Matt Miller, Dirty Decade: Rap Music and the U.S. South, 1997-2007; Southern Spaces

The rise of "crunk" from an obscure rap slang term to a new subgenre depended upon several factors: the centrality and increasing dominance of Atlanta in the rap industry; a growing appetite on the part of audiences for club-style rap from the urban South; and the efforts of key individuals (especially Lil Jon) as well as their corporate partners (TVT Records) to promote and define particular interpretations of the music. The inspiration and energy that drove crunk's expansion flowed from the grassroots activities of audiences and artists in the South's major cities, but its existence as a subgenre depends upon "systems of orientations, expectations and conventions that circulate between industry, text, and subject."102

Sign posted outside a nightclub, Columbia Dr., Decatur, Georgia (Photograph by Matt Miller, 2007).

The prominence achieved by "crunk" speaks to the increasing centrality of Atlanta rap culture and willingness on the part of national audiences and major music corporations to accept and support southern urban club music scenes and styles that would have previously been considered underground or, at best, the source of the occasional one-hit wonder like D-Roc or Duice. Crunk's acceptance is often characterized by an absence of contextual or historical understanding that masks its strong similarities with prior expressions of club or dance music produced in cities such as Atlanta or Miami. Ultimately, the distinctiveness of crunk has as much to do with the ways in which it has been marketed and discussed as with its musical qualities.

The forces that propelled crunk from the underground to the mainstream were multiple and intertwined. The shaping of the crunk style largely occurred in strip clubs or nightclubs, and was part of a wider process of the grassroots evolution of southern dance music styles as artists refined their expressions to achieve maximum effect with audiences.103 However, the way that crunk was marketed as a "movement" and as a new genre of rap depended centrally upon Lil Jon and a few other empowered artists, followed quickly by journalists seeking novelty and controversy.104 Both grassroots popularity and corporate hype figured centrally in Lil Jon's success: without these two factors, his rise to the status of the public face of crunk would not have been possible.

Snap group D4L was "laffing" all the way to the bank after their 2005 hit (Asylum Records).

Crunk quickly became esconced within corporate networks, but, like punk rock, it resisted complete co-optation. Lil Jon's efforts with regard to crunk were characterized by shameless self-promotion and conscious attempts to manipulate rap's genre system and critical discourse to his own advantage. Like other rap impresarios, he tried to expand upon his success in the music industry through branding and marketing products like the "energy drink" Crunk Juice (which was also the title of his 2004 album), as well as "a clothing line, a porn DVD, . . . a record label and now a series on MTV."105 At the same time, however, more than economic concerns motivate Lil Jon, who had put in years of work as an Atlanta DJ and producer, and also worked as an A&R representative and promoter for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Records before launching his own recording career. Even after his rise to prominence, he has frequently collaborated with obscure or up-and-coming artists by producing their music or making a guest appearance on their records: "we look at ourselves that we're on the same level with everybody . . . I [collaborate] with anybody if I like their [music]."106

The trajectory of crunk seems to await a newer Atlanta strip club music called "Snap," a less aggressive style characterized by slightly slower tempos than crunk and extremely sparse backing tracks which often feature the sound of snapping fingers as a meter (hence the name). One critic described snap as "a dance-centric form of hip-hop, defined by light but propulsive beats and lyrics that often revolve around playful chants."107 Along with crunk and other southern styles such as Miami bass or New Orleans bounce, snap relies heavily upon call-and-response lyrical constructions and often features narratives of sexual objectification, desire, titillation, and conquest set in a strip club or nightclub.

Detail from cover of snap mixtape, DJ Scream presents Trap Squad: Trap Talk (2006).

Following on the heels of several successful "snap" releases in 2004 by groups such as Crime Mob ("Nuck If You Buck") and Dem Franchize Boyz ("White Tee"), D4L broke open the Snap floodgates in 2006. Their infectious song, "Laffy Taffy," started snap down "an unlikely journey from Atlanta phenomenon to hip-hop laughingstock to mainstream juggernaut."108 Like many erotically themed songs within the African American popular music tradition, "Laffy Taffy" is constructed with layers of meaning which allow for children to enjoy the participatory, sing-along nature of the song, while allowing adults access to a raunchier realm of meaning contained within the lyrics. Reaction to this song among many in rap's fan base reached record levels of vituperation based upon "Laffy Taffy"'s perceived lack of sophistication and overly popular appeal. While similar minimalist approaches to rap continue to enjoy popularity among artists, producers, and audiences, the particularities that defined snap have largely vanished by the time of this writing (2008). Rather than representing a discrete genre, the wider exposure of snap represented a snapshot of a continually evolving club scene in Atlanta and other southern cities.

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