There was a time during the early 2000's when everyone knew how to get low. Even if you didn't know, you just had to follow the directions. Crunk music was the new Pop and had parents around the world shaking their collective heads. Unfortunately for those parents, their objections fell on deaf ears. An entire generation of youth spanning every race, socioeconomic background, and political affiliation was utterly lost in the bass. Songs like "Get Low" and "Crank That" took over clubs and radio waves like a dirty bomb. Behind it all, one man was dedicated to pushing the art of dance floor gyration to its peak potential. This legendary figure DJ'd, produced, and scouted his way to the top of Crunk's Mount Rushmore and still continues to bring the heat on a daily basis. Even after 20 successful years in the game, he's making dance floors jump in ways they never have before. That man is Mr. Collipark.
Born as Michael Crooms, Mr. Collipark grew up in College Park, Georgia and idolized his older brother who was in a band, owned some 12" records, and had a stereo system in his room. He would creep in when nobody was looking and play albums. Who would have guessed that this sneaky little kid was building the foundation to become one of the most influential musicians in the history of club music?
As a teenager he heard 2 Live Crew's "Throw The D" at a house party and was hooked by the rawness of the record. This inspired him to go over to his friends' houses at every opportunity and log time on their turntables ("Shout out to Ricky Graham").
His first live set came in high school at a pep rally, and although he was extremely nervous, he pulled off a transform scratch, which he learned from a DJ Len mixtape.
"The whole gym went stoopid!"
Gaining in experience and confidence, he integrated himself into the booming Atlanta dance scene:
"The talent shows were huge in Atlanta. Dancing was very big here. I used to make the mixes for some of the dance crews here. I supplied the soundtrack for them. Mixtapes weren't big like they are now. However, I found my way to the most popular DJ crew at the time, THE J TEAM, led by the legendary KING EDWARD J. That's where I blew as a DJ."
At Alabama A&M, Crooms, who went by DJ Smurf at the time, studied telecommunications and then business. He only chose them since they looked good on paper and admits it wasn't really necessary.
"Life is the best teacher. I learned everything I know from being on the field doing it in real life."
As a young producer, he'd been releasing music on another label but felt that they didn't know how to properly promote his music and had him doing most of the work. This is a recurring theme throughout the industry and the story usually ends with the artist complaining endlessly about it and dwelling on how the label did them wrong. Crooms took a different approach and in 1999 Collipark Music was born.
While working on his second album, Crumbs had D-Roc and Kaine in the studio. After they finished "One On One," he suggested they should continue working together. Thus began the story of the Ying-Yang Twins. They dropped "Whistle While You Twurk" and the hits continued to roll from there.
With some help from this dynamic duo, Lil Jon transformed Mr. Collipark's 1992 song "2 Tha Walls" into the certified club classic, "Get Low." Much to the chagrin of music snobs everywhere, the song with its call and response lyrics, infectious energy, and suggestive themes, swept the globe like a swarm of killer bees and made Crunk a household genre.
One would think after topping the charts with Hip-Hop classics like Bubba Sparxxx's "Ms. New Booty" and Ying-Yang's revolutionary minimal banger "Wait (The Whisper Song)" he'd be kicking back on a recliner somewhere, but the exact opposite is true. He kept progressing to scout new talent and build his empire. Not satisfied to sit behind a desk, he went into places like Batesville, Mississippi and Shreveport, Louisiana to find what he was looking for. Among others he would discover and develop Soulja Boy ("Crank That"), Treal Lee and Prince Rick ("Mr. Hit Dat"), and Hurricane Chris ("A Bay Bay").
Things are different nowadays though. His take on signing new artists:
"Honestly, new artists find me by just being who they are. I discover them in different ways. I'm not looking right now. That game is played to me... These cats doing the stuff I was doing 8 years ago. It's boring."
When asked if there's anything we can do to to bring Hip-Hop back to it's true essence:
I don't think there are any steps to take at this point. It's too far gone. The culture will eventually correct itself.. in ways that nobody will see coming...
Much like his experience with the label, he's not going to sit around and complain about it. Today Mr. Collipark operates on his own schedule, producing, and remixing music when he feels like it:
"I'm on my own time now. I move when I want to move and how I want to move. There is no pressure. I got burnt out with all of that a few years back. Doing "dance" music as they call it is just me returning to what I originally got in the game doing."
This more laid-back approach in no way hampers the quality of his production and with releases on labels like Mad Decent, Artist Intelligence, and Dim Mak it's obvious he's keeping with current trends. Growing up on energetic Bass music like 2 Live Crew and DJ Magic Mike, it's only natural that he's made a smooth transition to modern day Trap and Twerk. Crooms is a savvy operator and has always been able to mold with the times, but a sad majority of Hip-Hop pioneers haven't.
"I think we as the originators of the sound didn't know how to make a business out of what we were doing. We were making it and letting other people eat from it. This new wave of dance music has created a whole new model. It's commercial now. They are monetizing it. Obviously, the new dance music borrows a lot from the old stuff. The pioneers just aren't benefitting from it."
Many would argue that Hip-Hop is in a depressing state. Others claim that it's completely dead. The reality is that things are what you make of them. If you want to sit around and whine about it then don't bring that talk around Mr. Collipark. He's constantly evolving, innovating and doesn't concern himself with following trends, he's too busy setting them.
It's been said that the reason strip clubs are dipping in revenue is that Mr. Collipark stopped making music for them. Well he's back. And for all the ladies out there who use fake names, and guys who use fake stories, Mr. Collipark has a message for you:
I'm coming! Time to get the molasses out ya ass.
Thank Heavens...
Last Call
1. What is your favorite movie of all time?That's hard to say. Maybe Raising Arizona.
2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?DJ Magic Mike
3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?Off beat mixing
4. What is your current set up at home?I have Pioneer CDJ 2000 Nexus and the Pioneer DJM 850 Mixer. I have transitioned over to Ableton as far as production.
5. What's your favorite record of all time?I wouldn't be here if it weren't for "Planet Rock."
Keep up with Mr. Collipark on his Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Bryan Hahn will be thankful this year at Thanksgiving for all of the music Mr. Collipark has blessed us with.. He's on Twitter: @notupstate.