His flag-planting, comically simple, late-2009 breakout hit, “O Let’s Do It,” uses little more than a high-register, circus-style synth line and the title repeated ad nauseum. It’s a cliché for musicians to claim divine inspiration, but Waka’s assertion is more believable than most, if only because his songs are completely noncerebral, like he’s channeling ancient melodies. “Flocka Music? I’m telling you, I’m trying to figure it out,” he told Mo’Nique not long ago. If you’ll pardon my French, his music makes clubgoers lose their shit, and even he’s not entirely certain why. Only four years after starting to rap seriously, he has acquired a tremendous following by stripping his songs down to their essential cores-gargantuan beats and mesmerizing hooks. What’s important is that the guy really likes saying his own name. Actually, that’s just one of many explanations Waka has given, but no matter. The past year has seen the rise of hulking Riverdale, Ga., savant Waka Flocka Flame, who has taken everything folks love about crunk-the anti-bourgeoisie attitude, the masculine energy, the chanted catchphrases-and channeled them into something he calls Flocka Music.Ĭomposed of slow, industrial-techno-style loops and so much bass that your iPod headphones may not be up to the task, Flocka Music is rounded out by simple choruses, repeated over and over, like “Fuck the club up!” and “For my motherfucking dawgs!” Waka’s most common refrain, however, is simply his own moniker, which comes, more or less, from his given name Juaquin Malphurs (“Waka”) and an ad lib (“Flocka Flame”) courtesy of his mentor, rapper Gucci Mane. There’s every reason, in fact, to believe that crunk is alive and well in a slightly different form. More likely, the main problem with Crunk Rock was that it wasn’t crunk enough, instead trafficking in an unholy mixture of Miami bass and LMFAO collaborations. But its failure wasn’t the final nail in the coffin of crunk, that testosterone-heavy, lyrically light rap subgenre that Jon helped popularize. You might not have heard about it-it tanked miserably. Remember Lil Jon? The pimp-cup-clutching Atlanta hype man/producer released a new album this year called Crunk Rock.
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