1984–1986: Group formation and breakthrough The 2 Live Crew, although seen as a main fixture in the
Miami hip-hop scene, actually got their start in
Riverside, California and was created by DJ
Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs) with fellow rappers
Fresh Kid Ice (Chris Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot). The group released its first single, "Revelation", on its own label "Fresh Beat Records" in 1984. The A-side of "Revelation" contained a song where the only rapper featured was Amazing Vee. The B-side contained a song named "2 Live" where Fresh Kid Ice was the only rapper featured. "Revelation" was popular in Florida. Luke Skyywalker (
Luther Campbell), who at the time was a local DJ and promoter, invited The 2 Live Crew to relocate to Miami. Also due to the subsequent success of 2 Live Crew, this made Fresh Kid Ice the first rapper to be noted in
Asian American hip hop, and the first
Asian rapper to gain notoriety. For their second single, "What I Like" (1985), Fresh Kid Ice was the only rapper featured. Amazing Vee was only credited as writer, and left the group shortly after. The single "Throw The D", released in January 1986, was a permanent blueprint for future
Miami bass songs. Wong Won said that the song came about when they noticed a new popular dance in Miami called "Throwing The Dick" when the
Herman Kelly and Life's song "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" played. The dance consisted of men throwing their hips back and forth, while the girls would squat with their hands on their knees, bend over, and shake their butt. Wong Won suggested to Mr. Mixx that they should adapt the hook, and they scratched it into the song. Wong Won felt his voice was too high pitched for the hook, so Mr. Mixx who came up with the pattern did it using an emulator. Wong Won wrote the lyrics in 20 minutes on a plane ride. Finally, they booked a 16-track studio to record it. Rapper
Brother Marquis (Mark Ross) joined The 2 Live Crew. Luke Skyywalker (
Luther Campbell) gave The 2 Live Crew a record deal and worked as the group's manager. He also joined the group as its hype-man and spokesperson in their subsequent controversies. The 2 Live Crew's debut album,
The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, was released in 1986. Alex Henderson of
AllMusic commented that the album "did take sexually explicit rap lyrics to a new level of nastiness", with tracks such as "We Want Some Pussy" and "Throw the 'D'". With word-of-mouth attention, the album was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Bob Rosenberg of
Will to Power remixed "Beat Box" (originally released as "Two Live") and was billed "King of Edits" by Luke Skyywalker. In 1987, a Florida store clerk was acquitted of
felony charges for selling the album to a 14-year-old girl. It was the first time in the United States that a record store owner was held liable for obscenity over music, though the store was eventually acquitted. In 1990, action was taken at the local level and
Nick Navarro,
Broward County Sheriff, received a ruling from County Circuit Court judge Mel Grossman that
probable cause for obscenity violations existed. Navarro warned record store owners that selling the album might be prosecutable. 2 Live Crew then filed a suit against Navarro. That June,
U.S. district court Judge
Jose Gonzalez ruled the album obscene and illegal to sell. Charles Freeman, a local retailer, was arrested two days later, after selling a copy to an undercover police officer. This was followed by the arrest of three members of 2 Live Crew after they performed the
As Nasty as They Wanna Be album at Club Futura in
Hollywood, Florida, hosted by radio personality Tony the Tiger (Ira Wolf) from Power 96 FM, one of the few radio stations in the U.S. that continued airplay while the trial ensued. After international exposure with support from
freedom of speech advocates like
SCREW magazine's
Al Goldstein (who owned a house in Broward County) and many others, they were acquitted soon after, as professor
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. testified at their trial in defense of their lyrics. Freeman's conviction was overturned on appeal as well. The Crew parodied
Roy Orbison's "
Oh, Pretty Woman" on the album
As Clean as They Wanna Be. The copyright owners of the original song brought a lawsuit in 1990 claiming
copyright infringement. In 1994, the
United States Supreme Court unanimously adopted a rule from an
earlier Ninth Circuit case involving
Rick Dees, and ruled that the 2 Live Crew's
parody was
fair use, and thus did not infringe. In 1992, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the obscenity ruling from Judge Gonzalez, and the
Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear Broward County's appeal. As in the Freeman case, Gates testified on behalf of 2 Live Crew, arguing that the material that the county alleged was profane actually had important roots in
