BY EMILY CRAWFORD

In print | Published April 29, 2010

Please know that I am thoroughly embarrassed by the fact that I am about to quote from UrbanDictionary.com. With that in mind, here it goes: 

According to the above-mentioned website, the term “crunk” is “a euphemism for getting really crazy and fucked up on marijuana and alcohol (stoned and drunk. Chronic plus drunk = Crunk). Or maybe crack and drunk. Or coke and drunk. Or maybe just being crazy and drunk. Whatever it is, it means getting really crazy and fucked up.”  

I came to look up this entry not because I was confused as to what the meaning of crunk was, but because I knew little of its etymology. Based upon Urban Dictionary’s entry, I am not alone in that respect. I had always known the “stoned and drunk” version, but had never been quite sure where the “cr” came from. But “crunk” has come to mean far more than this simple definition in today’s society. “Crunk” means Lil’ Jon and the Dirty South and pimp cups and grills on the teeth. Or at Swarthmore, “crunk” means substance use, nakedness and varying degrees of absurd or unspeakable acts. “Crunk” is a term utterly laden with cultural meaning, yet most people over the age of 30 don’t seem to know what it means.  

I first became familiar with the term “crunk” somewhere between middle school and high school, almost certainly in relation to Lil’ Jon and/or Dave Chapelle. I’m basing my time frame here almost exclusively on the fact that I remember grinding a lot to the song “Get Low” in my first year of high school.

Lil’ Jon had become popular in a mainstream way, and with him southern hip-hop and the notion of the Dirty South; in other words, a South that was different from hillbillies and racism. With this newfound trend in the music industry: “Crunk.” I probably didn’t know what “crunk” meant in my young and impressionable years, but whatever it was, Lil’ Jon was crunk. In fact, he seemed to pretty much always be “crunk.” And even to my innocent eyes that had never so much as seen marijuana nor had their vision blurred by extreme intoxication, being “crunk” looked like a damn good time.

Crunk has fallen far since these early days of its popularity. Lil’ Jon has long since sunken out of his prime, although I did find in my Google searches that he has an energy drink called “Crunk!!!” Yes, that’s with three exclamation points. It comes in mango-peach flavor. Dave Chapelle’s imitations of Lil’ Jon proclaiming, “Let’s get crunk!” have been relegated to late night reruns on Comedy Central. It almost might seem that in terms of popular culture (I shudder at the words), that crunk is dead. 
Recently, I realized that the “crunk” reference most relevant to popular culture these days is in fact made by Kesha (I refuse to insert the $ in her name) in the song “Tik Tok.” That’s right: Kesha wants you to get “crunk.”

Her lyrics go as follows: “I’m talkin’ ‘bout e’erybody getting’ crunk (crunk) / Boys tryin’ to touch my junk (junk) / Gonna smack him if he gettin’ too drunk (drunk).” In case you’re not familiar with her work, in which case I envy you, Kesha is a small blonde girl about my age. She makes terrible, terrible music that will get stuck in your head for nights on end. Unlike the father of crunk, she certainly does not have a grill. So, it would seem that while the attitude of “crunk” has died, the word will live on in popular vocabulary.  

I would also argue that while the bling and the pimp cups have faded into irrelevancy along with Lil’ Jon, something of the spirit of “crunk” lives on. Spirit is different from attitude in that it has no aesthetic manifestation, no style; it is an intangible feeling, a zeitgeist of sorts. Although others may disagree, I am confident that this past weekend was evidence enough to prove that the spirit of “crunk” is alive and well at Swarthmore College. 

Yes, this past weekend was Crunkfest. I prefer not to go into the details of this glorious scavenger hunt of hedonism, lest any Swarthmore deans get the foolish notion that they know anything about Crunkfest and therefore might try to monitor it. Crunkfest has become a deeply embedded and honored tradition at Swarthmore and the word “crunk” is right there in the name. No, a group of privileged and intellectually-charged college kids may not have much to do with turn-of-the-millennium hip-hop culture, but the unbridled and uncensored debauchery that they are capable of does, in a sense. Crunk is utter and sublime abandon, be it achieved through intoxication or a mere lack of all morality and decency.  

I am sure that if we could witness the ancient Roman Bacchanalia, they would be pretty “crunk” too. And so regardless of where the “cr” in crunk comes from, be it “crazy” or “chronic,” what matters is the spirit of the thing, and Urban Dictionary can’t define that.
Emily is a junior. You can reach her at ecrawfo1@swarthmore.edu.

« RETURN TO LIVING & ARTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »