Crunk is a music style that originated in Memphis, Tennessee^[1] in the mid-to-late 1990s and gained mainstream success around 2003-2004.^[2] Performers of crunk music are sometimes referred to as crunksters.^[3] An archetypal crunk track most frequently uses a drum machine rhythm, heavy bassline, and shouting vocals, often in call and response manner.^[2] 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.^[3]

Etymology[link]

Look up crunk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The term "Crunk" has been attributed mainly to African American slang which holds various meanings.^[4] It is theorized that the use of the term came from the past tense form of "crank", which was incorrectly conjugated as "crunk" in the South. Thus, if a person, event or party was hyped or "cranked"- it was said to be "crunk".^[4]

In publications, the term crunk can be traced back to 1972 in the Dr. Seuss book Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!. He uses the term "Crunk-Car" without any given definition.^[5] The term has also been traced to usage in the 1980s coming out of Atlanta, Georgia night clubs and meaning being "full of energy" or "hyped".^[6][7] In the mid 1990s, crunk was variously defined either as "hype", "phat", or "pumped up". Rolling Stone magazine published "glossary of Dirty South slang", where to crunk was defined as "to get excited".^[3][4]

Outkast has been attributed as the first artists to use the term crunk in mainstream music, in the 1993 song "Player's Ball".^[8] 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"),^[9] and Memphis-based underground hip hop legend Tommy Wright III album On the Run (featuring the Project Pimp track "Getting Crunk").^[10]

Artist Lil Jon was instrumental in bringing the term further into the mainstream with his 1997 album titled Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. He released other songs and albums using the term crunk. Lil Jon has been credited by other artists and musicians as the person who galvanized and mainstreamed the use of the term crunk as well as the music genre.^[7]

Lil Jon further disambiguated the term crunk with his 2004 album Crunk Juice. He is supposedly credited with inventing the "cocktail" Crunk Juice. This use of the term crunk became synonymous with the meaning "Crazy Drunk". Non alcoholic drinks, which alcohol could be added, were manufactured and marketed as "Crunk" with Lil Jon being the spokesperson.^[11][12]

The term has continued to evolve taking on a negative stigma with police, parents, and the media. In 2011, the same company that manufactured the drink "Crunk" came out with an alcoholic version of the beverage naming it "Crunk Juce" (also known as "CJ").^[13] This drink was marketed towards individuals between 19 to 21 year old and was being blamed by police of causing "drinkers of Crunk" to commit crimes or become victims of crime. The mainstream media began publishing stories in which the term crunk was being used to mean "Crazy and Drunk" criminals.^[12][14]

Musical characteristics[link]

Musically, crunk borrows heavily from bass music and 1980s era call and response hip hop. 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.^[3]

History[link]

Origin of crunk[link]

Crunk music arose from miami bass music before 1996^[1] in the southern United States, particularly in African American strip clubs 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 with electronic dance music like house and techno.

Memphis-based Three 6 Mafia were "instrumental for the emergence of the crunk style" in the mid-to-late 1990s.^[3] 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".^[3] 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.^[15]

In 1996, now in Atlanta, Lil Jon, with his group The East Side Boyz, released their first album, titled 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.^[3] However, The New York Times denied that Get Crunk, Who Are You With was the first crunk album ever.^[1] He was one of the key figures in popularizing crunk during 1998 and 1999, and produced two gold records independently, before signing to TVT Records in 2001.

Nevertheless, crunk was not exclusively associated with Lil Jon and Three 6 Mafia. In its early stages such artists as Ying Yang Twins, Joey Cutless, Bone Crusher, and Pastor Troy from Atlanta, and David Banner from Mississippi also helped to popularize crunk music.^[3]

Rise in popularity[link]

Lil Jon at Halo 3 Exclusive Preview in Atlanta, September 2007

In the early 2000s, some crunk music hits like "Get Low", "Goodies" and "Yeah!" produced by Lil Jon climbed to the Top 10 of the 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.^[16] Since then, crunk&B has been one of the most popular genres of sung African American music, along with electro pop, genre that replaced crunk and crunk&B in the charts in 2008.

