S. Samuel
With Atlanta's Waka Flocka Flame attempting to bring crunk music to the mainstream, SOHH previously hit up fellow ATL-ien Killer Mike for his take on the signature Southern sound.
Asked if he felt crunk ever left, Mike said the Atlanta sound is there to stay.
“Word to the Waka Flocka [Flockaveli] album, you’re f*cking right [crunk still exists]. You can’t kill something that simply is,” Killer Mike told SOHH when asked about the state of crunk music. “I heard [racecar driver] Dale Earnhardt Jr. say — and he was talking about NASCAR — and he was talking about the types of people that were in the Southeast. He was saying if you look at football, and NASCAR music, it’s just a more aggressive vibe. He didn’t say vibe, he said something that guys in North Carolina that drive racecars say, but basically, the Southeast is just a more aggressive place. So whether you call it buck music in Memphis or crunk music in Atlanta, or you call it wildin’ out in the Carolinas, no matter what you call it, the Southeast is just incredibly aggressive and a marginally violent place.” (SOHH)
He also pointed out different examples of crunk heard from new artists like Waka to seasoned veterans including Grand Hustle leader T.I.
“There’s always going to be room for crunk energy,” Mike added. “If you listen to T.I.’s [No Mercy] deluxe album, if you listen to me, Tip and Mac Boney‘s ‘That’s What I Thought,’ that’s a song that will have people fighting in the club. All of us make variations of it. It just simply is. It’s something that you can’t shake. I think Waka Flocka has done the best job in the post-crunk era of presenting it as an entire album and I like his album because of that.” (SOHH)
Last year, Maybach Music Group’s Gunplay described Waka Flocka’s level of crunk.
“I got Waka Flocka on that single, ‘Rollin.’ If y’all haven’t heard it yet, just Google that sh*t. Gunplay, ‘Rollin’. You’re gonna hear that sh*t [on my upcoming] mixtape…We’re two of the livest n*ggas in the game right now when it comes to energy and crunkness, you know,” Gunplay said in an interview with Mikey T The Movie Star referring to Waka Flocka Flame. “I got a different kind of crunk, [Flocka’s] just crunk all the way. I got a different kind of crunk. It’s that sh*t, I don’t know, I just do what I do. They just be vibing that sh*t in the street — We got things going on. Y’all don’t understand.” (Movie Star Status DVD)
In the past, Flocka defended his lack of lyrical prowess for passionate music-making ability.
“I don’t feel like I’m no lyricist. I’m not in the booth trying to godd*mn rap big words,” Flocka explained in an interview. “I’m not tryin’ to show off my intelligence. Anybody could memorize big words, put ’em together. I could do that. But if I don’t use the words on an everyday basis, why use the words in my rap? I just like music. I’m a lover of making music. It could be a big record, small record–as long as I’m making songs. One day it’ll pop; that’s how I look at it. Yeah. What I did in one year–one year–a lot of people accomplish in 10 years. A lot of people don’t like that. They feel I don’t deserve what I got. I’m a hard-a** worker. And I’m here for a reason. This sh*t ain’t luck. I don’t believe in luck.” (RESPECT)
Check out some past Killer Mike footage below:
