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The 2 Live Crew Reflect on Their Battle for Free Speech 30 Years Later

The 2 Live Crew Reflect on Their Battle for Free Speech 30 Years Later

Published Fri, July 14, 2023 at 1:16 PM EDT

Thirty-four years ago, The 2 Live Crew found themselves at the center of a battle for the First Amendment and free speech when their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be was ruled obscene by federal court judge Jose Gonzalez.

The album, which was the group's third, was suffering from slow sales until the obscenity ban which sent it skyrocketing into the Billboard Hot 100. Luther Campbell known in Hip-Hop as Uncle Luke spoke with ABC News about the historic fight, and his and group member Fresh Kid Ice's 1990 arrest for performing lewd material onstage.

"We knew that we were gonna get arrested," Campbell remembered. "It was important to me [that we perform the songs], because I knew that we were under attack because it was Hip-Hop."

The group's DJ Mr Mixx spoke about the 2 Live Crew bringing rap to Miami. "There was nothing rap about Miami at the time," he explained. "There was party music, Caribbean music and dance music and things like that but there were no rappers in the marketplace at that time." Luke echoes Mr. Mixx. "We were really just doing music for Miami, not knowing that it would catch on throughout the country," he said.

Luke discussed Young Thug and his Rico case, which in some ways mirror the 2 Live Crew's fight. "I don't ever think any prosecutor should use lyrics against an artist. Writing is an artform," he said. "You have to write from the standpoint of what's happening today in the streets." Mr. Mixx differed in his assessment. "I think it's foolish that guys would say that they murdered people on a record. I think that they are learning know that we you do that it's fair game."

Check out the interview above.

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