As Nasty As They Wanna Be

As Nasty As They Wanna Be
Studio album by 2 Live Crew
Released February 7, 1989 (1989-02-07)[1]
Recorded 1988
Genre
Length 79:30
Label Luke/Atlantic Records
91651
Producer 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew chronology
Move Somethin'
(1988)		 As Nasty As They Wanna Be
(1989)		 Banned in the U.S.A.
(1990)
Singles from As Nasty As They Wanna Be
  1. "Me So Horny"
    Released: January 20, 1989
  2. "C'mon Babe"
    Released: 1989
  3. "The Fuck Shop"
    Released: 1990
  4. "Coolin'"
    Released: 1990 (UK only)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Robert ChristgauC[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

As Nasty As They Wanna Be is the third album by Miami bass group 2 Live Crew. It was released on February 7, 1989 and became the group's largest seller, being certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 1990, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the album was legally obscene;[5] this ruling was later overturned by the Eleventh Circuit.[6] It is the first album in history to be deemed legally obscene.[7]

It would also be the final album to be released under the Skyywalker Records label. Following a successful lawsuit against Luther Campbell and Skyywalker Records by Star Wars creator and director George Lucas, the company was forced to change its name to Luke Records.

The album is broken down track-by-track by Luke and Mr. Mixx in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique.[8]

In 2010, the album cover and imagery of the record were used in the music video of the song "The Rabbit" by Swedish band Miike Snow.

Track listing

No.TitleSamplesLength
1."Me So Horny"*Vocal samples from the Stanley Kubrick movie Full Metal Jacket 4:36
2."Put Her in the Buck"*Main riff of the song and moans are sampled from the Chakachas' "Jungle Fever"3:57
3."Dick Almighty"*Main riff of the song is sampled from the title track of Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine album 4:53
4."C'mon Babe" 4:43
5."Dirty Nursery Rhymes"*Lyrically inspired by Andrew Dice Clay's "Nursery Rhymes" routine from his Dice album 3:05
6."Break It on Down" (Campbell/Two Live Crew) 3:59
7."2 Live Blues"Love Me With a Feeling by Clarence Carter5:14
8."I Ain't Bullshittin'"*The title phrase is sampled from a Richard Pryor recording4:27
9."Get Loose Now" (Campbell/Two Live Crew)*Rob Base song "It Takes Two" 4:36
10."The Fuck Shop"*Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"
  • "I know a place just down there two streets" is from Leroy, Skillet & LaWanda's album "Back Door Daddy".
  • Music Explosion's "Little Bit O' Soul"
  • Guns N' Roses's "Sweet Child O' Mine"
3:24
11."If You Believe in Having Sex" 3:51
12."My Seven Bizzos"*Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"4:18
13."Get the Fuck out of My House"*Eddie Murphy recording Eddie Murphy: Comedian 4:37
14."Reggae Joint" (Satire of dancehall music)*Replayed excerpt of the synth-bass riff from Wayne Smith's "Under Me Sleng Teng"4:14
15."Fraternity Record"*Replayed excerpt of the guitar riff from the Beatles' "Day Tripper"4:47
16."Bad Ass Bitch" 4:03
17."Mega Mixx III"*This largely instrumental track contains a sample of an electronic voice counting in German from the Kraftwerk song "Numbers/Computer World"5:44
18."Coolin'" (Campbell/Two Live Crew)*Young-Holt Unlimited's "Soulful Strut" 5:02

Obscenity trial

Federal district judge Jose Gonzalez ruled that the album was obscene, making it illegal in certain counties of Florida. Subsequently, on June 9, 1990, three band members were arrested, and their album seized, when they performed some tracks at a local sex club, in Broward County Florida. In the "media circus"[9] attendant on these events, only the Washington City Paper, Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center and The Nation magazine published the offending lyrics. Christopher Hitchens, in a column on the last of these, citing the admonition on the cover of the album—"If you don't like the record, you can kiss our mother fuckin' ass"—commented,

Precisely. It's obvious to this reviewer that the Crew should be left alone, and that their foulmouthed attitude toward the gentler sex is a good-sounding excuse for a youth-hating and surreptitiously bigoted prosecution. I don't know the private thoughts of Sheriff Nick Navarro of Broward County, but I doubt they are worth a rat's behind and see no reason why he should sublimate his own vagina-dreading disorders in this expensive and undemocratic fashion. The same applies to the preposterous Judge Jose Gonzalez Jr., who in ruling on Sheriff Navarro's raid opined that the music appeals to "the loins, not to the intellect." In fact, I think they are a pair of racist shitheads who should be told to fuck right off.[10]

An obscenity trial followed, in which Henry Louis Gates, Jr., addressed the court on behalf of the defendants, all of whom were eventually acquitted.

