Review Summary: Keep calm and crunk on.
Crunkcore is a genre that circulated via and through the MySpace era. While the genre seemingly died off long ago when the interest for Brokencyde faded, the genre has met a recursion as of late. Crunkcore is certainly not as big as it once was, but the scene is still active, with Soundcloud artists like Xx-Dart-Darling-xX in the forefront of the revival. So what is crunkcore? It’s a mix of hip-hop, pop, electro pop, and metal elements. Either/or: it’s an unpredictable, party going genre with a metal attitude and often cray cray growls via nu-metal and metalcore inspiration. It should theoretically be fucking awesome — so is it?
Dart makes scene music that sounds straight from 2010. Sparkly synths meet gopped on, inhuman growls in danceable, electro-pop style crunkcore: think Millionaires’ sugary beats meets Brokencyde’s jarring growls. Avert your cynicism for a minute, and glue on this idea helmet: this is fun. The growls are definitely um, something, and stick out like a demon clown at a birthday party, but a party is still had. Growls in the genre were never meant to be cutesy: they rip shit up. You’re either down with the party or down for the count, and no apologies are given. Indeed, if the genre was given the body of a human, it would dance on your grave and drink alcohol if given the chance because fuck it — yolo, bitches.
This is by no means a culture shifting release, but it’s a solid reminder that crunkcore is active, and enjoyable when done right. There’s enough decent singing, and catchy beats here to hit right in the nostalgia. Wish We Were Older is a banger, and the following track continues the energy with a spunky chorus. Okay Fine, Maybe Crunk’s a Little Dead is a bit of a messy sounding song, but even that brings a retro aesthetic charm. While this EP may not change your mind about the genre, it’s possible that crunkcore isn’t as bad as you previously thought as a child or teen.