The song called "Get Low" (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.^[17] "Get Low" reached number two position in Billboard Hot 100 music charts; overall, it spent more than 21 weeks in charts.^[18] Though rappers not from Dixie had tended to avoid being associated with southern hip hop music before, Busta Rhymes and Nelly accepted offers to perform on remixes of "Get Low".^[17] Lil Jon's album, titled Kings of Crunk, which contains "Get Low", became double platinum.

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 and 2006, crunk and 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. From 2006 to 2008 many crunk music albums appeared on Billboard Top 200 number one position.

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 that year, 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 crunk&B developed a new subgenre of trance crunk, a mix of crunk and trance music, and Usher's superhit "Love in This Club" enjoyed number one position in Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. The following year, numerous crunk hits reached Top 40 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.

References[link]

Lil Jon
Аt Halo 3 Exclusive Preview in Atlanta, September 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Jonathan Smith
Born	(1971-01-27) January 27, 1971 (age 41)[1] Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, crunk
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, DJ, producer, Actor,
Instruments	Keyboard, synthesizer, drum machine, sampler
Years active	1995–present
Labels	BME Universal Republic TVT Little Jonathan Inc.
Associated acts	Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, The Mr. Move, Too Short, 8Ball & MJG, E-40, Oobie, Yelawolf, LMFAO
Notable instruments
Roland TR-808, OpenLabs NeKo, Clavia Nord Lead

Jonathan Smith (born January 27, 1971),^[1][2][3] better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and international DJ 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. He then went solo and released a new album in 2010 called Crunk Rock.

Early life[link]

Lil' Jon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School.^[4]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

After working as a DJ for Atlanta night clubs, he started working for So So Def Recordings between 1993 and 2000.^[5] The group signed to the Atlanta-based Mirror Image Records and were distributed by Ichiban Records. In 1997, Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz debuted with Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. It included singles "Who U Wit?" and "Shawty Freak a Lil' Sumthin'", the latter of which came out in 1998. Both singles charted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 70 and No. 62 respectively.^[6] In 2000 Jon took part in starting up his own label BME Recordings and signed a distribution agreement with Norcross, Georgia based Southern Music Distribution. There he released his break through album titled We Still Crunk. Among the tracks on that project was the hit single "I Like Dem Girlz", which reached No. 55 on the R&B chart and No. 3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart.

After hearing feedback that Lil' Jon was "the new guy" from street team people in the markets where he was attracting his biggest audiences – namely Atlanta, St. Louis, Memphis and Dallas – A&R at TVT, Bryan Leach, went to one of his Atlanta shows and was blown away by the immense energy of the experience.^[7] Leach told HitQuarters: "It was like early Beastie Boys, when they had the energy of a rock group but they were rapping, and ... that energy is what crunk music is all about."^[7] Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz signed to TVT Records in 2001 and debuted there with Put Yo Hood Up, which combined previously released tracks with new ones. The group's first nationally played single was "Bia' Bia'", which featured rappers Ludacris, Too Short, Big Kapp, and Chyna Whyte.^[1] "Bia' Bia'" peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 47 on the Billboard R&B chart.^[6]

In 2002, the group released Kings of Crunk. "I Don't Give A..." was its first single; it featured Mystikal and Krayzie Bone and peaked at No. 50 on the R&B chart.^[6] The group's next single, a collaboration with fellow Atlanta hip hop group Ying Yang Twins titled "Get Low", became popular in nightclubs nationwide and reached the top ten of the Hot 100.Crunk Juice followed in 2004, led by "What U Gon' Do" featuring Lil' Scrappy. "What U Gon' Do" peaked at No. 22 on the Hot 100, No. 13 on the R&B chart, and No. 5 on the rap chart; its follow-up, "Lovers & Friends" featuring Usher and Ludacris, peaked at No. 3 (Hot 100), No. 2 (R&B), and No. 1 (rap).^[6]

