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===Other Meaning===
===Other Meaning===
Crunk also refers to when someone is both drunk off of [[alcohol]] and faded from [[reefer]]. They are quite often used in conjuction with one another, and generally provide lots of good times and happy feelings, but the useage can often lead to feelings of nasuea, needing to puke, and severe spinning of the mind.
Crunk also refers to when someone is both drunk off of [[alcohol]] and faded from [[reefer]]. They are quite often used in conjuction with one another, and generally provide lots of good times and happy feelings, but the usage can often lead to feelings of nasuea, needing to puke, and severe spinning of the mind.


==Notable crunk artists==
==Notable crunk artists==

Revision as of 08:24, 16 March 2006

Crunk music (a portmanteau, or combination of the words “crazy” and “drunk” —also spelled Krunk Muzik) is a specific type of hip hop music, based out of the southern United States, particularly on the eastern side of Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee. Crunk is classified as a subdivision of Dirty South or Southern rap and is an outgrowth of Atlanta-based Miami Bass (and to a lesser degree, New Orleans Bounce).

Overview

Crunk was originated in the early 1990s but did not become mainstream until the early 2000s. The first notable crunk single was "Get Crunked Up" by Iconz which appeared in 2000 and was on the BET 106 and Park Countdown for a short period. In the year 2003, the crunk genre had surprise hit singles with "Never Scared" by Bone Crusher, featuring Killer Mike and T.I., "Salt Shaker by Ying Yang Twins, featuring Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, "Damn!" by Youngbloodz (and produced by Lil Jon) and most notably "Get Low" by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins, which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. By 2004, crunk and especially Lil Jon were in such high demand that superstar R&B singer Usher enlisted Lil Jon to produce his single "Yeah!" which went on to be the biggest hit of 2004, according to Billboard magazine. Lil Jon produced another #1 hit in 2004 with "Goodies" by R&B singer Ciara, featuring Petey Pablo. By 2005, however, it was widely perceived that crunk was on the wane, with its appeal primarily confined to its birthplace of Memphis and in places in Atlanta.

Unlike the East Coast style of hip hop, crunk is high-energy, club-oriented hip hop. While other hip hop styles might involve a more conversational vocal delivery, crunk usually involves hoarse chants and repetitive, simple refrains. Lyrics are based on a rhythmic bounce, which is very effective in clubs. In fact, several crunk songs have been banned in venues due to how wild the crowds can get.

Looped drum machine rhythms are usually in the forefront of the mix, with the Roland TR-808 being especially popular. Many of the drum machines and the rhythms they produce were previously well known in specialty genres of dance music. Crunk also employs non-melodic sound effects such as whistles and synth blips.

Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz often claim to be the Kings of Crunk, while Lil Scrappy is referred to as the Prince of Crunk. Shaina is sometimes known as the Queen of Crunk, and Ciara is often referred to as the Princess of Crunk. While these artists have embodied the term in the hip hop industry, the term was more widely exposed when Lil Jon named his albums Kings of Krunk and Crunk Juice. Serious, the Founder of Crunk Incorporated is known as the Lord of Crunk. Serious Lord discovered both Lil Scrappy and Crime Mob.

In the hip hop world, crunk rappers have been criticized for lacking any lyrical content and all using essentially the same beats and styles. While agreeing that the subject of the lyrics are all more or less identical, others say that the music is specifically designed for the rowdy clubs in which it thrives, and that it serves this purpose admirably. In any case, crunk has established itself and will likely enjoy greater success due to the increased number of crunk albums being released.

In early 2005, rapper Kanye West amusingly coined the term white crunk to describe the gritty drum sounds of the all Caucasian Scottish alternative dance-rock group Franz Ferdinand. West and the band met at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, where they sat down together to share praise and advice. West feels that the white crunk vibe has affected his new work and is best exemplified on his 2005 single "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" from the album Late Registration.

Crunk is not only a type of music, but is also used as a adjective. Mainly used in its place of origin, the southern United States (mainly Atlanta,) the word crunk is used to describe how you feel when you are so filled up with energy you are about to explode. Such feelings you get at a party or at a concert. You are so energized and feeling so hyper that you can barely control yourself. This is how crunk music derived its name.

The most popular artist in crunk music since its commercial release in 2000 is Lil Jon. Though many mock his ability to rap, Lil Jon isn't nessessarily a rapper - he does crunk music. His music is used to get the party or club jumping and to keep it "Crunk" (live with energy). He does this with heavy bass lines and catchy phrases. Many of his music's adlibs consist of trash talking to another individual, to fill you up with the adrenaline that a fight brings. When you walk into an Atlanta hip hop club and you see people jumping around like they lost their minds don't be alarmed, they are just getting crunk.

Etymology

Look up crunk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

See Wiktionary for literary definition.

Alternate origin

During the first two seasons of his television program Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Conan O'Brien encouraged guests on his show to insert the word "krunk" into their conversations. However, O'Brien used the term (an apparently invented nonsense word) as a multipurpose expletive, explaining that it was the most profane expletive of all time. The show exhibited video clips of various people using the word, including one of Ice T (notorious in his rap persona for his use of expletive-laced language) sitting in the show's guest chair saying, "Wow, that's krunked up, man."

Unclear relationship between origins

The exact relationship between "crunk" and "krunk" is unclear. When American Idol judge Randy Jackson appeared on O'Brien's show on 30 April 2004 (nine years after O'Brien's endorsements of krunk), he used the word "krunked", but O'Brien seemed to have no recollection of the word.

Misconception of word origin

Contrary to popular misconception, there is no evidence at all to suggest that crunk derives from krank (ill) in Yiddish or German. Similarly, there is no evidence to suggest that Jewish shopkeepers introduced the word to black communities in the southern United States.

Alternate origin

The word "crunk" was found even previous to Conan O'Brien's usage during his first 2 seasons. In the Super Nintendo Video Game, Donkey Kong Country 2 & 3, the word can be found. When Donkey Kong or Ditty Kong jump on an enemy, effectively killing them, the enemy will use the word as his final declaration of defeat. This feature was most prominently used on the snow/ice level Skid Row.

Additionally, the character, the Infraggable Krunk, could be found on Cartoon Network's popular show Dexter's Laboratory. Some of the later episodes of the show had off-shoot episodes of animated shorts. One in particular was the The Justice Friends. The Infraggable Krunk (Krunk for short) was an overgrown muscle-man with arrested mental development, and caricatures the Incredible Hulk. He wears green shorts and has purple skin -- a parody on Hulk's purple shorts and green skin.

Other Meaning

Crunk also refers to when someone is both drunk off of alcohol and faded from reefer. They are quite often used in conjuction with one another, and generally provide lots of good times and happy feelings, but the usage can often lead to feelings of nasuea, needing to puke, and severe spinning of the mind.

Notable crunk artists

Selected songs

Songs that contain "crunk" in their titles:

Another successful single that aided "crunk" in becoming a mainstream word is "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige, which contains the following refrain:

Let's get it crunk upon
Not fun upon
Up in this dancery

Also the Outkast single "Rosa Parks":

Ah ha, hush that fuss
Everybody move to the back of the bus
Do you wanna bump and slump with us
We the type of people make the club get crunk

The song "Mr. Nigga" by Mos Def an alternative rap artist featured the word in his 1999 song from the album Black on Both Sides

Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
He got the speakers in the trunk with the bass on crunk

See also

Look up crunk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Sources

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crunk&oldid=44022959"