The term "Crunk" has been attributed a majority towards past
African American slang and hold various meanings. It is believed that the
use of the term came from the past tense form of the word 'crank', which was sometimes conjugated as 'crunk' in the Southern parts. Thus, if a person, event or party was hyped or 'cranked' - it was said to be 'crunk' in this case. (context credits partial to Wikipedia). This term slowly gained popularity and by the 1990s broke into mainstream success with the movement of
modern hip-hop (still
particularly in the south). In popular culture, dancing was and is a massive part of the hip-hop movement and a particular type of one of the many unique styles of hip-hop dancing embraced 'the crunk'. This dance involves a 'freestyle' attitude, often shown with an element of aggressive (often catorgorised as 'hardcore') and a 'wild' or natural 'loose' expression. It is characterised as one or several individuals freely moving in synchronization to the hip-hop rhythms or 'beat', yet is not embraced in an organised manner. Often individuals doing 'the crunk' or in the process of 'crunking' is presented with an unsequenced routine, involving rapid hyper-active gestures,
particularly the swinging of arms and 'pumping' of fists; as well as sharp movements of the body in a non-intentional or harmful violent fashion.
