Crunk
An archetypal crunk track frequently uses a dominant groove composed of a nuanced utilization of intricately multilayered keyboard synthesizers organized in a recurring pattern, seamlessly shifting from a lower to a higher pitch that encompasses the song's primary central rhythm, both in terms of its harmonic and melodic aspects.
The main groove is then wrapped up with looped, stripped-down, and crisp 808 dance claps and manipulated snare rolls coupled and accompanied by a bassline of thumping 808 kick drums.
[8] Lil Jon further popularized the word with his 2004 album Crunk Juice, and has been credited with inventing the potent alcoholic cocktail by that name.
Furthermore, a crunk composition is also complemented by the presence of resonant 808 bass kick drums, textured with crisp 808 dance-oriented hand claps, and adorned with modulated snare rolls.
The drum machines are usually accompanied by simple, repeated synthesizer melodies in the form of ostinato, to create a hypnotic effect, and heavy 808 bass stabs.
This unconventional approach yields a cacophonous yet intense manifestation of southern hip hop, characterized by its assertive, aggressive, and forceful nature.
Crunk's captivating appeal is expertly tailored to befit the ambient dance floors of Atlanta's southern hip hop nightclub scene, opting for simplistic and repetitious call and response vocal refrains in lieu of more substantive approaches.
[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".
Frequently featuring rappers such as Project Pat, Lord Infamous, Gangsta Boo, and La Chat on their releases, they became instrumental in the formation of crunk music.
After being named the "King of Crunk", Lil Jon went on[17] to make collaborations with many rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Ludacris and pop singer Britney Spears.
In its early stages, soloists and groups such as Ying Yang Twins, White Dawg, Bone Crusher, Lil Scrappy, Trillville, YoungBloodZ and Pastor Troy from Atlanta, and David Banner from Mississippi also helped to popularize crunk music.
Other hits produced by Lil Jon included "Shorty Wanna Ride", "Presidential", "Lovers and Friends", "Okay", "Come Get Some", "Tell Me When to Go", "Cyclone", "Girlfight", "U and Dat", and "Touch".
[19] Lil Jon's album, titled Kings of Crunk, which contained "Get Low", earned a double platinum certification from the RIAA.
However, this narrative began to shift when both Busta Rhymes, an East coast rapper, and Nelly, a mid-west rap soloist from St. Louis, agreed to collaborate and contribute their talents to remixes of the song "Get Low".
[21] On August 26, 2004, Nashville-based rapper Young Buck scored a top 20 summer hit single with his crunk song "Shorty Wanna Ride".
"[24] The song reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and eventually earned a Gold certification by the RIAA ten years later in March 2016.
He later followed up the hit single with another Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper "U and Dat" released on May 2, 2006, which was a crunk song that was mixed with elements of dirty rap, hyphy, and West Coast hip hop.
[28] On September 12, 2006, disc jockey DJ Webstar and rapper Young B released their crunk song, "Chicken Noodle Soup.
[33][34][35] Rapper Baby Bash released his hit crunk single Cyclone, which debuted at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early August 2007.
