Crunk
Encyclopedia
Crunk is a music style that originated in Memphis, Tennessee
in the mid-to-late 1990s and gained mainstream
success around 2003–2004. Performers of crunk music are sometimes referred to as crunksters. An archetypal crunk track most frequently uses a drum machine
rhythm, heavy bassline
, and shouting vocals, often in call and response
manner. The term crunk is also used as a blanket term to denote any style of southern hip hop, a side effect of the genre's breakthrough to the mainstream.
magazine published "glossary of Dirty South slang", where to crunk was defined as "to get excited". Originally, the term came from the past tense form of "crank"; which is often misstated as "crunk" in the South. Thus, if a person, event or party was hyped or "cranked"- it was said to be "crunk". A common misconception is that the term "crunk" came from a portmanteau of "crazy" and "drunk". Outkast
were the first artists to use the term crunk in mainstream music, in the 1993 song "Player's Ball
". 1996 proved to be a seminal year for the genre, with the releases of Three 6 Mafia
album "Chapter 1: The End
" (featuring "Gette'm Crunk"), Memphis-based underground hip-hop legend Tommy Wright III album "On the Run" (featuring the Project Pimp track "Getting Crunk"), as well as the release of Lil Jon's debut single, "Who U Wit."
Often, the word "buck" is used in the same exact context. Many rappers used "buck" along with "crunk" to describe the way the club or scene was getting, using expressions such as "gettin' buck". This is an abbreviation of the expression "buck wild."
. Heavy use of synthesized instruments and sparse, truncated 808 drums are staples of the crunk sound.
Looped, stripped-down drum machine
rhythms are usually used. The Roland TR-808
and 909
are among the most popular. The drum machines are usually accompanied by simple, repeated synthesizer
melodies
and heavy bass stabs. The tempo
of the music is somewhat slower than hip hop, around the speed of reggaeton
.
The focal point of crunk is more often the beats
and music than the lyrics therein. Crunk rappers, however, often shout and scream their lyrics, creating a heavy, aggressive style of hip hop. These lyrics can often be isolated to simple chants ("Where you from?" and "You can't fuck with me" are common examples). While other subgenres of hip hop address sociopolitical or personal concerns, crunk is almost exclusively party
music, favoring call and response slogans in lieu of more substantive approaches.
-based Three 6 Mafia were "instrumental for the emergence of the crunk style" in the mid-to-late 1990s. Two mixtape DJs from Memphis, DJ Paul
and Juicy J
, started making their original music, which was distinctive with its "spare, low-BPM rhythms, simplistic chants . . . and narcotically repetitive, slasher-flick textures". This duo soon became known as Three 6 Mafia. Frequently featuring rappers such as Project Pat
, Lord Infamous
, and Gangsta Boo
on their releases, they became instrumental in the formation of crunk music. In 1996, now in Atlanta, Lil Jon
with his group, The East Side Boyz, released their first album, entitled Get Crunk Who U Wit
. Lil Jon said that they were first to use the word crunk in a song hook; he claimed that they had started to call themselves a "crunk group" on account of this album. However, The New York Times
denied that "Get Crunk, Who are you With" was the first crunk album ever.
Three 6 Mafia, known in the early to mid-90s as "Triple 6 Mafia", are probably the originators of "buck" and "crunk" music. Their first record or recording as a group in 1995 was "Mystic Stylez". Based on an early song "Tear the Club Up 95", a southern hip-hop classic. Three 6 Mafia might well be the originators of "crunk" music. "Anybody out there doing crunk music needed to be sending a shout out to 3-6 Mafia cause, ya'll know that's where that came from," UGK's artist Pimp C stated in an interview. Also stating Atlanta knows good and well that "Crunk" music was started by Three 6 Mafia. Just keep in mind, DJ Paul and Juicy J were not the only members in Triple 6 Mafia at that time, there were a lot of collaborations on their early releases such as Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Lord Infamous, Koopsta Knicca, Gangsta Boo, Project Pat, Killa Klan Kaze, La Chat, Crunchy Black.
