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Crunk Hits
TVT
***

It could well be called Now That's What I Call Crunk Y'All. This compilation highlights the Lil Jon-steered sub-genre where hip-hop gets high on the chronic and crazy on the booze. Made and minted in the US Dirty South, in new hip-hop strongholds from Atlanta to Houston, crunk's slurring, yelling cast of rappers may not be producing anything remarkably standalone or innovative, but it sure does sound like fun. Lil Jon is at the heart of the whole operation, adding grit to Usher's Yeah, collaborating with anyone who has a spare mic going a-begging, and killing any slack that arises with his own East Side Boyz. Aside from him, though, there's no other standout name, just plenty of one-off hits from Ciara (Goodies is delightful), Pitbull (the rapid fire pace of Toma) and Chingy (Right Thurr). But as only the truly nerdy can hum a Boo-Yaa Tribe or JVC Force tune after all these years, Crunk is likely to be remembered with just a hangover a decade from now. www.tvtrecords.com

Jim Carroll