Crunkest Hits

Personnel: Craig Love (guitar).
Audio Mixers: John Frye; Don "DJ Snake" Brown; L-Roc; Lil Jon; Ray Seay; Taj Tilghman; Billy Hume.
Recording information: Audio Visual Recording, Miami, FL; Blue Basement; Circle House Studios, Miami, FL; Flamingo Studios, Atlanta, GA; King OfCrunk Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Larrabee Sound West, West Hollywood, CA; Lil Jon's Crib, Miami, FL; Liveson Studios, Yonkers, NY; PatchWerk Recording Studios, Atlanta, GA; Rondor Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Soundlabs Studio, Atlanta, GA; Stankonia Recordings, Atlanta, GA; Streetlight Studios, New York, NY; The Zone, Atlanta, GA.
The first worthwhile Lil Jon compilation, Crunkest Hits rounds up all the big early numbers from the man who made putting your hood up and getting some crunk in your system so necessary. Necessary, at least as far as when the weekend rolls around, as these grunting, groaning, and oh so primal numbers are most effective when played in the club or at a party with a booming sound system. String them all together like this and the listener is liable to feel pummeled without a drink in hand, but this is a concern with every early Lil Jon release, so narrowing it all down to "crunkest" makes this the obvious winner. The set does an excellent job of picking cuts from the man's own albums -- "Get Low," "Bia' Bia'," and "Who U Wit" being the bass-heavy Holy Trinity -- and it even goes so far as to nab the Lil Jon production "Yeah!" off Usher's million-selling Confessions. Add a couple new cuts at the end, including the woozy juggernaut "Weed n da Chopper" with Project Pat, and the set makes for a loud and obnoxious but utterly entertaining way to wake the neighbors. Only things missing are "Salt Shaker," Jon's other massive Ying Yang Twins collaboration, plus his post-Crunk Rock work including the great "Snap Yo Fingers." ~ David Jeffries