2 Live Crew

On the one hand, Miami's 2 Live Crew were true hip-hop pioneers, crossing over to the mainstream with pornographic raps and booty bass beats, setting legal precedents while lowering the bar (and making sure the bar stayed open) for a flood of foul-mouthed and/or party-centric music to follow (everyone from Lil' Kim and Lil Jon to 95 South and Insane Clown Posse owe them big time). On the other hand, if filling-rattling uptempo 808 beats and wildly puerile rhymes are not to your taste, 2 Live Crew can be dismissed. Despite 2 Live Crew's being a ubiquitous presence on Florida's musical map, they actually started out in California, releasing the single "Revelation" on the Macola label in 1985. When they moved to Miami, local record pimp Luther Campbell (a.k.a. Luke Skyywalker) both signed and joined the group, and 2 Live Crew thus assumed their classic incarnation. With their green satin jackets, gold-toothed leers, and the paunchy presence of "The Chinaman" (a.k.a. MC Fresh Kid Ice) in their ranks, 2 Live Crew looked considerably different from your average East Coast crew. Raunchy and proud, the group's 1986 release "We Want Some Pussy" (which had echoes of both Richard Pryor's blue humor and blueswoman Lucille Bogan's 1930s hit "Shave 'Em Dry") kicked their notoriety into high gear. By 1989's multiplatinum As Nasty as They Wanna Be, the group was something like a filthy rap version of Weird Al Yankovic, flipping songs by Jimi Hendrix and Roy Orbison into potty-mouthed sing-alongs. Song titles such as "Me So Horny" and "If You Believe in Having Sex" tell the tale. In short order, 2 Live Crew and massive litigation became frequent bedfellows. George Lucas sued Skyywalker/Campbell for trademark infringement, and Luther shortened his alias to Luke. Numerous serpentine suits alleged that As Nasty as They Wanna Be was legally obscene and therefore illegal to sell. And in 1994, the Orbison estate alleged that a parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman" was in fact plagiarism -- a suit that went all the way to the Supreme Court (2 Live Crew won). In 1995 Luke left the group, who continued flaccidly without him. (PETER RELIC)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide