Songoftheday 4/1/24 - Shawty crunk so fresh so clean, can she f*** that question been harassing me...

 

 

"Get Low" - Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring the Ying Yang Twins

from the album Kings Of Crunk (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 36

 

Today's song comes from rapper/producer Lil Jon, who grew up as Jonathan Smith in Atlanta, Georgia. It was in that city that Jon started as a DJ in clubs and then on the radio, where he was scouted out by rapper/producer/mogul Jermaine Dupri. For Dupri Jon produced the successful series of So So Def Bass All-Stars various artists sets for the label. 

 

By the mid-1990's, Jon recuited "Big Sam" Norris and Wendell "Lil Bo" Neal as his backups to form the East Side Boyz, who released their debut album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album on the indie Mirror Image Records in 1997. The titular track "Who U Wit" placed on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart at #70.  That was followed by "Shawty Freak A Lil' Sumtin'" featuring Disco Rock, which not only did a little better on the R&B chart at #62, but "bubbled under" Billboard's Hot 100 at #119.

The trio's second set, We Still Crunk! on Jon's newly-created imprint BME (for "Black Market Entertainment"), got on to Billboard's R&B Albums chart at #71 in 2000. The big track from the set, "I Like Dem Girlz", continued their slow climb on the R&B Singles chart at #55, while becoming a decent hit on Billboard's Rap Songs list at #3. With that potential BME and Jon were picked up by TVT Records for nationwide distribution. 

The East Side Boyz' first album with TVT, Put Your Hood Up, scored their first placing on the Billboard 200 sales tally in 2001, while rising to #6 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over a half million copies. The first single from the set, "Bia Bia", sported cameos from Atlantic hip-hop royalty Ludacris along with veteran Too $hort among others. The song landed on the Hot 100 at #94, while peaking at #47 on the R&B Singles list.

In 2002, Lil Jon, Lil Bo, and Big Sam returned with their second set on TVT, Kings Of Crunk, a self-aware declaration that they owned the newly minted genre with paired rap with wild rock music-like energy. The hype promo single "I Don't Give A F**K" featured rappers Mystikal and Krayzie Bone, who each matched Jon's wild energy. It stopped right in the middle of the R&B Singles chart at #50. 

For the second single, Jon and the Boyz brought in newcomers the Ying Yang Twins (who aren't even brothers). Kaine and D-Roc, also from Atlanta, released their debut album Thug Walkin' in 2000, and their debut single from the record, "Whistle While You Twerk", topped Billboard's Rap Songs chart for two weeks, peaked at #16 on the R&B Singles chart, and popped on to the Hot 100 at #74. A second release from the duo, Alley: The Return Of The Ying Yang Twins, came in at #8 on the R&B Albums and #58 on the Billboard 200. So both acts were primed to break through to the "mainstream". Their collaboration, "Get Low", shuffled all five involved, with Big Sam handling what could be identified as a "chorus" on this shouty party record. The title is a call to the strippers to bend down, while bringing new terms like "skeet" and "to the window, to the wall" to the general population. Lil Jon isn't really contributing much with his verse, but it's definitely his record with the plodding production that plants a meaty beat. In was an insane record, but its energy caught on, and the collab proved to be the breakthrough hit for both acts...

"Get Low" spent a hefty eleven months on Billboard's Hot 100, with a week at the runner-up position in October of 2003, while spending two weeks at #2 on the R&B Singles chart and topping the Rap Songs list for three weeks. On the radio, the song did pretty well, peaking at #10 on Billboard's Mainstream Top-40 chart, #3 on the Mainstream R&B airplay list, and #2 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single rose to #10 in the United Kingdom, and reached the top-40 in Germany (#11), Austria (#21), Ireland (#22), Australia (#23), and New Zealand (#28). The Kings Of Crunk album, released in October of 2002, crested at #14 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, as well as making it to #2 on the R&B Albums chart, spending two years on both lists and going on to sell over two million copies. 

 

Both Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz and the Ying Yang Twins will be back to the series.

 

(4/10)

 

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There was a remix done for the single (which helped its longevity) which featured rapper Busta Rhymes and dancehall artist Elephant Man...

 

 and here's Jon and the Boyz performing live for MTV...

Up tomorrow: The Canadian crossover country superstar is committed.