If you ask most outsiders about the origins of 'Crunk', they usually point to Atlanta, thanks to the pioneering efforts of artists like 'Lil Jon' and 'DJ Smurf'. Close, says up and coming Southern rapper Pitbull, but no dice. Crunk really started down at the bottom.
"Crunk really got started in Miami, with bass music," he said. "Crunk ain’t nothin’ but bass music slowed down. And bass music got started here in Miami, with 'Luke', 'Poison Clan', people like that. Miami is the New York of the South. And even after all the success we still get slept on, but that’s about to change."
And Pitbull is at the forefront of that change, rolling with the Crunk movement’s premier label - TVT Records - home to super producer/artist/impresario 'Lil Jon', as well as zany Dirty South duo 'Ying Yang Twins', who, between the two of them, have dominated the airwaves over the past two years. Pitbull, is on the way to following-up their success with his debut, M.I.A.M.I. (Money Is a Major Issue). The 23-year-old Cuban-American verbalist has more hardcore lyrics, diverse cultural infl...
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