Crunk is a style of music which originated from
southern hip hop and
electronic dance music in the early 1990s. The style was pioneered and commercialized by such artists as
Three 6 Mafia ,
Lil Jon in
Get Crunk, Who U Wit Da Album, and
Master P.
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]
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.