African-American vernacular, games, and literary traditions and should be protected. As a result of the controversy, sales of
As Nasty as They Wanna Be remained brisk, selling over two million copies. It peaked at number 29 on the
Billboard 200 and number 3 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. A few other retailers were later arrested for selling it as well, including Canadian
Marc Emery, who was convicted in Ontario in 1991, and later gained fame as a marijuana activist. Later, hard-rock band
Van Halen sued the group over an uncleared sample of their song "
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" in the 2 Live Crew song "The Fuck Shop". Campbell changed his stage name to Luke (and changed the record label's name to Luke Records) Two charting singles were produced, "Hell, Yeah" and "You Go Girl" who were both made into music videos. 1995 saw a reunion of Fresh Kid Ice, Brother Marquis and Mr. Mixx re-formed again to record "Hoochie Mama" for the soundtrack of movie
Friday. The soundtrack reached No. 1 on the
Billboard 200, where it held the position for two weeks, and the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for six weeks. Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and Brother Marquis left Luke and
Luke Records to go to Lil' Joe Records and released ''
Shake a Lil' Somethin' (1996) without Luther Campbell. Shake a Lil' Somethin''' is their seventh album. It was released on August 6, 1996, for Lil' Joe Records and was produced by Mr. Mixx. The album made it to No. 145 on the
Billboard 200 and No. 33 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and two singles "Shake a Lil' Somethin'", which peaked at No. 11 on the
Hot Rap Singles chart and "Do the Damn Thing", which reached No. 24 on the same chart. It peaked at number 59 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop and albums chart. At the time of this album, Fresh Kid Ice had left the New 2 Live Crew (which consisted of himself,
Luke and Verb and
Luke Records) to re-join original members Mr. Mixx and Brother Marquis. However, the reunion was short lived as Mr. Mixx left the group after this album.
The Real One is their eighth and last studio album. It was released on April 7, 1998, for Lil' Joe Records and with the absence of Mr. Mixx, was produced by various producers. The album peaked at No. 59 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Shortly after the release of this album, Brother Marquis left as well.
2000–2009: Hiatus and reformation In the early 2000s, both
Brother Marquis and
Fresh Kid Ice pursued solo projects. Circa 2006–2007 Fresh Kid Ice and Brother Marquis discussed their differences and decided to relaunch 2 Live Crew. They offered other past members to be involved but were declined. Both of them started to tour and release singles.
2010–present: Honors, death of Fresh Kid Ice, new lawsuit, and death of Brother Marquis In 2010,
Brother Marquis and
Fresh Kid Ice briefly reunited with
Luke, and
Mr. Mixx as they were honorees winners at the 2010 VH1 Hip-Hop Honors: The Dirty South Edition. Later that year, the both of them released the singles "I'm 2 Live" featuring
Mannie Fresh, "Cougar", "Boom" featuring
E-40. They announced the release of a new 2 Live Crew album called
Just Wanna be Heard with guest
Too Short,
E-40, and
Insane Clown Posse. It was set to be released in August 2010, but remains unreleased to this day. In June 2014, the 2 Live Crew released a new single, "Take It Off", the video clip featured cameos by Mannie Fresh,
Flavor Flav,
Trina,
Flo Rida, and
Trick Daddy. The single is available on
iTunes Later that year they made a cameo in the Flo Rida music video "
G.D.F.R.". Also in 2014, they announced an album called
Turn Me On, which also remains unreleased. By Thanksgiving of that year, 2 Live Crew reunited with Campbell for a series of shows until 2015. In 2016, Fresh Kid Ice left the group, and Mr. Mixx rejoined. On July 13, 2017, at age 53, Fresh Kid Ice died in a Miami hospital from
cirrhosis. Currently, there is an ongoing dispute between Lil Joe Records against former 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell, Brother Marquis and the estate of Fresh Kid Ice. The central issue revolves around whether bankruptcy proceedings from the 1990s affect the group members' rights to reclaim copyrights to their old recordings. Lil Joe Records claims the bankruptcy proceedings extinguished these rights, while 2 Live Crew argues that copyright law overrules the bankruptcy order, protecting creators. Additionally, the debate includes whether the recordings were created under work-for-hire agreements, with Lil Joe Records asserting they were. This case may establish a precedent regarding the impact of past bankruptcy proceedings on artists' termination rights, with both parties seeking a favorable summary judgment from the court. On June 3, 2024, Brother Marquis was found dead, at the age of 58. == Discography ==