Lil Jon was just one of the key figures in popularizing crunk during 1998-1999. He produced two gold records independently, before signing to TVT Records
in 2001. But crunk was not exclusively associated with Lil Jon and Three 6 Mafia, on its early stages such artists as Ying Yang Twins
, Joey Cutless
, Bone Crusher
, Pastor Troy
from A-TOWN, and David Banner
from Mississippi
also helped to popularize crunk music.
" (2003), performed by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz with the Ying Yang Twins
, is credited as the track which put crunk music into the national spotlight. "Get Low" reached number-two position in Billboard Hot 100
music charts; overall, it spent more than 21 weeks in charts. Though rappers not from Dixie
had tended to avoid being associated with southern hip hop music before, Busta Rhymes
and Nelly
accepted to record remixes on "Get Low". Lil Jon's album, entitled "Kings of Crunk
" which contained "Get Low", became double platinum.
In 2004, crunk blended with urban contemporary
music, when Lil Jon produced "Yeah!
" for Usher
, this blend became known as crunk&B.
Crunk music arose from miami bass
music before 1996 in the southern United States
, particularly in African American
strip club
s of Atlanta, Georgia
. One of the most prominent pioneers of crunk music Lil Jon
said that crunk appeared as he decided to fuse hip hop and electro music with electronic dance music
like house and techno
. In the early 2000s, some of crunk music hits like "Get Low
", "Goodies
" and "Yeah!
" produced by Lil Jon climbed to Top10 of Billboard Hot 100
charts. Both "Yeah!" and "Goodies" were the first tracks to introduce the substyle of crunk music and contemporary R&B
called Crunk & B to the public. Both of those tracks (performed by Usher
and Ciara
, respectively) were the main mainstream hits of 2004. Since then, crunk & B has been one of the most popular genres of sung African American music, along with electro pop. In 2005, crunk & B reached Billboard Hot 100 number one position once again, now with the Pop song "Run It!
" hit, performed by Chris Brown. In 2005-2006, crunk/crunk&B conquered American R&B charts and charts specialising on music with rapping
and replaced hip hop and older styles of contemporary R&B there. In 2007, 17 year old entertainer Soulja Boy
made the massive superhit called "Crank That" which enjoyed number one position in Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks, was nominated for a Grammy and became one of the main hits of the year. Around 2007, a bunch of internet websites specialising on crunk and hip hop mixtapes opened, and that fact caused the growing of the popularity of crunk. Also in 2007, crunk singer and rapper T-Pain
popularised the use of autotune effect in crunk music, which became very popular in many styles of popular music since then. In 2008, both crunk and its subgenre crunk & B developed a new subgenre of trance crunk, and Usher's superhit "Love in This Club
" enjoyed number one position in Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. Around 2006-2008 many crunk music albums appeared on Billboard Top 200 number one position. However, it was in 2008 when crunk and crunk'n'B started getting replaced in charts by electro pop. In 2009, numerous crunk hits reached Top40 in American charts. The growing interest in crunk music among white music producers caused the appearance of various subgenres of crunk, including eurocrunk, crunkcore
, crunkczar, and aquacrunk.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
in the mid-to-late 1990s and gained mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
success around 2003–2004. Performers of crunk music are sometimes referred to as crunksters. An archetypal crunk track most frequently uses a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
rhythm, heavy bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
, and shouting vocals, often in call and response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
manner. The term crunk is also used as a blanket term to denote any style of southern hip hop, a side effect of the genre's breakthrough to the mainstream.
Etymology
Before its use to describe a musical genre, the word crunk was a new way of saying "hyped" or "pumped up". In the mid 1990s, crunk was variously defined either as "hype" or "phat". Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine published "glossary of Dirty South slang", where to crunk was defined as "to get excited". Originally, the term came from the past tense form of "crank"; which is often misstated as "crunk" in the South. Thus, if a person, event or party was hyped or "cranked"- it was said to be "crunk". A common misconception is that the term "crunk" came from a portmanteau of "crazy" and "drunk". Outkast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
were the first artists to use the term crunk in mainstream music, in the 1993 song "Player's Ball
Player's Ball
"Player's Ball" is the debut single from hip hop artists Outkast. The single was released in 1993, and is taken from the group's debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. The song itself discusses the nature of living in the South of the United States, and growing up within a hip hop culture....
". 1996 proved to be a seminal year for the genre, with the releases of Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia are an Academy Award-winning, American rap group originating from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1991 as Triple 6 Mafia, by DJ Paul, Juicy J, & Lord Infamous, the group at its most featured six members including; Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo and Koopsta Knicca...
album "Chapter 1: The End
Chapter 1: The End
Chapter 1: The End is the full-length follow-up by Three 6 Mafia to their debut album Mystic Stylez. During the timeline between the two albums, Three 6 Mafia were having a war of words with Cleveland based rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and released an EP dissing the group...
" (featuring "Gette'm Crunk"), Memphis-based underground hip-hop legend Tommy Wright III album "On the Run" (featuring the Project Pimp track "Getting Crunk"), as well as the release of Lil Jon's debut single, "Who U Wit."
Often, the word "buck" is used in the same exact context. Many rappers used "buck" along with "crunk" to describe the way the club or scene was getting, using expressions such as "gettin' buck". This is an abbreviation of the expression "buck wild."
Musical characteristics
Musically, crunk borrows heavily from bass music and 1980s era call and response hip hopHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. Heavy use of synthesized instruments and sparse, truncated 808 drums are staples of the crunk sound.
Looped, stripped-down drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
rhythms are usually used. The Roland TR-808
Roland TR-808
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real...
and 909
Roland TR-909
The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer is a partially analog, partially sample-based drum machine built by the Japanese Roland Corporation in 1983. The brainchild of Tadao Kikumoto, the engineer behind the Roland TB-303, it features a 16-step step sequencer and a drum kit that aimed for realism and...
are among the most popular. The drum machines are usually accompanied by simple, repeated synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
melodies
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and heavy bass stabs. The tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of the music is somewhat slower than hip hop, around the speed of reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
.
The focal point of crunk is more often the beats
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
and music than the lyrics therein. Crunk rappers, however, often shout and scream their lyrics, creating a heavy, aggressive style of hip hop. These lyrics can often be isolated to simple chants ("Where you from?" and "You can't fuck with me" are common examples). While other subgenres of hip hop address sociopolitical or personal concerns, crunk is almost exclusively party
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
music, favoring call and response slogans in lieu of more substantive approaches.
Origin of crunk
MemphisMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
-based Three 6 Mafia were "instrumental for the emergence of the crunk style" in the mid-to-late 1990s. Two mixtape DJs from Memphis, DJ Paul
DJ Paul
Paul Beauregard, better known by his stage name DJ Paul, is an American rapper and record producer from Memphis, Tennessee. He is one half of the current Memphis-based rap group Three 6 Mafia. He is also the half brother of former Three 6 Mafia member Lord Infamous. He won an Academy Award for Best...
and Juicy J
Juicy J
Jordan Michael Houston, better known by his stage name Juicy J is an Academy Award winning American rapper and record producer from Memphis, Tennessee and is the co-founder and a member of the duo Three 6 Mafia . He is also the younger brother of Project Pat...
, started making their original music, which was distinctive with its "spare, low-BPM rhythms, simplistic chants . . . and narcotically repetitive, slasher-flick textures". This duo soon became known as Three 6 Mafia. Frequently featuring rappers such as Project Pat
Project Pat
Patrick Houston, better known as Project Pat is an American rapper originating from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the older brother of Juicy J, co-founder of the Three 6 Mafia....
, Lord Infamous
Lord Infamous
Lord Infamous is an American rapper. He is a co-founder of the Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia. He is also considered by fans and critics alike as being the more psychotic member of the group, with his lyrics touching on occult subject matters such as christianity, satanism, mass murder, suicide,...
, and Gangsta Boo
Gangsta Boo
Gangsta Boo, also known as Lady Boo was the first female member of the Memphis, Tennessee-based rap group Three 6 Mafia...
on their releases, they became instrumental in the formation of crunk music. In 1996, now in Atlanta, Lil Jon
Lil Jon
Jonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...
with his group, The East Side Boyz, released their first album, entitled Get Crunk Who U Wit
Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album
Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album is the debut album by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz.-Track listing:# "Album Intro" - 0:26# "Bounce Dat Ass" - 5:38# "Shake Your Booty" - 5:41# "Get Crunk " - 0:49# "Get Crunk" - 4:24...
. Lil Jon said that they were first to use the word crunk in a song hook; he claimed that they had started to call themselves a "crunk group" on account of this album. However, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
denied that "Get Crunk, Who are you With" was the first crunk album ever.
Three 6 Mafia, known in the early to mid-90s as "Triple 6 Mafia", are probably the originators of "buck" and "crunk" music. Their first record or recording as a group in 1995 was "Mystic Stylez". Based on an early song "Tear the Club Up 95", a southern hip-hop classic. Three 6 Mafia might well be the originators of "crunk" music. "Anybody out there doing crunk music needed to be sending a shout out to 3-6 Mafia cause, ya'll know that's where that came from," UGK's artist Pimp C stated in an interview. Also stating Atlanta knows good and well that "Crunk" music was started by Three 6 Mafia. Just keep in mind, DJ Paul and Juicy J were not the only members in Triple 6 Mafia at that time, there were a lot of collaborations on their early releases such as Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Lord Infamous, Koopsta Knicca, Gangsta Boo, Project Pat, Killa Klan Kaze, La Chat, Crunchy Black.
Lil Jon was just one of the key figures in popularizing crunk during 1998-1999. He produced two gold records independently, before signing to TVT Records
TVT Records
TVT Records was an independent US record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 25 year history the label released some 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, Underworld, The KLF, Sevendust, Brian Jonestown Massacre and...
in 2001. But crunk was not exclusively associated with Lil Jon and Three 6 Mafia, on its early stages such artists as Ying Yang Twins
Ying Yang Twins
The Ying Yang Twins is an Atlanta-based American crunk rap duo consisting of Kaine and D-Roc . The group debuted in 2000 and rose to mainstream popularity in 2003 collaborating with Lil Jon in his single "Get Low"...
, Joey Cutless
Joey Cutless
Joseph Jones , primarily known by his stage name Joey Cutless, is an American record producer of film and television. He is the founder of Rothstein-Unstopable Music Group LLC. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of Crunk, a style of rap music characterized as...
, Bone Crusher
Bone crusher
A bone crusher was a device for crushing animal bones. Bones obtained during slaughter were cleaned, boiled in water and dried for several months. After that, they were suitable for crushing with the special machine into a relatively dry gritty powder which was used as fertilizer.The machine,...
, Pastor Troy
Pastor Troy
Micah LeVar Troy is an American rapper, actor, and record producer. He is also a member of the hardcore rap group D.S.G.B. .-Early life:Micah LeVar Troy was born on November 18, 1977 in Augusta, Georgia...
from A-TOWN, and David Banner
David Banner
Lavell Crump , better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer and occasional actor. Banner was born in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated from Southern University. He started his music career as a member of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz before going solo in 2000...
from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
also helped to popularize crunk music.
Rise in popularity
The song called "Get LowGet Low (song)
"Get Low" is a popular song by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins, released in 2003. It is featured on the 2002 album Kings of Crunk. The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number 20 on the US Hot Digital Songs...
" (2003), performed by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz with the Ying Yang Twins
Ying Yang Twins
The Ying Yang Twins is an Atlanta-based American crunk rap duo consisting of Kaine and D-Roc . The group debuted in 2000 and rose to mainstream popularity in 2003 collaborating with Lil Jon in his single "Get Low"...
, is credited as the track which put crunk music into the national spotlight. "Get Low" reached number-two position in Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
music charts; overall, it spent more than 21 weeks in charts. Though rappers not from Dixie
Dixie
Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States.- Origin of the name :According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of this nickname remain obscure. According to A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles , by Mitford M...
had tended to avoid being associated with southern hip hop music before, Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
and Nelly
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
accepted to record remixes on "Get Low". Lil Jon's album, entitled "Kings of Crunk
Kings of Crunk
Kings of Crunk is the fourth studio album by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz.Based on the success of the album's second single "Get Low", Kings of Crunk made the top twenty of the US album chart in September 2003...
" which contained "Get Low", became double platinum.
In 2004, crunk blended with urban contemporary
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
music, when Lil Jon produced "Yeah!
Yeah! (Usher song)
"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher, released on 3 February 2004 as the lead single from his hit fourth studio album Confessions. The song was written by Lil Jon, Sean Garrett, Patrick J. Que Smith, Ludacris, Robert McDowell, and LRoc. It was produced by Lil Jon, who combined crunk and R&B...
" for Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
, this blend became known as crunk&B.
Crunk music arose from miami bass
Miami bass
Miami bass , is a type of hip hop music, that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Its roots are directly linked to the Electro-funk sound of the early 1980s, pioneered by Afrika Bambataa & The Soulsonic Force and later on by UK-based musician Paul Hardcastle...
music before 1996 in the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, particularly in African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
s of Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. One of the most prominent pioneers of crunk music Lil Jon
Lil Jon
Jonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...
said that crunk appeared as he decided to fuse hip hop and electro music with electronic dance music
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
like house and techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
. In the early 2000s, some of crunk music hits like "Get Low
Get Low (song)
"Get Low" is a popular song by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins, released in 2003. It is featured on the 2002 album Kings of Crunk. The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number 20 on the US Hot Digital Songs...
", "Goodies
Goodies (song)
"Goodies" is the debut single by American recording artist Ciara. Written by herself, Sean Garrett, LeMarquis Jefferson, and Craig Love, the song is produced by Lil Jon and features label-mate Petey Pablo. It was released worldwide from June 2004 as the lead single from her debut album of the same...
" and "Yeah!
Yeah! (Usher song)
"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher, released on 3 February 2004 as the lead single from his hit fourth studio album Confessions. The song was written by Lil Jon, Sean Garrett, Patrick J. Que Smith, Ludacris, Robert McDowell, and LRoc. It was produced by Lil Jon, who combined crunk and R&B...
" produced by Lil Jon climbed to Top10 of Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
charts. Both "Yeah!" and "Goodies" were the first tracks to introduce the substyle of crunk music and contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
called Crunk & B to the public. Both of those tracks (performed by Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
and Ciara
Ciara
Ciara Princess Harris , known mononymously as Ciara, is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and fashion model. Born in Austin, Texas, she traveled around the world during her childhood, only to land in Atlanta, Georgia where she met music producer, Jazze Pha...
, respectively) were the main mainstream hits of 2004. Since then, crunk & B has been one of the most popular genres of sung African American music, along with electro pop. In 2005, crunk & B reached Billboard Hot 100 number one position once again, now with the Pop song "Run It!
Run It!
"Run It!" is the debut single by American R&B singer Chris Brown, featuring American rapper Juelz Santana. It was written by Santana, Sean Garrett and Scott Storch, and produced by the latter. It was released in 2005 and is Brown's first career single, off his debut album Chris Brown...
" hit, performed by Chris Brown. In 2005-2006, crunk/crunk&B conquered American R&B charts and charts specialising on music with rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
and replaced hip hop and older styles of contemporary R&B there. In 2007, 17 year old entertainer Soulja Boy
Soulja Boy
DeAndre Cortez Way , better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur, and internet personality....
made the massive superhit called "Crank That" which enjoyed number one position in Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks, was nominated for a Grammy and became one of the main hits of the year. Around 2007, a bunch of internet websites specialising on crunk and hip hop mixtapes opened, and that fact caused the growing of the popularity of crunk. Also in 2007, crunk singer and rapper T-Pain
T-Pain
Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
popularised the use of autotune effect in crunk music, which became very popular in many styles of popular music since then. In 2008, both crunk and its subgenre crunk & B developed a new subgenre of trance crunk, and Usher's superhit "Love in This Club
Love in This Club
"Love in This Club" is a song by American R&B singer Usher. Featuring rapper Young Jeezy, it was released on February 22, 2008 as the lead single from Usher's fifth studio album, Here I Stand. The song was written by Usher, Polow da Don, Young Jeezy, Darnell Dalton, Ryon Lovett, Lamar Taylor and...
" enjoyed number one position in Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. Around 2006-2008 many crunk music albums appeared on Billboard Top 200 number one position. However, it was in 2008 when crunk and crunk'n'B started getting replaced in charts by electro pop. In 2009, numerous crunk hits reached Top40 in American charts. The growing interest in crunk music among white music producers caused the appearance of various subgenres of crunk, including eurocrunk, crunkcore
Crunkcore
Crunkcore is a musical genre that combines crunk hip-hop with elements of screamo...
, crunkczar, and aquacrunk.