Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis, and Miami—five cities which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.
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.
Kings of Crunk is the fourth studio album by American Southern hip hop group Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz. It was released on October 29, 2002 through BME Recordings/TVT Records. Recording sessions took place at Stankonia Recording, Soundlabs Studio, Flamingo Studios, The Zone, Patchwerk Recording Studios in Atlanta, at Audio Vision Recording in Miami, at Liveson Studios in Yonkers, at Piety Street Studios in New Orleans, at Cotton Row Studios in Memphis, at Quad Studios, Streetlight Studios and TMF Studios in New York, at The Orange Room, at The Den, and at Doppler Studios. Production was handled solely by Lil' Jon, who also served as executive producer together with Bryan Leach, Emperor Searcy, Rob McDowell and Vince Phillips. It features guest appearances from Oobie, Bun B, Chyna Whyte, 8Ball & MJG, Big Gipp, Bo Hagon, Devin the Dude, E-40, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Krayzie Bone, Mystikal, Pastor Troy, Petey Pablo, Styles P, Too $hort, Trick Daddy, Ying-Yang Twins, Luke, Pimpin Ken, Pitbull and T.I.
Lumidee Cedeño, known mononymously as Lumidee, is an American singer. She is best known for her 2003 single "Never Leave You ", which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and led her to sign with Universal Records. The song preceded the release of her debut studio album Almost Famous (2003), which saw mixed to negative critical reception and moderate commercial performance. Her second album, Unexpected (2007) saw a critical improvement despite a commercial decline, and was supported by the cover single "She's Like the Wind".
Jonathan H. Smith, better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American DJ, record producer, and rapper. 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 record producer for most recordings by artists of whom popularized the genre; these include Miami-based rapper Pitbull, Bay Area-based rappers Too Short and E-40, and fellow Atlanta-based artists Ludacris, Ciara, and Usher.
Michael Antoine Crooms, better known by his stage name Mr. Collipark, is an American hip hop producer and the president of his own Atlanta-based record label, ColliPark Music, which was founded in 1999.
Thug Walkin' is the debut studio album by American rap duo Ying Yang Twins from Atlanta, Georgia. It was released on April 25, 2000 via Collipark/Universal Records. The album peaked at #54 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #15 on the Heatseekers Albums and #10 on the Independent Albums.
Me & My Brother is the third studio album by Southern hip hop duo Ying Yang Twins. It was released on September 16, 2003 via TVT Records. Recording sessions took place at ColliPark Studio and The Zone in Atlanta, at TDD Studios in Miami, and at The Sound Lab Studios in Smyrna, GA. Production was handled by Mr. Collipark, Lil Jon and Derrick Williams. It features guest appearances from Bonecrusher, Hitman Sammy Sam, Khujo Goodie, Killer Mike, K.T., Ms. Flawless, Tha Rhythum, Trick Daddy, Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz.
U.S.A. is the fourth studio album by Atlanta-based rap duo Ying Yang Twins. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, with approximately 201,000 copies sold in the first week released, marking the duo's highest-charting album to date. The album was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA with an excess of 1 million copies sold. It was also released in a chopped and screwed version.
U.S.A. Still United is the second remix album by Atlanta-based rap duo Ying Yang Twins. The summer hit, "Wait ", is featured here in its remix version, as is the remix of the follow-up "Shake" with labelmate Pitbull and dancehall superstar Elephant Man. Also included is the most recent single "Bedroom Boom" featuring Avant, plus five previously unreleased songs.
Crunk Rock is the only solo album and sixth overall album by American crunk 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.
Chemically Imbalanced is the fifth studio album by American Southern hip hop duo Ying Yang Twins. It was released on November 28, 2006, via TVT Records. Production was handled by Mr. Collipark, Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean, Brian "B" Tealer and Jonathan "John Boy" Wright. It features guest appearances from Huggy, K.T., Los Vegaz, Taurus and Wyclef Jean. The album debuted at number 40 on the US Billboard 200 with 36,000 copies sold. Its lead single, "Dangerous", made it to number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Get Low" is a song by American rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, featuring American hip hop duo Ying Yang Twins, released as a single in 2003. It first appeared on the 2002 album Kings of Crunk. "Get Low" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 20 on the Hot Digital Songs chart. It was number five on the top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs of 2003. Outside of the United States, "Get Low" peaked within the top ten of the charts in the United Kingdom, the top twenty of the charts in Germany and the top forty of the charts in Australia, Austria, and New Zealand. It is also known as a breakthrough song for the crunk genre, as the song's success helped it become mainstream. It is listed number 99 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop.
The discography of Lil Jon, an American rapper, consists of 7 studio albums and 15 singles. Lil Jon was the lead vocalist for the group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz from 1997 to 2004. Since the group broke up, Lil Jon has continued to produce his own music and tracks for other artists.
This is the discography of American rap duo Ying Yang Twins.
"Salt Shaker" is a song released by rap group Ying Yang Twins featuring Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. It was released on their third studio album, Me & My Brother (2003). It was produced by Lil Jon with guitars played by Craig Love. The song reached the top 10 in the United States, peaking at number 9.
The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits, Volume 8 is the eighth annual music compilation album to be contributed by The Source magazine. Released June 29, 2004, and distributed by Image Entertainment, Hip Hop Hits Volume 8 features sixteen hip hop and rap hits. It went to number 43 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and number 45 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It is also one of only two Hip Hop Hits albums to be released in the same year; Volume 9 was released six months later.
Maurice Samuel Young, better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida. He is best known for his 2003 single "Let's Go", which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. The album of which it preceded, Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets (2004) peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart; both of which remain his most successful releases to date.
Trocon Markous Robert Jr., better known by his stage name FKi 1st, $1T or 1st Down, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. He first became known as one half of the Atlanta-based production duo FKi with fellow producer SauceLordRich, which was formed in 2007. The duo produced for music industry artists in hip hop and contemporary R&B during the 2010s, resulting in credits on Billboard Hot 100-charting singles such as "Dope" by Tyga, "Watch Out" by 2 Chainz, "Make It Rain", "Bring It Back" and "Ayy Ladies" by Travis Porter, as well as the quadruple platinum-certified single "Weekend" by Mac Miller. In his solo work, Robert has co-produced the singles "Work" for Iggy Azalea in 2013, "White Iverson" for Post Malone in 2015, co-wrote "Deja Vu" for the artist the following year, and "Pick It Up" for Famous Dex in 2017.
"What's Happenin!" is a song by American hip hop group Ying Yang Twins. It is the third single from their third studio album Me & My Brother (2003) and features American rapper Trick Daddy. The song was produced by Mr. Collipark.
