2 Live Crew always lived up to their name. Whether it be in clubs that spanned from coast-to-coast in the United States, on the Billboard charts for a decade straight, or in the literal U.S. Supreme Court, the group made pushing boundaries and pushing people’s buttons their livelihoods.
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While it’s difficult to find interviews where members discuss the origin of their moniker, it’s easy to see why the name 2 Live Crew made so much sense for them.
Starting with 2
When the rap group first formed in Riverside, California in the mid-1980s, it only contained two members: Mr. Mixx, the record-scratching producer and DJ, and Fresh Kid Ice, 2 Live Crew’s first vocalist. They first began crafting music together while stationed in California for the U.S. Air Force.
Eventually, they would bring a few more members into the fold, starting with DJ Amazing Vee before their debut single “Revelation.” However, Vee would leave the group soon after in 1985, subtracting the member total back to two.
Becoming a Crew
After “Revelation” became a beloved staple in the Florida club scene, prominent Miami DJ and promoter Luther “Luke” Campbell asked 2 Live Crew to visit the Sunshine State for some performances, he recalled to American Songwriter during an interview last year. Obliging, this led to the tandem making Miami their permanent home.
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“I reached out to them and said, ‘Hey look, I like your record. I want to break your record and play it here. If I break your record, there are two things I need. One, you come down here and do a show for me, I’ll fly you in to do a promo show. And then I’ll bring you back to do a paid show,’” Campbell told us. “They were all game for it.”
As their headquarters, Miami grew its rap scene as 2 Live Crew grew its following and roster. Campbell, serving as producer, hype man, manager, A&R, and much more, officially joined the group along with their second rapper, Brother Marquis, ahead of their debut album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are (1986). The project was released under Luke Records, Campbell’s brand new imprint that he ran, considering he could not find a label that would sign the group.
“I believed in the group,” he said. “When I broke the first record, I knew the group had something unique going on. When people said ‘no,’ I said, ‘fuck it.’ I believed Mr. Mixx was a good producer, I believed Chris was a good rapper. I believed we could do some special things.”
Throughout the next several years, 2 Live Crew would become a revolving door that rotating members would leave and rejoin for reunion attempts. 1994 also saw new addition Verb join the crew after Brother Marquis and Mr. Mixx briefly departed.
Being Too Live
Known for their raunchy, sexually-explicit subject matter, 2 Live Crew often became too much for some folks to handle. Songs and albums of theirs with particularly provocative lyricism got them in trouble with the law from time to time, which Campbell explained was something they embraced, even when it caused adversity for them.
“Everything was organic,” he said. “We were having fun. Every time people tell me no, then I do it. I’m a fucking rebel. Ain’t nobody going to tell me not to do something. That’s just the bottom line. If I feel it’s the right thing to do, I’m going to do it.”
In 1987, a store clerk in Florida was hit with felony charges for selling a physical copy of their aforementioned debut album to a minor. The clerk would later be acquitted.
However, a similar charge would be handed down to a record store clerk in 1988, who sold an explicit version of 2 Live Crew’s sophomore album, Move Somethin,’ to an undercover police officer in Alabama. Again, the charges would be dropped.
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Two years later, the group would endure some of their harshest criticism yet. On the heels of putting out their third album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, U.S. district court Judge Jose Gonzalez made the distribution of the album illegal due to the project’s obscenity. Another clerk would soon be arrested for selling a copy to an undercover officer. Additionally, 2 Live Crew members were arrested for performing the album in Hollywood, Florida. All three members and the store clerk would be acquitted after freedom of speech advocates testified on their behalf.
After another two years, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned Judge Gonzalez’s obscenity ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal from the Broward County police department, who first made the selling of As Nasty as They Wanna Be prosecutable.
Overall, it felt like 2 Live Crew’s mission, at times, was to combat authority. Seemingly rubbing their brashness and ruggedness in the law’s face, 2 Live Crew’s unapologetic approach helped their stage name age magnificently.
Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
