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.
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.
Crunk Juice is the fifth and final studio album by American Southern hip hop group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. It was released on November 16, 2004, under BME Recordings and TVT Records. The production was primarily handled by Lil Jon himself, who also collaborated in the executive production, alongside Bryan Leach, Rob McDowell, Emperor Searcy, Vince Phillips, the Neptunes and Rick Rubin. The album includes guest appearances from rappers and singers, like R. Kelly, Ludacris, Ice Cube, Usher, Bun B from UGK, Jadakiss, Nas, T.I., the Ying Yang Twins and Pharrell.
"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."
Trillville is an American hip hop group formed in 1997. Its founding members are Donnell Don P Prince, Dirty Mouth, and LA. Dirty Mouth left the group in 2007 to pursue a solo career and returned in 2011.
"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher featuring American hip-hop artist Lil Jon and American rapper Ludacris. The song is written by the featured artists alongside Sean Garrett, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, Robert McDowell, and LRoc. The song incorporates crunk and R&B—which Lil Jon coined as crunk&B—in the song's production. The song was released as the lead single from Usher's fourth studio album Confessions (2004) on January 10, 2004, after Usher was told by Arista Records, his label at the time, to record more tracks for the album.
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.
My Ghetto Report Card is the ninth studio album by American rapper E-40. It was released on March 14, 2006, by BME Recordings, Sick Wid It Records, Reprise Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was supported by two singles: "Tell Me When to Go" featuring Keak Da Sneak, and "U and Dat" featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl.
"U and Dat" is the second single from E-40's album My Ghetto Report Card. The song features American singers T-Pain and Kandi Girl, and it was produced by Lil Jon. A remix was released in early August with Juelz Santana, Snoop Dogg, and Lil' Flip. It was featured on an Amp'd Mobile commercial. Although it is considered a West Coast hip hop song, the song's beat structure incorporates typical Southern hip hop dance claps as well as Lil Jon's signature crunk synths and whistles. The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, which remains E-40's highest-charting single as lead artist to date. The track is credited to have popularized the use of T-Pain as a hook singer on hip hop tracks. The song was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 15, 2024.
Crunk Rock is the debut solo studio album and sixth overall album by American rapper Lil Jon, released on June 8, 2010 by BME and Universal Republic. The characters at the bottom of the album's cover are Japanese katakana characters, which read "Kurunku Rokku", an approximation of the Japanese transliteration of the album's title. The album predominantly consists of guest appearances from artists including Ice Cube, Pitbull, the Ying Yang Twins, Waka Flocka Flame, The Game, Travis Porter, Damian Marley, Soulja Boy, R. Kelly and Whole Wheat Bread; the latter of whom assisted with its production alongside Drumma Boy, Benny Blanco, Dr. Luke, Steve Aoki, R. City and Shawty Redd, among others. Crunk Rock received mixed reviews and peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard 200.
"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.
The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy is a collaborative and split studio album between BME artists Trillville and Lil Scrappy released by Black Market Entertainment, Reprise Records and Warner Bros. Records on February 24, 2004. The album is certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA. On copies with Trillville on the front cover, the Trillville side appears first and on copies with Lil Scrappy on the cover the Lil Scrappy side appears first.
"What U Gon' Do" is a song by Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz, released in November 2004 as the lead single from their album Crunk Juice and features Lil Scrappy.
"Freek-a-Leek" is an American hip hop song co-written and recorded by American rapper Petey Pablo. It was released on December 1, 2003, as the second single from his second album, Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (2004). It was produced by Lil Jon and is an example of a crunk song. The single peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 in July 2004.
"Lovers and Friends" is a song by American Southern hip-hop group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring American singer Usher and American rapper Ludacris, from the group's fifth and final studio album, Crunk Juice (2004). The song was written by the artists alongside Michael Sterling, while produced by Lil Jon. It was released by BME and TVT Records in November 2004, as the third single from the album. An R&B slow jam, the song consists of a piano melody and hook, and contains a sample of Sterling's song of the same name. The lyrics depict the three artists attempting to seduce women.
"Let's Go" is a song by American rapper Trick Daddy, released as the first single from his 2004 sixth studio album Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets. It features Twista and Lil Jon and was produced by Jim Jonsin and Bigg D. The song became a top ten hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Trick Daddy's most successful single of his career. The song samples "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. It was used in the films Stomp the Yard (2007) and Neighbors (2014) in addition to the extended trailer for Megamind (2010). In 2019, the song is heard during the trailer for a new mode in Gears 5 called Escape. Despite the sample already being cleared with Osbourne's publishing, Osbourne had not listened to the song until February 2021 when producer Andrew Watt played him the song to his approval.
"No Problem" is a song by American rapper Lil Scrappy. It is his second single and the fourth single overall from the album The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy (2004). The song was produced by Lil Jon.
Darryl Raynard Richardson III, professionally known as Lil Scrappy, is an American rapper.
"Neva Eva" is the first single from Trillville's debut album The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy. The song features Lil Scrappy and Lil Jon. The single was released on November 4, 2003 through Warner Bros. Records, Reprise Records, and Lil Jon's Black Market Entertainment Recordings.
"Perfect" is a song by American rapper Logic from his sixth studio album No Pressure (2020). It was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio on August 11, 2020. The song features uncredited vocals from rapper Juicy J, and was produced by 6ix, FnZ and Keanu Beats. The official remix of the song was released on September 24, 2021, featuring American rappers Lil Wayne and ASAP Ferg.
