Get Crunk, Who U Wit – Da Album

“Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album” is the debut studio album by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, released on October 21, 1997, through Mirror Image Entertainment.

The story

The Atlanta group recorded the album during 1996 and 1997 at Entertainment International Studios, Purple Dragon Studios and KALA Studios. The single “Who U Wit?” came out in July 1997 and reached number 70 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 26 on Hot Rap Songs, followed in 1998 by “Shawty Freak a Lil Sumtin’,” which reached number 62 and number 32 on the same charts.

Sound and production

Lil Jon produced the record with DJ Toomp, drawing on the Miami and Atlanta bass tradition. Pounding drum machines, club-ready call-and-response chants and rowdy group vocals point toward the style the group would later push nationally under the crunk banner.

Legacy

The album did not reach the Billboard albums charts, but it gave the group a regional foothold in Southern clubs. It was reissued in 2001 with the bonus track “2 Step Drop,” and remixed versions of several songs later appeared on the 2003 compilation “Certified Crunk.” It stands as an early blueprint for the crunk era that followed.

Released October 21, 1997. More from hip hop in 1997.