Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album

by Jason BirchmeierLil' Jon & the East Side Boyz made their national debut in 1997 with Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album, a fairly routine album of bass music with a few standout anthems, chief among them "Get Crunk," "Who U Wit?," and "Shawty Freak a Lil Sumthin'." For bass music, these particular tracks are above average, yet they're still not quite in the same league as the sort of hits Jon would craft years later ("Bia' Bia'," "Get Low," "Damn!," etc.). Regardless, Jon's work here on Get Crunk was ahead of its time and certainly precedent-setting. Even so, only completists need to pick up this album; everyone else will be better serviced by better-crafted albums like Put Yo Hood Up (2001) or Kings of Crunk (2002), not to mention a best-of collection, which is probably most ideal. [Five years later Mirror Image released Certified Crunk, which is essentially an alternate version of Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album, including most of the same songs in slightly remixed form, along with a few odds and ends thrown in for good measure.]