like Get Low, Goodies, Yeah!, and Freek-a-Leek produced by Lil Jon reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Other songs he produced included Okay, Cyclone, Girlfight, U and Dat, and Touch. Yeah! and Goodies introduced a new style of crunk music called crunk&B, which combined crunk with contemporary R&B. These songs, performed by Usher and Ciara, reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2004.
The song Get Low (2003), performed by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz with the Ying Yang Twins, helped bring crunk music into the national spotlight. Get Low reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the charts for more than 21 weeks. Rappers who were not from the southern United States, like Busta Rhymes and Nelly, later performed on remixes of Get Low. Lil Jon’s album Kings of Crunk, which includes Get Low, became double platinum.
In 2004, an independent label called Crunk Incorporated signed a major deal with Reprise/Warner Bros. Records for the crunk group Crime Mob. They released the platinum single Knuck If You Buck. Later, in 2006, they had a hit called Rock Yo Hips. In March 2004, R&B singer Houston released a crunk&B song called I Like That, which reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2005, the crunk&B song Run It! by Chris Brown reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. By 2005 and 2006, crunk and crunk&B music became popular on American R&B charts and replaced older styles of hip hop and R&B. An Atlanta R&B group called Cherish gained attention with their 2006 song Do It to It. The song first appeared at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 and later reached number 12. It stayed on the charts for 21 weeks.
As more music producers outside the Southern hip hop scene became interested in crunk music, new subgenres were created, such as Eurocrunk, crunkcore, crunkczar, aquacrunk, acid crunk, and trap music. By the end of 2009, crunk music had declined in popularity in mainstream American music, partly because trap and drill music, as well as electropop and EDM, became more popular. In 2015, American singer Tinashe used crunk elements in her song All Hands on Deck, which features Iggy Azalea. The song includes themes of girl power and self-empowerment. In 2019, rapper Saweetie used a sample from Petey Pablo’s 2004 crunk hit Freek-a-Leek in her song My Type.