Anyone stepping into a club in the last several years has certainly thrown them bows to the crunk stylings of Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. The Atlanta-based trio of Lil Jon, Big Sam and Lil Bo unleashed the gold-certified "Put Yo Hood Up" album in 2001, which spawned the smash singles "Bia Bia" (with Ludacris, Too $hort, Big Kap and Chyna White) and the title track (whose rambunctious remix featured Jadakiss and Petey Pablo).

Torchbearers to the hip-hop movement known as "crunk," with its signature rowdy choruses and block-rocking beats, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz returned with their fourth album, "Kings Of Crunk" (which featured Jadakiss, Mystikal, Petey Pablo, UGK, 8Ball, Krayzie Bone, Pastor Troy, MJG and E-40, among others).

Indeed, "Kings of Crunk" stands as an artistic advancement of a group who was already at the top of its game. "We wanted to show the growth of us as a group and step up the game as far as production, the hooks and everything," Lil Jon explains. "We're not really considering ourselves rappers, so we got the best rappers in the game to get on the tracks. We do our chant thing, make the beats and let other people who really rap do the rap. We wanted to work with people who we wanted to work with, who we admire and whose music we admired. We went into it like we're going to make a hot-ass album."

Truth be told, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz have been making hot-ass albums for years. The trio emerged in 1996 with their "Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album" and quickly established themselves as one of the South's hottest hip-hop acts. With Jon handling the beats, Sam and Bo collaborating on the hooks and lyrics, they became a treacherous three, packing that club energy into each of their recordings.

With 2000's "We Still Crunk!!," the group returned and became an outright sensation thanks to their party-starting beats, chantable choruses and undeniable energy. "Put Yo Hood Up" broke the crew on a major level, earning them the respect of hip-hop fans across the country and establishing the crew as the pioneers of crunk. "We brought crunkness to hip-hop," Lil Jon says. "For us to go to New York and do show with Funkmaster Flex at his club, that shows that the crunk thing has really grown. We brought the aspect of putting our records and getting the clubs rowdy."

"Back in the day, we were just making records for Atlanta, for them to get crunk in the club to," Lil Jon says. "Now, we're making records for the nation and the world to get crunk to."

Brace yourself.

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz are --

Notable songs include --

Years active: 
   ..90s, ..00s

Formed:
   1996
      ..in Georgia
         ..in Atlanta

Based:
   ..in Georgia
      ..in Atlanta