Various Artists: Punk Goes Crunk

Various Artists: Punk Goes Crunk The Punk Goes... series has been one of Fearless Records biggest hits. The latest is Punk Goes Crunk. For hip-hop purists, there is only one song covered on the comp that is actually in the "crunk" genre and that is Lil Jon's "Put Yo Hood Up" covered Set Your Goals. The general age range for this comp is pretty evident. The comp contains many mallcore bands covering hip hop songs. The mere idea of this comp has drawn ire from the blogosphere. I am here to tell you its not that bad. If you go into the album thinking that its a very serious project, then perhaps you did not look at the cover. The album's concept and content is equally ridiculous. The song that best exhibits that is Say Anything's cover of the ODB classic "I Got Your Money". Lead singer Max Bemis does a straight-faced monotone ODB, it's not a "good" song but it certainly will make most people crack a smile. On the opposite side of the spectrum there are a few bands that take their songs pretty seriously. Emanuel do an excellent cover of "Kryptonite" by the Purple Ribbon All-Stars. A couple of track selections I have a real problem with. First off, All Time Low decides to cover Rihanna's "Umbrella". There is nothing hip-hop about "Umbrella" and they take it so seriously. The second song that really gets my goat is Lorene Drive covering "Hey Ya" by Andre 3000. Now although Outkast is a hip hop group, this was NOT a hip-hop song as any hip-hop head will tell you. Somehow though Lorene Drive does a better job than the myriad of bands I've heard cover the song. As I previously stated, this is not a serious compilation. It makes for a fun and interesting listen but I don't see it having much of a relisten rate. Rating: 6.3/10 MP3: Say Anything "I Got Your Money" (Ol Dirty Bastard cover)