Crunkcore Music Guide: A Brief History of Crunkcore

Crunkcore is a fusion genre that combines elements from hip-hop, electronic music, and screamo (a fusion of hardcore punk rock and emo). Crunkcore goes by many names, including crunkore, crunk punk, screamo crunk, and scrunk. Its sound is a chaotic blend of screaming or electronically processed vocals, pre-programmed hip-hop beats, and explicit lyrics.

Though linked to the hip-hop subgenre of the same name, crunkcore hews closer to mainstream hip-hop than the club-oriented Southern grooves of crunk.

The history of crunkcore appears to begin in the mid-to late 2000s:

• Beginnings: Crunkcore emerged as part of the scene subculture, a loosely affiliated collection of music subgenres that arose in the wake of emo, and their devotees, known as “scene kids.” Metalcore, a merger of heavy metal and hardcore punk, unified the subgenres, which included deathcore—a mix of death metal riffs and metalcore’s punishing breakdowns—and electronicore, a blend of electronic dance music styles. Crunkcore also took cues from rap-rock and nu-metal by adding hip-hop beats to metalcore’s grind. Still, some musicians added a layer of electropop by replacing traditional rock instruments like guitars with synthesizers and drum machines.
• Rise of the sound: Though the roots of crunkcore begin with Los Angeles, California, rap-rock band Hollywood Undead, the genre’s first real hit came in 2008 with the release of “FreaXXX,” the debut single of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, band Brokencyde. The song quickly elevated the band from social media pages to MTV’s Total Request Live, while its accompanying album, I’m Not a Fan, But the Kids Like It! peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard albums chart.
• Mainstream success: Crunkcore’s greatest success came courtesy of the Boulder, Colorado, duo 3OH!3, who scored a Top 10 single in 2007 with “Don’t Trust Me.” Its follow-up, a remix of “Starstrukk” featuring Katy Perry, also broke into the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and Europe. 3OH!3 appeared to deliver crunkcore’s peak achievement with their third album, Streets of Gold, in 2010. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard albums chart and No. 1 on the dance chart.
• Decline: Crunkcore was in decline when 3OH!3 released their next album, 2013’s Omens. The LP, released in conjunction with a major label (Atlantic Records), peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard dance chart but rose no higher than No. 81 on the albums chart. Subsequent albums by the group, and most other crunkcore acts, failed to break into the Top 100. By the mid-2010s, crunkcore had faded from view along with the scene subculture. However, several bands, like Brokencyde, continued to record, and 3OH!3 remained a staple of the Vans Warped Tour—a now-defunct summer music festival—for the next few years.

Several distinct characteristics define the crunkcore sound, including:

1. 1. Instruments: Crunkcore appears to equally favor the traditional punk arrangement of guitar, bass, and drums, and the synths and drum machines featured in electronic music groups. Crunkcore artists also employ various vocal styles, from screaming to rapping and singing, altered by various music software programs.
2. 2. Music: Though the crunkcore sound is a bedrock foundation of punk, electronic music, and hip-hop, many artists offered their unique take. The Indiana-based artist Spanky’s crunkcore band, Dot Dot Curve, favored more electronic beats than metalcore riffs, while the Denver, Colorado, duo Breathe Carolina was more electropop than hip-hop. Huntington Beach, California’s Millionaires steered clear of the screaming vocals but garnered controversy for their sexually explicit lyrics.
   
3. 3. Lyrics: One of the most consistent criticisms levied at crunkcore concerned lyrical content. Most songs were party anthems celebrating hedonistic behavior in the bluntest terms: The genre’s most successful act, 3OH!3, issued a 2015 single with a title composed entirely of crude slang for male genitalia.

Several notable crunkcore artists emerged during the genre’s brief history. Among them are:

1. 1. Breathe Carolina: The crunkcore duo Breathe Carolina enjoyed a run of chart success between 2008 and 2014 with a quartet of albums in the Top 10 on the Billboard dance and alternative charts. Their initial releases, produced entirely on audio recording software, featured a traditional crunkcore mix of shrieking vocals and dance beats but soon expanded to traditional instruments and studio recording. The band moved away from crunkcore in the 2010s and now creates electronic dance music.
2. 2. Brokencyde: Fronted by twin vocalists—David “Se7en” Gallegos, who handled the screaming, and Michael “Mikl” Shea, who covered singing and rapping—Brokencyde fired the opening salvo on crunkcore’s entry into the music industry with their 2008 single “FreaXXX.” The band enjoyed the genre’s earliest success and shouldered some of its most withering criticism from music journalists. Brokencyde’s fortunes declined in the mid-2010s—an attempt to crowdfund a new album in 2016 raised less than $1,500—but they soldiered on, issuing new music in 2018.
3. 3. Family Force Five: Atlanta, Georgia’s Family Force Five is a true melting pot in the crunkcore genre, drawing on a diverse, and at times, a dichotomous palette of influences, including rap-rock, funk, dance-pop, and Christian music. Led by siblings Solomon, Joshua, and Jacob Olds, the band twice topped the Billboard Christian albums chart while also crossing over into the mainstream with their Top 40 album, Dance or Die, in 2008. Numerous line-up changes reduced the band to Jacob and Joshua Olds, who rebranded the group FF5 in 2018.

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