Trivia

  • The album cover can be found on the wall of the music store in the comedy film, Next Friday.
  • As Nasty As They Wanna Be is the first ever southern rap album to go platinum and the only one from the 1980s.
  • In the liner notes, the group thanks Chris Jurewicz, who at the time was a 10-year-old who wrote the group a fan letter. He grew up to be Chris Jay, the lead singer of the rock band, Army of Freshmen.
  • The German CD omitted tracks 17 and 18 due to "capacity reasons." The length was 68:55 mins.
  • "The Fuck Shop" contains a lyrical public service announcement reminding people to clean their genitals after sex.

Personnel

  • 2 Live Crew – Producer
  • Jimmy Magnoli – Guitar
  • Mr. Mixx – Vocals, Producer, Performer, Mixing
  • Ted Stein – Engineer, Mixing
  • Ron Taylor – Engineer, Mixing
  • Chris Murphy – Engineer

As Clean As They Wanna Be

As Clean As They Wanna Be
Studio album by 2 Live Crew
Released 1989 (1989)
Recorded 1988–1989
Genre Miami bass
Length 47:37
Label Luke/Atlantic Records
91652
Producer Luther Campbell, Mr. Mixx, 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew chronology
Move Somethin'
(1987)		 As Clean As They Wanna Be
(1989)		 Banned in the U.S.A.
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[11]

As Clean As They Wanna Be is the clean version of 2 Live Crew's third album. The album contains a disclaimer that '"This album does not contain explicit lyrics." The album had notably worse sales than the explicit version. However, it does contain "Pretty Woman", which is not on the explicit version. The song – a parody of the Roy Orbison hit "Oh, Pretty Woman" – resulted in a Supreme Court case, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., which established that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use. Despite the sticker on the album cover claiming "This album does not contain explicit lyrics", the song "Break It on Down" appears in its original, explicit form. Additionally, the song "City of Boom" (which is exclusive to the clean version) contains several explicit lyrics.

Track listing

All tracks written by 2 Live Crew.

No.TitleLength
1."The Funk Shop"3:23
2."C'mon Babe"4:19
3."Get Loose Now"4:36
4."Coolin'"5:03
5."You Got Larceny"4:57
6."Me So Horny"4:25
7."Pretty Woman" (a parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman" written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees)3:20
8."My Seven Bizzos"4:18
9."City of Boom"3:32
10."Mega Mix III"5:44
11."Break It on Down"3:58

Personnel

  • Mr. Mixx – vocals, producer, mixing
  • Ted Stein – engineer, mixing
  • Ron Taylor – engineer, mixing
  • Milton Mizell – coordination
  • Linda Fine – coordination
  • Mac Hartshorn – photography
  • Mike Holland, aka Mike Bizzo – H.N.I.C.
  • Luther Campbell – producer, executive producer
  • Nic Stone, aka Spoon 56 – Mocha Thunder Generation
  • Debbie Bennett – coordination
  • Mike Fuller – mastering

References

  • Hitchens, Christopher. "Minority Report." The Nation, July 30, 1990: 120.
  • MacInnes, Paul. "The 2 Live Crew are arrested." The Guardian. June 13, 2011. (accessed June 9, 2012).
  1. ↑ Billy Johnson, Jr. (February 7, 2014). "7 Ways the World Went Crazy With 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  2. ↑ Jeffries, David (September 16, 2018). "As Nasty as They Wanna Be- 2 Live Crew". AllMusic. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ "2 Live Crew Reviews". Robert Christgau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "2 Live Crew". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 829–30. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. ↑ Skyywalker Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 739 F.Supp. 578 (S.D. Fla. 1990).
  6. ↑ Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134 (11th Cir. 1992).
  7. ↑ Deflem, Mathieu. 1993. "Rap, Rock, and Censorship: Popular Culture and the Technologies of Justice." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Chicago, May 27–30, 1993
  8. ↑ Coleman, Brian, 2007, Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies, Villard/Random House.
  9. ↑ MacInnes 2011.
  10. ↑ Hitchens 1990.
  11. ↑ Jeffries, David (September 16, 2018). "As Clean as They Wanna Be- 2 Live Crew". AllMusic. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
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