The Origins of Crunk

The name Lil' Jon is synonomous with crunk music. Heck, Lil' Jon is labeled as the "King of Crunk." But, do not be fooled by this prestigous title because the origins of crunk music may surprise you.

"Forget everything you think you know about the phenomenon that is Crunk - we're about to blow your mind with our exclusive, highly scientific investigation into its murky origins. Ready? Here we go...

You think you're pretty smart, right? You probably think you know where Crunk comes from, doncha? "Lil Jon invented it, dummy" you're probably thinking right now. BUT GUESS WHAT, GENIUS - YOU'RE DEAD WRONG. Lil Jon may have popularized the term along with Crunk Juice, Crunk Cups and Crunk Potato Chips, but it had its beginnings deep in the swamps and 'hoods of the Dirty South - we're talkin' Hotlanta...Nawleans...and a lot longer ago than you might think.

In 1994, OutKast released their first album "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" - and, on the track "Hootie Hoo", used the term for what is believed to be the first time on a recording. "Follow the funk from the skunk," Big Boi rapped, "and the dank that is crunk in the Dungeon." Big Boi's conclusion that certain types of dank are crunk while others are not represented the beginning of a phenomenon - one that would divide the world, and everything in it, into two camps...dank that is crunk and dank that's just junk.

Artists in the Dirty South immediately latched on to that concept - and underground acts like Bonecrusher, Youngbloodz and David Banner eagerly proclaimed themselves "crunk" - and used the term in their songs.

By the time OutKast released their next album, ATLiens, in 1996 - and used the term repeatedly on that record - the word had evolved beyond a slang term; it had a real, honest-to-goodness definition. It meant, basically, "of incredibly superb quality, creating excitement and awe." Obviously it's way cooler to say "That party was krunk!" than "That party was incredibly superb and created excitement and awe!" So the word stuck.

"Crunk" had become a part of the general hip hop lexicon - and as more Dirty South artists hit the big time, they all took time out to fly the Crunk flag high. Even previously non-Crunk artists began dropping the term in their songs, from Jay-Z to Mary J. Blige to Eminem.

Lil Jon, hailing from the Crunk Capital of Atlanta, is currently the genre's most recognizable figure - in fact, he's synonymous with the term. His albums contain constant references to how crunk he is and he carries his crunk cup with him wherever he goes. It is his stated goal to spread Crunk far and wide, blanketing the earth under a layer of garish, jewel-encrusted glassware, gold tooth caps and sudden, startling exclamations such as "YEEEEEEAH!" and "WHAAAAAAAT!"

In the final analysis, will Crunk be remembered as a passing fad - or perhaps as the catalyst for a musical revolution, just as Grunge was in the 1990s? For some expert commentary, we sought out noted Crunk expert "Krunk", who often lurks in the MuchOnDemand chat room, to give us his scholarly analysis of this phenomenon that, in its universal appeal, seemingly transcends barriers of colour, religion and class. According to Mr. Krunk, "Crunk means tha sticky icky to me." Well said, Mr. Krunk."

(http://www.muchmusic.com/insidemuch/stuff/abriefhistoryofcrunk.asp)

But, what exactly is crunk?

"Crunk doesn't aspire to any kind of thought, it's not oriented to a future or a past, for that would take mental effort. Crunk has no substance. The life of a crunk track doesn't go beyond the moment it's playing; crunk is pure presence: a total here and now. The end of the track is the end of crunk.

There's no reason to pay close attention to what a crunk rapper is saying or what the music is doing; crunk is like booty tech; it's a void waiting to be filled by the vibrations of a body. Can a music like this be salvaged, raised from the mud (the Southern mud) and be fitted, tooled for an actual function, a political purpose that expresses the history of black American suffering, exposes the evils of capitalism, racism, the police state, and go as far as to offer solutions to these problems? Can it actually think for itself and others?"

(http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=29418)

Fast forward. Let's examine more recent times.

"By the early 2000s, Southern rap was arguably becoming the genre's most popular form. This is due to the mainstream acceptance of the crunk music movement that originated from Memphis. Rap groups such as Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, Eightball & MJG, the Youngbloodz, and Three 6 Mafia have had massive mainstream success releasing music focused on the ever-popular club scene." 2005 saw the return of Houston as a leader in Southern rap with Houston artists such as Mike Jones, Slim Thug, Chamillionaire, Bun B of UGK, and Paul Wall experienced great commercial success; the genre now pervades the South, leading fans and major figures in hip hop to typify Southern rap as crunk music. Many East Coast (most notably New York) critics, DJ's, and even a few rappers have frequently expressed their distaste for Southern dominance, the latest being 50 Cent in a recent MTV.com interview, while East Coast rap is currently struggling for mainstream recognition. Critics of crunk music (such as Ghostface Killah) have expressed distaste at the fact that some New York artists (such as Mobb Deep) have recently delved into what they view as a trend or as strictly a Southern phenomenon. Fans of and from both areas also tend to clash on the subject of which type of rap is the better. There has been speculation that this might end up being a rivalry, similar to the East coast vs. West coast rivalry in the 1990's.