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 rapper, record producer and hype man. 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.
"Goodies" is the debut single by American singer Ciara featuring hip-hop rapper and Jive recording artist Petey Pablo for her 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."
"Lean Back" is a song by American hip hop group Terror Squad. It was released as the second single from their second studio album, True Story, on June 1, 2004. An uptempo hip hop song built for the club environment, it contains vocal performances from group members Fat Joe and Remy and production from Scott Storch. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, starting on August 21, 2004, and topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart for seven weeks. Worldwide, the song reached the top 20 in several other countries, including Denmark, where it peaked at number five.
"Yeah!" is a song by American singer Usher featuring American rappers Lil Jon and 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, 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 and Warner Bros. Records. My Ghetto Report Card was supported by two singles: "Tell Me When to Go" featuring Keak Da Sneak, and "U and Dat" featuring T-Pain and Kandi Girl.
"Gimme That" is a song written by Scott Storch and Sean Garrett and recorded by American singer Chris Brown for his eponymous debut album. The official remix, featuring American rapper Lil Wayne, was released as the third single from the album in April 2006 and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"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 U.S. 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 platinum by the RIAA on March 31, 2016.
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.
"Oh Yeah (Work)" is the third single from American rapper Lil Scrappy's second album Bred 2 Die Born 2 Live. The song's beat structure incorporates typical southern hip hop snares as well as Lil Jon's signature crunk synths. Although on the release of the album, the single was an unlisted track. It features E-40 and Sean P of the YoungbloodZ.
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.
"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.
"A Milli", abbreviated occasionally as "Milli", is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne. The song was released April 23, 2008, as the second official single from his sixth album Tha Carter III.
"Lovers and Friends" is a song by American rap 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 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.
"Got Money" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne featuring fellow American singer T-Pain, released as the third single from the former's sixth studio album Tha Carter III (2008). Both artists use the Auto-Tune effect in the song. The single was released as a digital download on iTunes on May 27, 2008. Lil Wayne and T-Pain performed the song at the BET 2008 awards and the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards. MTV also ranked the song as the number 19 Hip-Hop song of 2008.
"Mrs. Officer" is the fourth single from Lil Wayne's album Tha Carter III. Its lyrics explore the tension between criminal suspects and police officers by portraying a relationship between Lil Wayne and a female police officer; it goes so far as to reference the famous N.W.A rap song "Fuck tha Police". The song features Bobby Valentino and Kidd Kidd, and is produced by Deezle. The Music video officially debuted on September 9, 2008 It was ranked the No. 25 Hip-Hop song of 2008 by MTV.
"Can't Let You Go" is a song by American hip-hop artist Fabolous. It was released on February 23, 2003 as the second single from his second studio album Street Dreams. It is a hip hop and R&B song that features Mike Shorey and Lil' Mo and was produced by Just Blaze.
"Ms. Chocolate" is the first official single from Lil Jon's 2010 album Crunk Rock. The song features singers R. Kelly and Mario.
"Some Cut" is a song recorded by American hip hop group Trillville featuring guest vocals by rapper Cutty Cartel. The track was released as the second single from Trillville's debut album, The King of Crunk & BME Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy (2004). "Some Cut" was the group's biggest hit single; it peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2005. The song was a popular ringtone for mobile phones in the U.S. at the time of its release; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on the strength of those sales in 2006.
