Rapper-producer Jonathan "Lil Jon" Smith is best known for turning everyday words like "yeah" and "okay" into bloodcurdling sonic extravaganzas. He's crafted hits for the likes of Usher and Ludacris; ...

The current #1 song in America isn't Memphis rap, but it wants to be Memphis rap so badly. Drake's new album Honestly, Nevermind is mostly a full-length exploration of house and club music styles, but ...

Hip-hop and booze are a match made in marketing heaven. Jay-Z made $2.5 million last year endorsing Budweiser and others; Diddy pushes Ciroc Vodka; Kanye West appears in Absolut ads. But Lil Jon went ...

Wade Elkins likes to mess around with the many ingredients in the Mimsy’s Craft Barbecue kitchen in Crockett. He opened the place with his wife, Kathy, in 2020. One day Elkins wanted a burger and a ...

With its irresistible hip-hop beats and shouted refrains, crunk music incites a fervor in fans that’s reminiscent of a religious experience. “I would define crunk as more of a spirit,” explains rapper ...

Police are warning about a new alcoholic energy drink that is as strong as wine and which they claim is responsible for a wave of anti-social behaviour. Cans of American-made 'Crunk Juce' are being ...

Duke Deuce has been grinding on the streets of Memphis for years. The son of local legend Duke Nitty, Deuce is a walking emblem of Memphis’ history as a beacon of rap music. It wasn’t until 2017, ...

Oft-imitated king of crunk Lil Jon will guest-DJ at Mansion this Friday for the weekly We Rock Hip Hop party. You’ll get a taste of the crunk juice that’s made the performer one of the most ...

It does not make sense that the Ying Yang Twins created the biggest hit in years with New Orleans Saints fans. For starters, they're from Atlanta, home of the Saints' biggest rivals, and the song, ...

If Ciara is crunk's sweet young queen, Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz are its rabble-rousing kings. They like to eat, sleep and drink crunk, and appear incapable of releasing an album or finishing a ...

Twenty years ago, the dominant (read: mainstream) music scenes contained, among many things, sonic extremes: On one side of the spectrum, you had commercial nü metal, a.k.a. the Linkin Parks and the ...