Crunk is a subgenre of southern hip hop that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the early to mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more nightclub-oriented subgenres. Distinguishing itself with other Southern hip hop subgenres, crunk is marked and characterized by its energetic accelerated musical tempo, club appeal, recurrent chants frequently executed in a call and response manner, multilayered synths, its pronounced reliance on resounding 808 basslines, and rudimentary musical arrangement. 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. The term "crunk" was also used throughout the 2000s as a blanket term to denote any style of Southern hip hop, a side effect of the genre's breakthrough to the mainstream. The word derives from its African-American Vernacular English past-participle form, "crunk", of the verb "to crank". It refers to being excited or high on drugs.
Ciara Princess Wilson is an American singer and songwriter. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, Goodies (2004). Its namesake lead single peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, while the follow-ups, "1, 2 Step" and "Oh", both peaked at number two on the chart. The album received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and received two nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. Ciara also guest appeared on the 2005 singles "Lose Control" by Missy Elliott and "Like You" by Bow Wow, both of which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jonathan H. Smith, better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American hip-hop recording artist and record producer. He was instrumental in the commercial breakthrough of the hip-hop subgenre crunk in the early 2000s and is often credited as a progenitor of the genre. He was the frontman of the crunk group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, with whom he has released five albums. In addition, Lil Jon served as a producer for most recordings by artists who popularized the genre; these include Pitbull, Too Short, E-40, Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.
"Goodies" is the debut single by American singer Ciara featuring rapper and Jive recording artist Petey Pablo for Ciara's debut studio album of the same name. The song was released as the album's lead single on June 8, 2004, through LaFace Records. It was written by Ciara, Sean Garrett, LeMarquis Jefferson, and Craig Love, and Lil Jon the song's producer. The song was recorded as an answer song to the featured performer's hit single, "Freek-a-Leek." The song's lead woman refuses men's sexual advances, proclaiming that they will not get her "goodies" because "they stay in the jar."
Rasheeda Widad Buckner-Frost is an American businesswoman, rapper, and television personality.
Snap music is a subgenre of hip hop music derived from crunk that originated in southern United States in the 2000s, in Bankhead, West Atlanta, United States. It achieved mainstream popularity throughout the mid-late 2000s, but declined shortly thereafter. Popular snap artists include D4L, Ramage, Dem Franchize Boys and K-Rab.
"Snap Yo Fingers" is a song by American rapper Lil Jon. It was originally intended to be the first single from Lil Jon's solo debut album, Crunk Rock. However, the release date of Crunk Rock was subsequently delayed. In August 2006, Lil Jon's label TVT Records released the second volume of its Crunk Hits compilation, and "Snap Yo Fingers" was the opening track. When Crunk Rock was finally released four years later, the song was left out of the album.
Unappreciated is the debut studio album by the American girl group Cherish. It was released on August 15, 2006, by Sho'nuff and Capitol Records. The album was co-produced by Jermaine Dupri, along with the group. The sisters co-wrote every song on the album, along with Dupri. In the United States, the album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200, selling an estimated 91,000 copies in its first week of release. On September 21 that year, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA, for shipments of 500,000 copies. In Japan, the album debuted and peaked at number 20 on the albums chart. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 80 and sold 30,000 copies.
Chain Letter is the only studio album by Brooke Valentine, released on March 15, 2005, by Subliminal Entertainment and Virgin Records. Work on the album began after Valentine left the female group Best Kept Secret, in order to pursue a solo career. She moved to Los Angeles, California with producer and Subliminal Entertainment CEO Deja the Great to begin work on the album. Valentine enlisted a variety of producers to work on the album including Bink!, Bloodshy & Avant, Déjà "The Great", Jermaine Dupri, Brandon Howard, Lil Jon and Matt Serletic among others.
"Promise" is a song performed by American recording artist Ciara from her second studio album, Ciara: The Evolution (2006). It was written by Ciara, Jasper Cameron, Polow da Don and Elvis Williams and produced by Polow da Don and Nealante. The song was released as the album's official lead single on October 16, 2006, through LaFace Records. The song was selected as the first single as Ciara wanted to put out a single with a slower pace, noting that her previous releases had been up-tempo. According to Ciara, the song represents the album's theme of evolving and symbolizes her growth as a songwriter and artist.
Dat Type of Gurl is the fourth studio album by American rapper Rasheeda. It was released on June 19, 2007 by Atlantic Records. The album peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
"Got That Good (My Bubble Gum)" is a song by rapper Rasheeda released as the second single from her third album GA Peach and the first single from her fourth album Dat Type of Gurl.
"Do It" is the debut single by rapper Rasheeda, released as the lead single from her debut album Dirty South, which features Pastor Troy and Re Re. Additional vocals were made by Quebo Gold and it was produced by Karesha Jones.
Amazin' is the fifth studio album by the American rapper Trina. It was released by Slip-N-Slide Records on May 4, 2010, in North America. It includes the singles "That's My Attitude", "Million Dollar Girl", the R&B hit "Always" and "White Girl".
Kalenna Harper is an American singer and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known as a member of the musical group Diddy – Dirty Money, which was formed by herself, Dawn Richard, and Sean Combs in 2009. The group signed with the latter's Bad Boy Records to release their only album Last Train to Paris (2010), which was met with critical and commercial success. They also released two mixtapes until their disbandment in 2012.
Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta is an American reality television series that premiered June 18, 2012 on VH1. The series chronicles the lives of several people in Atlanta involved with hip hop music, and features appearances from notable figures associated with Southern hip hop.
"All Hands on Deck" is a song recorded by American singer Tinashe for her debut studio album, Aquarius (2014). It was written by Tinashe, Bebe Rexha, Stargate, and Cashmere Cat, and produced by the latter two. An uptempo crunk&B and snap song, "All Hands on Deck" contains a prominent pan flute breakdown, a thick bassline and "club-friendly" beat, and has been described as the "sister song" to the album's lead single "2 On." The track's lyrical content comprises a dance instructional and portrays a scenario of retaining confidence, and rebound dating after a break-up, and contain themes of girl power and self empowerment. On February 22, 2015, a remix version of the song premiered online featuring Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, and received a digital-only release on February 24. Serving as the third single from Aquarius, it impacted urban contemporary radio and was released as a digital download in the United States on February 24, 2015.
The first season of the reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta aired on VH1 from June 18, 2012, until September 3, 2012. The season was primarily filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. It was executively produced by Mona Scott-Young for Monami Entertainment, Toby Barraud and Stefan Springman for NFGTV, and Shelly Tatro, Brad Abramson, Danielle Gelfand and Jeff Olde for VH1. Carlos King served as co-executive producer.
The third season of the reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta aired on VH1 from May 5, 2014 until September 8, 2014. The season was primarily filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. It was executively produced by Mona Scott-Young for Monami Entertainment, Toby Barraud and Stefan Springman for Eastern TV, and Susan Levison, Nina L. Diaz, Brad Abramson and Danielle Gelfand for VH1.
