In the late ’90s and early ’00s, party-starting hip-hop titans Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz were frontrunners of the Southern rap subgenre known as “crunk”. • The group formed in 1995, when Lil Jon—an Atlanta party DJ and radio personality who served as A&R director for Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def label—connected with Big Sam and Lil’ Bo, aka The East Side Boyz. • Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz’s 1996 debut single, “Who U Wit?”, brought the term “crunk” into the hip-hop vernacular. The album Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album followed in 1997. • The group’s fourth album, 2002’s Kings Of Crunk, reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and went double platinum. The single “Get Low” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100, giving Lil Jon and company their first Top 5 pop hit. • Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz disbanded after 2004’s Crunk Juice, which spawned the Top 5 hit “Lovers and Friends”.