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Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz: They Wants To Get Crunk'd Up
interview Page 1
Page 2 of interview
Crunk \ kruh[ng]k\ (adjective) : high-energy, rowdy, exciting.
When it comes to whipping a crowd into a frenzy, there are few as skilled as Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz. Most club hoppers in the group's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia have witnessed firsthand how the trio can liven up a party with the spin of one record. As a matter of fact, one record was all it took to influence a whole movement of southern hip hop artists. It wasn't long ago that Lil Jon took an old southern slang word and attached it to the type of music he produced. That word, "crunk," describes the essence of the party vibe that permeates the late night scene in Atlanta and its surrounding areas. It wasn't long before being crunk, getting crunk, and sounding crunk were the goals of every southern hip hop junkie. Although Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz have received little national recognition until recently, one listen to their music, past or present, is proof enough that their style set the groundwork for a slew of platinum acts that followed. Their usage of 808 drums, heavy bass lines, rowdy lyrics, and hook-laden songs has become the foundation of what the hip hop world now knows as the "dirty south."
Lil Jon: A lot of the Georgia acts that are out are definitely influenced by us, because before us there wasn't really anybody hollering on records trying to get rowdy and crunk like we were. All the way from Lil Troy, Outkast, to Dirty, our records were the anthems for Georgia at the time they were released.
Musictoday: How did you go about developing that style?
Lil Jon: Well, I am a DJ, so everything comes from the DJ aspect of me. When we make a record, we want to make a record that is going to rock the party and the DJ's are gonna love. The records come from the fact that me and the Eastside Boyz are those cats that show up ten-deep in the club, drunk, rowdy, and chanting s**t. We actually take what we do in the club and put it on the record for real. That's why I think it works, because it is something that everyone can identify with—because it is real. When we record, there are three of us on the mic at one time just like we are in the club—all rowdy, elbowing each other, and jumping up and down just like we would be doing in the club. That's just how we do it; that is why I think it works so well.
Mt: Prodigy of Mobb Deep described rap music as "heavy metal for the black people." Elaborate on that statement, because it seems to me as if you make your music to express that aggressive nature of people, so they can let it out in a controlled environment.
Lil Jon: I definitely agree with that statement, because of the energy in the music—what we call crunk. We call ourselves crunk artists, preaching the gospel of crunk music to the world. Crunk is all about the energy and heavy metal has the same type of energy that makes you want to lose control and just get rowdy. With the records that we do, especially southern music, it makes you get rowdy and gets you that energy.
Mt: Speaking of crunk, how did you come up with that word?
Lil Jon: It is actually a word that has been used in the South for years. When we were making this record "Who You Wit?" we wanted a word we could use to go with the hook. I would yell, "Who you wit?" They would yell back, "Get crunk!" It was just that. We had to use that word to get our point across. We were the first ones to use that word on a record, to get up there and tell people to get crunk, get buck-ass wild, get off-the-hook, you know what I'm saying!
Mt: That word has gone on to describe a vast majority of southern hip hop music. As the originator of the word, do you feel that you receive the respect of other artists who have come along in the wake of your sound?
Lil Jon: Oh yeah, definitely. Especially [from] the southern rappers, because they have been listening to our records for so long. They all give us a lot of respect. Even the artists that may not give us the respect, I still feel it, because you have artists like Jay-Z, Missy [Elliott], and Timbaland—they all use the word crunk. That makes us feel good that we influenced big artists like them.
It is not uncommon for originators to be overlooked as imitators come along and popularize their technique. But, after being tightly stitched into multiple aspects of the music industry, Lil Jon understands what has to be done to get his work recognized, regardless of how many artists have followed suit with a sound similar to his own. Whereas many of his early records may have influenced a single region of the U.S., to take an act national is a different deal altogether.
Lil Jon: I haven't worked this hard in my life. I have done a lot of records, but this is the first time I have had to work this hard.
Mt: Why are you putting so much effort into this record versus the other albums that you released?
Lil Jon: This is the first time that Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz had an album that was a national release. We have good money and good marketing dollars behind it. This is our break. I look at it like if I don't make it this time, then I ain't gonna make it. We are putting everything into this shit.
Mt: Do you feel that the market is right for you now?
Lil Jon: I feel the market is definitely right. There are not many records out right now that sound like our record. It is perfect timing. With the radio pitches, people have been getting a taste of the music in different markets and the record is really taking off in different areas that we never thought we would play. Right now, it is the hottest shit in the clubs in Oakland, and we never thought we would be playing in Oakland. It's getting out all over the country just like that.
Mt: You are not new to the business of selling records. Previous to this release you worked as an A&R rep for So So Def, Jermaine Dupri's record label. After being in the clubs and moving on to an executive position, how much does knowledge of both sides of the game help you in your own endeavors?
Lil Jon: Being an A&R taught me how to really put records together. Some cats, when they do records, they do what they think sounds good to them, but when you are an A&R, your job is to make a hit record, put albums together, and distinguish what is good from what is great. I was at So So Def when it first started and I stayed on board for seven years, and, in that time, I did about five albums. From that, I gained a lot of knowledge about the scene behind the scenes and how to put records together—from what producers should go with what artists, even down to using studio time wisely—the big stuff to the small stuff. That helped us out a lot when it came down to making our record, because it taught me how to make a hit. If we had a hook for a song that didn't strike me, we would have to go back in the booth and do it over. Anything that we do, it has to move me, or if I play the song for someone else it has to move them. If it doesn't, then we might have to scrap that song and do another. That A&R experience really helped out a lot.
Mt: How does that affect your artistic side, being so conscious of making a hit? As an artist, it is hard to say that a certain song that you have spent X-amount of hours on can't be used on your own album.
Lil Jon: Yeah, but you have to look at it like, "sure you spent a certain amount of money on a song, but is this song going to be a good representation of who I am?" The A&R side of me says, "we aren't going to put that out, because it is wack, no matter how much time was spent on it. We just have to spend some more money, work a little harder, and come up with some better s**t." Usually, that is when you come up with the hit, when you are under some kind of pressure.
Continued on Page 2...
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