Post by StevePulaski on May 6, 2011 22:33:18 GMT -5
Lil Jon
Crunk Rock
★★
"I don't give a f***! Yeah, that's wuz up!" - Lil Jon, G Walk.
Lil Jon is known for his explosive personality, obnoxious catchphrases, and insane crunk, southern attitude. After five years of delays and complications with his label, his first solo work, excluding The Eastside Boyz, Crunk Rock has finally been released. You may remember that old song Snap Your Fingers with E-40 back in 2005. Don't look for it on the album. Even though the song is Jon's most successful tune reaching number seven on the Billboard, it's omitted from the album. Sad because Snap Your Fingers would make the album an ounce more crunk than it already is.
With a name like "Crunk Rock," you'd most likely think that this could be Jon's best work by far. He is stepping into uncharted territory. He has never gone solo, not without The Eastside Boyz. His last album Crunk Juice is often considered his best work yet. But Crunk Rock disappoints on various occasions. Being Jon's solo album, he goes "solo" one track. And that is Get in Get Out. An okay track. But every other song on the album is occupied by one or more singer. Technically, it's another Lil Jon album. Just not with The Eastside Boyz. He still relies on others.
The album even feels the need to take a thirty second break after the first three songs, not counting the intro. The interlude is called What is Crunk Rock?. Why is Jon telling us this three tracks in? You'd think that would be the intro. Explaining what the phrase "Crunk Rock" actually meant. That is like a math teacher stopping you after five problems and saying "here is how to do them." What a waste. It takes up space where Snap Your Fingers could've went.
The songs aren't all crunk. I can think of three or four that follow the line of "crunk" and they are G Walk, Killas, and Shots. All the strong tracks of the album. The rest are either ladies anthems or just rap tracks that shouldn't be on a Lil Jon album. Not to mention, the album has enough guest stars for two albums. Pastor Troy, Waka Flocka Flame, Soulja Boy, Stephen, Damian Marley, Ice Cube, The Game, Elephant Man, Whole Wheat Bread, LMFAO, Ying Yang Twins, R. Kelly, Mario, Pleasure P, Shawty Putt, Pitbulls, and 3OH!3 are all guest stars on the album. Ice Cube and Soulja Boy are welcomed, while the rest lean in and out of the rap area. But 3OH!3, Mario, and R. Kelly manage to bring in pop. Which is nice if it wasn't on a crunk based album.
I understand Lil Jon may be wanting to take his music in a different direction. That is perfectly fine, but when you remove two singles from your album that were crunk and still call the album Crunk Rock when it's mostly pop and hip hop then there is a problem.
We get a lame intro, followed by two fairly solid tracks. Throw it Up Part II is actually a pretty strong opener followed by one of the album's high points G Walk. While Soulja Boy's appearance on the track is unfitting and not necessary, he manages to squeeze some lines in there that are above average. Lil Jon delivers a strong, crunk worthy opening and manages to give us one last taste before the end of the song. Very well made track right there.
On De Grind is next which only is a so-so hit. Guests Stephen and Damian don't provide too much excitement and the song falls flat. We get an interlude that should be the intro and then the album carries on. Killas is by far the best Crunk Rock has to offer. The Game and Ice Cube deliver strong performances along with Jon himself. It has an addicting beat and a pretty well composed chorus. Killas is definitely the album's strongest point.
Get in Get Out is the only song where Lil Jon goes solo, and it isn't all that great. He struggles to maintain an entire song alone. Of course he'd be a lot better at it if guests weren't constantly featured. An okay addition to the album. Then comes Outta Your Mind featuring LMFAO which comes across as a fair effort. The Ying Yang Twins assist Jon on Ride da D which is definitely the album's worst. Explicit and trashy lyrics about sexual content are nothing but a bore and a waste of time. Next.
Finally comes Ms. Chocolate with R. Kelly and Mario. This was finally confirmed to be the album's first single after Snap Your Fingers and Give it All U Got where ruled out. The song is not crunk at all. Lil Jon is all of a sudden a ladies man with Kelly and Mario supporting him. The song is just another ladies hit and is nothing special. We are already more than half through the album and only two of the hits are worth listening to. Guess it's better than none.
Like a Stripper sort of reminds me of I'm 'N Luv Wit a Stripper by T-Pain. It has the same flow and message as the song. Only that song was actually memorable. This one, yet ANOTHER ladies track, fails to impress and is down under. Shots is the last one I can recommend. It has a fair beat, some humorous lines dropped, and a repetitive yet enjoyable chorus line. That is the key word for this album, "repetitive." The beats, lines, and choruses, all repetitive. Work it Out features some good lines by Pitbull, but once more, you guessed it, nothing special or distinct.
Hey is the last song on the standard edition of Crunk Rock. There was a deluxe edition for a limited time, but is now only available as download from Amazon MP3 and iTunes. I bought the standard edition and haven't heard the other tracks included on the opposite version. Hey sounds like Shots when it comes to dialog and content. It still is a fair addition, but when you hear 3OH!3, it's like "unreal." A crunk artist collaborating with a pop group. Pitiful.
It is pretty clear that Snap Yo Fingers was originally intended to be on Crunk Rock, but due to delays it was left off. Jon mostly likely thought in 2010, not many people probably want to hear a song that was four years old. It was clearly not intended to be a promotional single. Let me put it this way; if you release a single, would you go through all the trouble to get a video made for it, major guest stars, release it to radio stations, and promote the hell out of it? Not for a promotional single, you wouldn't. It was clear that since the opportunities continued to change, so did the guests and the tracks. I still would've loved to hear Lil Jon and Kid Rock on a song together.
That about sums up Crunk Rock. A mixture of electro, hip hop, pop, rap, ladies tunes, repetition, identical sounding songs, with a sprinkling of crunk on top. In a way, I can forgive the album for being mediocre because of the fact Lil Jon had so many problems with his label, by the time the album was finished, he just wanted to get it out to the public before coming across any more conflicts. It's sad we don't get an efficient solo album by Jon, but maybe it wasn't meant to happen.