Crunk
| Crunk | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Southern hip hop Electronic dance music Disco Rock music |
| Cultural origins | Early 1990s, Dixie, USA |
| Typical instruments | Drum machine PC vocals, Synthesizer |
| Fusion genres | |
| Crunk&b - Aquacrunk - Crunk Rock - Electrocrunk - Eurocrunk - Crunkcore - Screamocrunk - Jigg | |
| Other topics | |
| Hyphy | |
Crunk is a style of music that originated from southern hip hop and electronic dance music in the early 1990s. The style was pioneered and commercialized by artists from Memphis, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia
Characteristics
Looped, stripped-down drum machine rhythms are usually used. The Roland TR-808 and 909 are among the most popular. The drum machines are usually accompanied by simple, repeated synthesizer melodies and heavy bass stabs. The tempo of the music is somewhat slower than hip-hop, around the speed of reggaeton.
The focal point of crunk is more often the beats and music than the lyrics therein. Crunk rappers, however, often shout and scream their lyrics, creating an aggressive, almost heavy, style of hip-hop. While other subgenres of hip-hop address sociopolitical or personal concerns, crunk is almost exclusively party music, favoring call and response hip-hop slogans in lieu of more substantive approaches.[1]
Etymology
Traditionally, crunk meant a hoarse, harsh cry.[2] The term is often used as slang to mean intoxicated. Folk etymology suggests the modern usage of crunk originated as a portmanteau of the words "crazy" and "drunk" or having been "cranked up" to a level of excitability at which one becomes "crunk". But it is also defined as being drunk and high at the same time being a portmanteau of "drunk" and the slang for marijuana, "chronic." However, Rapper Lil Jon defined crunk as a "state of heightened excitement" to make it sound like a more commercial feeling.
The first known use of the word "crunk" was in 1972 by Dr. Seuss in his book Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!
Webster's Dictionary defines "crunk" as a "word of fluctuating meaning used during the 1990s in lyrics of the rap groups OutKast and Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, a style of Southern rap music featuring repetitive chants and rapid dance rhythms."[1]
[Streets of Miami, Fl] in the late 80's and early 90's, was used as a term for being high on cocaine. crunked up and crunk meaning cocaine itself hence the Atlanta rap term meaning "state of heightened excitement" similar to how one feels on cocaine.
Notable acts
Artists from Memphis
- Three 6 Mafia (founders/pioneers)[citation needed]
- DJ Squeeky (pioneer, also heavily contributed to the pre-crunk style of buck music)
- Al Kapone (pioneer)
- DJ Zirk & 2 Thick (pioneers)
- Kingpin Skinny Pimp (pioneer)
- Playa Fly
- Gangsta Blac
- Tommy Wright III
- 8Ball & MJG
- Gangsta Pat
Artists from Atlanta
- Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz (pioneers)
- YoungBloodZ (pioneers)
- Mr. Collipark (previously known as DJ Smurf) (pioneer)
- Ying Yang Twins (pioneers)
- Pastor Troy (pioneers)
- Lil Scrappy
- Trillville
- Chyna Whyte
- Bohagon
- D4L
- Ciara
See also
References
- ^ Dirty Decade: Rap Music from the South: 1997-2007
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary