Other names Crunk punk, screamo crunk, crunk rock, scrunk Stylistic origins Crunk
screamo
electronic
techno
electropop
dance-pop Cultural origins Late 2000s, Western and Southern United States | ||
Crunkcore (also called crunk punk, screamo crunk, crunk rock, and scrunk) is a musical genre that combines crunk with the vocal style of screamo.
Contents
Characteristics
According to the Boston Phoenix, writer and musician Jessica Hopper claims that the influences for crunkcore can be traced back to 2005 when Panic! at the Disco mixed emo with electronics. While crunkcore is described as using screamed vocals, some crunkcore artists don't scream. For instance, Warped Tour co-creator and CEO Kevin Lyman calls the group 3OH!3 as "the real tipping point for scrunk", and said that "though 3OH!3 doesn't incorporate the blood-curdling screams of many scrunk acts, they were the first emo-influenced act to depart from traditional instruments in favor of pre-programmed beats", while still retaining many of the stylistic elements of emo. The Millionaires, who do not use screamed vocals, are also crunkcore. Similarly, the song "Your Love is My Drug" by the pop artist Kesha has also been labelled crunkcore.
The Phoenix described crunkcore as "a combination of minimalist Southern hip-hop, Auto-Tune croons, techno breakdowns, barked vocals, and party-till-you-puke poetics". Inland Empire Magazine described the genre as combining "post-hardcore and heavy metal licks with crunk."
Criticism
The Boston Phoenix has mentioned criticism of the style, saying that "the idea that a handful of kids would remix lowest-common-denominator screamo with crunk beats, misappropriated gangsterisms, and the extreme garishness of emo fashion was sure to incite hate-filled diatribes". Amy Sciarretto of Noisecreep noted that crunkcore is "oft maligned as the nu metal of this generation." The band brokeNCYDE in particular has been singled out, with John McDonnell of The Guardian reviewing the band unfavourably. AbsolutePunk founder Jason Tate said that the level of backlash against the band is more than he has seen for any single act in the ten years he has been running the site, claiming, "They're just that bad, and they epitomize everything that music (and human beings) should not be." Vocalist Mikl from the band has acknowledged the criticism leveled at the band, but stated, "We don't care what people say (...) All these critics are trying to bring us down, and yet we're selling a lot of copies of our music and that's because of our dedicated fans." Writer Jessica Hopper also has criticized the group, but acknowledged its appeal to teenagers, stating "brokeNCYDE just completely references anything that might be a contemporary pop culture reference, or anything that a teenage person is into. . . . You kind of get everything at once." 3OH!3 drew similar controversy in 2015 by releasing a single titled "My Dick".
Notable artists
Artists that have been described as crunkcore include 3OH!3, Brokencyde, Family Force 5, Blood on the Dance Floor, and Millionaires.