Lil Jon & East Side Boyz

Crunk Juice

Good at what it's supposed to be

Review Score:

(6/10)
Obviously, hip-hop purists say Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz are dumbing down rap music, and they have a good reason to say so. But Lil Jon and his whole "clik" aren't rappers trying to drop knowledge like KRS-One, Rakim, or Nas. They're just trying to "get crunk in the club", and that's exactly what Lil Jon's music does.

Lil Jon's simplistic bass-heavy production has become world famous after he blew up with the album "Kings Of Crunk". He does not abandon that formula on "Crunk Juice", an album with the same pumping beats and the same high-profile guests. A few songs do shy away from the formula, such as the Rick Rubin-produced hard-rock jam "Don't F*** Wit Me", the slow-jam "Lovers and Friends" with Ludacris and Usher jumping on for "Yeah" part two type sucess, and the posse-cut "Grand Finale", featuring Nas, T.I., Bun B, and Ice Cube.

The lyrics on here for the most part are XXX-rated, with more obscenities than a 2 Live Crew record. Some of the "lyrics" and signature Lil Jon chants become annoyingly redundant, but try to appreciate Crunk Juice for what it is - an album with infectious bass-jams such as "What U Gon' Do" featuring Lil Scrappy, and "Roll Call" featuring Ice Cube. Forget about the lyrical shortcomings, and Crunk Juice is a good party record.

More Reviews: