Lil Jon & East Side Boyz

Kings of Crunk

Don't have a heart attack--it's just music, damn it!

Review Score:

(6/10)
I like to do this from time to time: when I'm bored, I'll see what's popular on Amazon.com and read the reviews that berate the product. 9 times out of 10, I hear something along the lines of "this CD/book/DVD/oven mitt is IRREFUTABLE PROOF that this generation has no taste in music/literature/movies/oven mitts! Damn MTV!"

Need some help getting that stick out of your rear?

For one, it really bothers me when there are people out there who're trying to dictate what's "acceptable" for us to listen to. "Oh, listen to some Mos Def or some J-Live, man, 'cause that's REAL rap!" If by that you mean that they're good lyricists, then yes, by all means, I agree that they're great at what they do. They're backpackers. Lil' Jon, on the other hand, has his pimp cup. He's from a different world. He's not going to be the next Rakim (who, by the way, is entirely overrated as a lyricist. But I digress....), but the guy is a genius at what he does. Besides, how many genuine club bangers can you think of that have really good lyrics? He's managed to single handedly get just every rump in every club shaking, coast to coast. When was the last time YOU'VE accomplished something like that?

Furthermore, this newfangled "crunk" isn't a byproduct of "the evil mastermind that is MTV," but rather a local sound developed in the late eighties/early nineties in the south. And pop rap? "Rapper's Delight," anyone? If you look at it in a certain way, hip hop was BORN from pop rap, not the other way around.

I don't understand how people do not consider this music. If Sigur Ros is music, then this is music. This is Sigur Ros, except completely opposite.

I'm not Lil' Jon's biggest fan. In fact, I don't own a single CD of his. But I like what he does. If I want complex lyrical landscapes then I'll turn on some Common Sense or put on my Haiku D'Etat album. If I want something to relax to at dusk, I'll play some Charles Mingus or Stan Getz. Each type of music fills a different need and stimulates a different emotional center. And if my "bass-shakin'-my-bones-let-it-loose-at-the-club" emotional center feels neglected, Lil' Jon's got what I need.

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