The 2 Live Crew

In popularizing their raunchy brand of Miami bass music, the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew attained massive success in the late ’80s and early ’90s. They also became unlikely First Amendment crusaders following legal objections to their sexually explicit lyrics. • Mr. Mixx and Fresh Kid Ice formed 2 Live Crew while stationed at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. DJ Amazing Vee joined the fold for 1985’s 12” single “Revelation.” • After Miami concert promoter Luther “Luke” Campbell booked the group, Mixx and Ice wound up relocating to Florida. Now the manager and label backer, Luke joined the group along with Brother Marquis. • The group went gold with their 1986 debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are. Due to the vulgar lyrics, a record store clerk was charged with a felony for selling the album to an 11-year-old girl. He was later acquitted. • In 1989, 2 Live Crew topped the rap charts with “Me So Horny.” The song turned a memorable line from the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket into an unforgettable—albeit offensive—chorus. • “Me So Horny” appears on 1989’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be, an album that was declared obscene by the District Court of Fort Lauderdale. The ruling was later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals. • Their fourth LP, 1990's Banned in the USA (credited to Luke featuring The 2 Live Crew), became the first album to carry the RIAA’s parental advisory logo. The title track interpolates “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen, who approved the usage. • Each of group’s first five studio albums—The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are through 1991’s Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2—went gold, and As Nasty As They Wanna Be achieved platinum sales. • With 1994’s Back At Your Ass for the Nine-4, the group debuted a new lineup, as Verb replaced Brother Marquis and Mr. Mixx. This would be the final 2 Live Crew album featuring Luke, though two additional LPs followed. • Luke unsuccessfully campaigned to become the mayor of Miami-Dade County in 2011. • On July 13, 2017, Fresh Kid Ice died in Miami from cirrhosis of the liver. He’s remembered as a pioneering Asian American rapper.