Crazy Town (also known as CxT) is an American rap metal band, formed in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. The band is best known for their 2000-2001 single, "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. As a group, they have released two studio albums, The Gift of Game and Darkhorse.

History

Formation (1995–1999)
Mazur and Binzer, who go by the names of Epic and Shifty Shellshock, respectively, started collaborating under the name of "The Brimstone Sluggers" in 1995 in Los Angeles, California, along with Adam Bravin (a.k.a. DJ Adam 12) who was preceded by DJ AM. However they did not become serious about releasing any material until much later. By early 1999, Rust Epique, James Bradley Jr (a.k.a. JBJ)., Doug Miller, Adam Goldstein (a.k.a. DJ AM), and Antonio Lorenzo "Trouble" Valli joined the band. Their debut album, The Gift of Game, was released in November 1999, having been recorded earlier that year.

The Gift of Game and "Butterfly" (1999–2001)
The release of The Gift of Game was followed by a tour support slot for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Guitarist Rust Epique left the band while the album was being mixed, and Crazy Town was joined by Kraig Tyler shortly after. The first two singles from The Gift of Game, "Toxic" and "Darkside", were released but failed to chart.

In 2000 Crazy Town was signed to tour with Ozzfest, however they were forced to withdraw after only two weeks when Binzer was arrested after he threw a chair through a window while he was drunk. Crazy Town then released their third single in 2001, "Butterfly" (which uses samples from Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Pretty Little Ditty"). It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Soundscan reports 100,000 album sales of The Gift of Game prior to the release of Butterfly; after Butterfly reached number 1 sales exceeded 1.5 million.

Crazy Town toured with Ozzfest in 2001. They were received with mixed reviews, many people in the Ozzfest crowd mockingly called them "The Butterfly Boys". A fourth single, "Revolving Door", was released with limited success. In 2001 Crazy Town also made a cameo appearance in the music video Bad Boy for Life by P. Diddy, Black Rob and Mark Curry.

Darkhorse (2001–2003)
Their second album, Darkhorse, was produced by Howard Benson and released on November 12, 2002. Benson's influence resulted in a more rock oriented sound. Prior to recording the album, drummer James Bradley, Jr. eventually left the band and was replaced by Kyle Hollinger. The album achieved little commercial success, spawning only two singles: "Drowning", which became a minor hit in the US, UK, Austria and Germany, and "Hurt You So Bad", which failed to chart at all. Shortly after the release of Darkhorse the band broke up in 2003, citing amongst other things, pressure from their record company for a "Butterfly" follow-up.

Hiatus (2003–2007)
During Crazy Town's hiatus, Bret Mazur went on to form The Pharmacy, a record-producing company. Shortly after leaving Crazy Town, Rust Epique formed a band which would eventually go by the name pre)Thing. He died of a heart attack shortly before their debut album 22nd Century Lifestyle was released in 2004. Binzer contributed vocals to Paul Oakenfold's 2002 single Starry Eyed Surprise. He released his first solo album in 2004, Happy Love Sick, under his alias Shifty Shellshock. Kraig Tyler joined Eric Powell's industrial band 16Volt.

Reformation (2007-2011)
In late 2007, Crazytown announced that the remaining members had reformed and were working on a new studio album, tentatively titled Crazy Town is Back, which would be released sometime in 2008. The album has not been released. On August 26, 2009, Crazy Town performed at Les Deux, in Hollywood, California, on stage together for the first time in five years. On August 28, 2009, former member Adam Goldstein was found dead in his apartment, of an accidental drug overdose. On August 7, 2010, Crazy Town played together at the festival SRH FEST 2010 in California. They played a new track titled "Come inside". Throughout 2011 Crazy Town released a new song, "My Place", on YouTube, as well as two new songs, "Hard to Get" and "Hit That Switch", on their Myspace page.

The Brimstone Sluggers (2013–present)
In a 2013 interview with New Metal 4U, Shifty and Epic said that Crazy Town were currently in the studio recording a new album, entitled The Brimstone Sluggers. Also the same year, Crazy Town created new official Facebook and Twitter pages for the band. In December 2013, they released the song Lemonface as a free download. Around the next year, new members were added to the band: lead guitarist Ahmad "Deadsie" Alkurabi, bassist Nick "Dax" Diiorio, and drummer Kevin Ka****. On 18 December 2014, Crazy Town released their first official single Megatron from their upcoming album The Brimstone Sluggers which was featured as the new theme song for Impact Wrestling.

Band members

Current members
Bret "Epic" Mazur – vocals, rapping, bass guitar, keyboards, piano, turntables, beatboxing (1995–2003; 2007–present)
Seth "Shifty" Binzer – rapping, lead vocals, (1995–2003; 2007–present)
Ahmad "Deadsie" Alkurabi – lead guitar (2014–present)
Nick "Dax" Diiorio – bass guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Kevin Ka**** - drums, percussion (2014–present)

Former members
Adam "DJ Adam 12" Bravin - turntables, samples, programming, keyboards (1995–1996)
Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein – turntables, samples, programming, keyboards (1999–2000, 2001; died 2009)
Antonio Lorenzo "Trouble" Valli - lead guitar (1999–2003)
Doug "Faydoe Deelay" Miller - bass guitar (1999-2003)
James "JBJ" Bradley Jr. – drums, percussion (1999–2001)
Charles "Rust Epique" Lopez - guitars (1999–2000; died 2004)
Kraig "Squirrel" Tyler - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2000–2003)
Kyle Hollinger - drums, percussion (2001-2003)

Discography
The Gift of Game (1999)
Darkhorse (2002)