Kings of Crunk: Hip-Hop Mosh Music
Written: Nov 11 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A few good club “crunk” tracks.
Cons: Slow tracks, rap fans who like engaging lyrics will be sorely disappointed.
The Bottom Line: If you’re not a fan of crunk music, don’t even think about buying this.
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| madtheory's Full Review: Kings of Crunk [PA] by Lil Jon & The East Side Boy... |
Prodigy of Mobb Deep once described rap music as “heavy metal for the black people.” If this analogy is accurate, Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boys are definitely providing music for the mosh pits. For years, the Atlanta trio of Lil’ Jon, Lil’ Bo, and Big Sam have been hard at work creating their brand of the popular high-energy, “crunk” music. Though the group had released two albums prior to 2000, it was their 2001 hit “Bia Bia” that elevated them to the national spotlight and propelled their third album, Put Yo Hood Up to gold status.
Now, the three have returned with their fourth album, Kings of Crunk, and it’s like they never left. With their signature pounding beats and aggressive, energizing hooks, they continue their dedication to “keeping the clubs crunk” by any means necessary.
Tracklisting
1. Kings of Crunk (intro)
2. Throw It Up feat. Pastor Troy
3. Knockin Heads Off feat. Jadakiss & Styles P
4. Pimpin Ken Speaks
5. B***H feat Chyna White & Too Short
6. I Don’t Give A… feat. Mystikal & Krayzie Bone
7. Rep Yo City feat. E-40, Petey Pablo, Bun B, & 8-Ball
8. Push That N****, Push That H**
9. Keep Yo Chullin Out the Street feat Big Gipp
10. Diamonds feat. MJG & Bun B
11. Weedman (skit)
12. The Weedman
13. Nothin On feat. Oobie, Chyna Whyte, & Bo Hagon
14. Luke Talkin S**t
15. Ooh Na Na Naa Naa feat. Oobie & Devin “The Dude”
16. Nothins Free feat. Oobie
17. Play No Games feat. Trick Daddy, Fat Joe, & Oobie
18. Pitbull’s Cuban Rideout feat. Pitbull
19. Get Low feat. Ying Yang Twins
20. T.I.P
21. BME Click feat. The BME Allstars
The album starts off with a short intro, then the boys immediately rekindle their alliance with fellow crunk artist Pastor Troy on the furious “Throw it Up.” Fans who loved Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boyz’ collaboration with Jadakiss on the remix of last year’s hit single “Put Yo Hood Up” will be ecstatic to see Kiss return to the set, this time with fellow LOX member Styles P in tow for “Knockin Heads Off.” Underneath wailing gangsta rap synth chords, plucking strings, and a booming bassline, the ex-Bad Boys spit short, relaxed verses, starkly contrasting the abrasive hooks of Lil Jon’s crew. More collaborations ensue with “Rep Yo City,” a hard, gritty track is definitely aimed primarily at the southern heads. Petey Pablo, Bun B of UGK, 8-Ball, and West Coaster E-40 set things off “up in this booch,” freestyling over another of Lil’ Jon’s belligerent beats.
Though the thug anthems on Kings of Crunk are extremely similar, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz do manage to create a degree of diversity in the crunk tracks. “B***H” is one of the more enjoyable tracks on the CD, thanks in part to a brief but potent appearance by Too $hort who made the word his trademark for most of his career. Then, the crew slightly extends themselves artistically to craft a track for the Texas heads with “Diamonds.” For this slow, guitar-driven song, they choose to slightly distort their “bling bling” vocals to emulate the work of regional hero DJ Screw. Naturally, amidst all the thug tunes, the requisite ode to getting high is included with the dreadful song called “The Weedman.” Over a blaxpoitation-reminiscent beat that will immediately call to mind images of brightly painted muscle cars, blown-out afros, and skin-tight leisure suits, the artists sing in a classic though severely out-of-tune pimp falsetto.
But there’s much more to Kings of Crunk than elbow-swangin’ thug anthems. Well aware that a significant part of the audience who drives the thug scene are young women infatuated with it’s images, Lil Jon made sure to include a few slow jams to further hook them in. Jon recruits the Dirty South’s answer to Murder Inc.’s Ashanti with female singer Oobie, and uses her in each and every slow track on the album. Things kick off with “Nothing On” where airy synthesizer chords create a backdrop for the singer to confess to being the buff awaiting the arrival of her lover. The trio, Bo Hagon, and femcee Chyna White trade verses here, though Chyna’s coarse voice probably wont be considered an effective aphrodisiac by most male listeners. Oobie also teams up with freaky Houston em-singer Devin the Dude for the seductive “Ooh Na Na Naa Naa,” that features such romantic verses as “bust a beautiful nut up on me.”
The primary problem people unfamiliar with crunk music will have with this album is the sheer lack of interesting lyrics. Lil Jon and company will only very rarely feel the need to actually spit verses, so for the most part the album is all simple, combative music to push, shove, and mean-mug to. It’s effective for energizing clubs in Atlanta or H-Town, but listeners bumping this alone will find themselves yawning fairly quickly.
When all is said and done, Kings of Crunk by Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boyz is not a bad album to have when you want to crank a party up. The beats are solid despite their one-dimensionality, the guest appearances are generally competent, and the hooks though extremely repetitive, are fairly stimulating. Unfortunately, its limited appeal will give you difficulty in finding any other occasion to play it.
Recommended:
No
Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends
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madtheory
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DON'T CALL IT A COMEB... wait. I guess you actually can call it a comeback.
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