Solo career and production[link]

In addition to leading Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz, Lil' Jon has also produced many hit urban singles. From 2003 to 2005, while still with The East Side Boyz, Lil' Jon produced hits like "Salt Shaker" by Ying Yang Twins, "Yeah!" by Usher, "Freek-a-Leek" by Petey Pablo, "Shorty Wanna Ride" by Young Buck, "Shake That Monkey" by Too Short, "Let's Go" by Trick Daddy, and "Girlfight" by Brooke Valentine.^[1] Lil' Jon entered the San Francisco Bay Area hyphy music scene in 2006 with his collaborations with Bay Area rapper E-40: Lil' Jon produced E-40's single "Tell Me When To Go" and had E-40 and Atlanta rapper Sean P on his own "Snap Yo Fingers".^[8] In 2006, Lil' Jon severed his negotiation with record label TVT. He vowed never to record for TVT Records again, alleging that TVT owner Steve Gottlieb was shortchanging him.^{[dead link][9]} He also began recording a rock music album, Crunk Rock; in May 2006 he began recording in Las Vegas, Nevada because rock band The Killers was recording its upcoming album Sam's Town there and the East Side Boyz signed a new deal with Rick Robinson aka Double R CEO and Founder of IMG Recordings, which the album got pushed back to 2013.^[10]

MTV News reported in March 2008 that Crunk Rock was taking more time to complete than Lil' Jon already planned.^[11] As part of TVT Records' 2008 bankruptcy auction, Lil' Jon withdrew his multi-million dollar objection to the TVT sale proceedings and agreed to TVT’s transfer of his artist agreement to The Orchard. In return, The Orchard released Lil' Jon from all future obligations and returned the rights to the master recordings of Crunk Rock. Crunk Rock was finally released on June 8, 2010 and it features artists such as LMFAO, Soulja Boy, Ying Yang Twins, Waka Flocka Flame, R.Kelly, and many more.^[12] In March 2011, Lil Jon took part in the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC and was eliminated in the Final Four.^[13] In July 2011, in a recent interview has said that he is working on a new studio album called "Party Animal" and has released a song with LMFAO called "Drink".

Musical style and influences[link]

Jason Birchmeier of all music has described Lil' Jon's production as "bass-heavy" and his album Put Yo Hood Up as having "a long and varied list of guest rappers to accompany the beats". With the guest performers featured on that album much more than the East Side Boyz, Birchmeier remarked: "The end result is an album that resembles a street-level mixtape rather than a traditional artist-oriented album".^[14] He was specifically influenced by 2 Live Crew, 8Ball & MJG, OutKast, Geto Boys, UGK, Dr. Dre, and Sir Mix-A-Lot. Alex Henderson, also of allmusic, contrasted Lil' Jon's style of "rowdy, in-your-face, profanity-filled party music" with other Southern rappers', those who "have a gansta/thug life agenda" and those who convey "serious sociopolitical messages".^[15] Lil' Jon has also found influence in rock music, having worked with Rick Rubin and Korn.^[16] This influence embodies itself in his aggressive delivery and 'yelling' style of rap. He was seen on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time program wearing a Bad Brains t-shirt and also used to listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd growing up in the South in the 70s. For Trick Daddy's "Let's Go", Lil' Jon sampled the bass line from Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train".^[10]

Personal life[link]

In 2004, Lil Jon was married in Puerto Rico.^[17] He also has a son named Slade Smith (born in 1998).

Discography[link]

Solo

• Crunk Rock (2010)
• Party Animal (TBA)

With the East Side Boyz

• Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album (1997)
• We Still Crunk!! (2000)
• Put Yo Hood Up (2001)
• Kings of Crunk (2002)
• Crunk Juice (2004)

Video games[link]

• Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
• 25 To Life (cameo appearance)
• Def Jam: Icon
• Need for Speed: Underground "Get Low (song)" song is featured in this game
• Def Jam: Icon "Get Low (song)" song in this Game

Filmography[link]

• 2004: Soul Plane
• 2005: Boss'n Up
• 2005: Hip-Hop Honeys: Las Vegas
• 2006: Date Movie
• 2006: Scary Movie 4
• 2007: Class of 3000
• 2008: Smoke and Mirrors
• 2009: Pimp My Ride International
• 2010: Freaknik: The Musical (voice only)
• 2011: The Celebrity Apprentice 4

Television Shows[link]

Chappelle's Show (2004)
Wild 'n Out (2006)

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lil Jon

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lil Jon

• Official website
• Lil Jon at MTV
• Lil Jon at the Internet Movie Database

Micah LeVar Troy (born November 18, 1977) is an American rapper, actor, and record producer. He is also a member of the hardcore rap group D.S.G.B. (Down South Georgia Boys).

Early life[link]

Micah LeVar Troy was born on November 18, 1977 in Augusta, Georgia. His father, Alfred Troy, is a Haitian-American drill instructor turned pastor.^[1]

Troy graduated from Creekside High School, and attended Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, before deciding to fully pursue his career in rap.^[1]

Career[link]

After being featured on recordings by Lil Jon and Ludacris, as well as being featured on the soundtrack to the movie xXx, Troy's 2002 album Universal Soldier became popular throughout the United States.^[1]

He released his first album, We Ready (I Declare War), in 1999. Ludacris featured Troy on his album Back for the First Time in the song "Get Off Me."^[2] In addition, Pastor Troy is the front man of the rap group D.S.G.B. (Down South Georgia Boys). DSGB originated in Augusta, Georgia.^[3] He was also featured on the collaborative album Kings of Crunk by Lil Jon in the song "Throw it Up".^[4] Troy and then friend Lil' Jon reached the top of the charts in the south with songs such as "Vice Versa" and "Throw it Up". Since being in the music industry, Pastor Troy has been in public conflict with Master P,^[1] Lil Scrappy and The BME Click, and Sno, with whom he has since come to terms. In 2002, Troy's album Universal Soldier became popular in the South, especially with the song "Are We Cuttin'" featuring Ms. Jade, which was also featured on the soundtrack for the action film xXx that year.^[5] The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard 200.^[6] In 2003, Troy appeared on Young Jeezy's 2003 album Come Shop wit' Me on the track titled "GA".^[7]

Troy later released one of his more commercial albums, By Any Means Necessary, in 2004. This album included the hit "Ridin' Big". Following this release, Pastor Troy was released from his Universal contract because of creativity disputes.^[1] He then released Face Off, Part II, which addressed some issues with Lil Scrappy and BME, adding new songs, and even remade some of his hits. In 2005, he appeared with Killer Mike on Chamillionaire's track "Southern Takeover" off of The Sound of Revenge.

Pastor Troy released three albums in 2006, starting with Stay Tru, then followed by By Choice Or By Force and Atlanta 2 Memphis, which is a collaboration album with Memphis rapper Criminal Manne. Stay Tru debuted at the Billboard 200 at #150, selling 6,000 copies its first week.^[8] Currently, Pastor Troy is signed with two record labels. SMC (Stay Tru, Tool Muziq) and Money and Power Records (Face Off Part 2, Atlanta 2 Memphis).^[9]

Pastor Troy released his 16th solo album, Ready For War, in June 2009, and released seven more studio albums up to 2011.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Collaboration singles[link]

Featured Guest Appearances[link]

• 2000: "Doin' The Fool" (E-40 feat. Pastor Troy, Al Kapone, Too Short & Pimp C)
• 2000: "Big Mouth, Big Talk" - Hypnotize Camp Posse feat. Pastor Troy
• 2000: "War Face" - Baddazis feat. Pastor Troy & Muffie
• 2000: "Get Off Me" - Ludacris feat. Pastor Troy
• 2000: "Do It" - Rasheeda feat. Pastor Troy, Quebo Gold & Re Re
• 2002: "ATL Hoe" - Baby D feat. Lil Jon, Archie Eversole & Pastor Troy
• 2002: "Throw It Up" - Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz feat. Pastor Troy
• 2002: "ATL Eternally" - Ying Yang Twins feat. Lil Jon & Pastor Troy
• 2003: "Fuck Em" - David Banner feat. Pastor Troy
• 2003: "Teacher's Pet" - T-Rock feat. Pastor Troy
• 2004: "We Ain't Playin'" - Lil Flip feat. Pastor Troy, Baby D, Killer Mike & Shawty Beezlee
• 2004: "Ride & Smoke" - Xzibit feat. Pastor Troy
• 2004: "Get Some Crunk In Yo System" - Trillville feat. Pastor Troy
• 2005: "Take It Outside" - Jody Breeze feat. Lil Jon & Pastor Troy
• 2005: "Southern Takeover" - Chamillionaire feat. Pastor Troy & Killer Mike
• 2006: "Tilt Ya Hat" - CUTTBOY G DINERO feat. Pastor Troy & 2Meka
• 2006: "Make Me Know It Then" - B.A. Boys feat. Pastor Troy
• 2006: "Say Say Lil Fine Ass" - Joi feat. Pastor Troy, Bun B & Trauma Black
• 2007: "And I Love You" - Rich Boy feat. Pastor Troy & Big Boi
• 2007: "My Posse" - Prophet Posse (Scarfo, Koopsta Knicca, Blackout, MC-Mack) feat. Pastor Troy & Yo Gotti
• 2007: "Don't Flex" - Edubb feat. Pastor Troy
• 2008: "Keep It 100" - Yung Envy feat. Pastor Troy
• 2008: "Put Em Up" - Baby D feat. Sean P & Pastor Troy
• 2008: "Power Up" - 100 Grand feat. Pastor Troy & C.P.
• 2008: "Break The Rules" - Prophet Posse (Scarfo, Scan Man, K-Rock & Indo G) feat. Pastor Troy
• 2009: "Dreads Hang" - Sho feat. Pastor Troy [Produced by Shawty Redd]
• 2009: "Pussy Poppin'" - Juney Boomdata feat. Project Pat & Pastor Troy
• 2009: "17.5" - Gucci Mane feat. Shawty Lo & Pastor Troy
• 2009: "All The Way Crunked Up" - Lil Jon feat. Pastor Troy & Waka Flocka Flame [Produced by Vybe Beatz]
• 2010: "Throw It Up, Pt. 2 (Remix)" - Lil Jon feat. Pastor Troy & Waka Flocka Flame [Produced by Drumma Boy]
• 2010: "Fuck The Club Up" - Waka Flocka Flame feat. Pastor Troy & Slim Dunkin [Produced by SouthSide]
• 2012: "Sold My Soul" - Lil Wyte feat Pastor Troy

Production credits[link]

Pastor Troy[link]

• Book I (by Pastor Troy & The Congregation):

"Havin' A Bad Day"

• Face Off:

"This Tha City"
"My Niggaz Is The Grind"
"Move To Mars"
"Throw Your Flags Up"
"No Mo Play In GA"
"Eternal Yard Dash" with Big Toombs
"Oh Father"

• Universal Soldier

"Universal Soldier"
"Bless America"

• Face Off (Part II):

"WWW (Who, Want, War)"
"Where Them Niggaz At"
"Respect Game"

• Tool Muziq:

"I'm Down"

D.S.G.B.[link]

• The Last Supper:

"We Dem Georgia Boyz"
"My Folks"
"Brang Ya Army"
"Above The Law II"
"Southside"
"Repent"

• Til Death Do Us Part:

"I'm Outside Ho"
"Sittin' On Thangs" with Taj Mahal

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pastor Troy on Twitter