Luke (rapper)

Luther Roderick Campbell (born December 22, 1960), also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke and simply Luke, is an American rapper, promoter, record executive, actor, and former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew. He is known for having helped create the Miami bass genre, for establishing one of the first rap groups and rap labels in Southern hip hop, and his sexually crude call and response lyrics which were unique for the time period. He also starred in a short-lived show on VH1, ''Luke's Parental Advisory''.

Early life and education

Luther Campbell was born on December 22, 1960, in Miami. His mother was a beautician of Bahamian ancestry and his father was a custodian of Jamaican ancestry. He was the youngest of five sons and was named after Martin Luther King Jr. He was raised Catholic.

After graduating from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1979, Campbell was asked by his mother to leave the house every weekday from 8:30am to 4:30pm regardless of his employment status.

Career

1980s

In the early 1980s, Campbell worked as a cook at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach and as a concert promoter in Miami, bringing rap groups of that era to Miami. In 1983, he also enrolled in an eight-week study course at Miami public radio station WDNA, where he learned basic audio editing and production techniques.

In 1984, Campbell took notice of a single from California named "Revelation" by 2 Live Crew, which consisted of two rappers (Fresh Kid Ice and Amazing V) and a DJ (Mr. Mixx). The single was a hit on the South Florida club circuit, and Campbell decided to bring them from California to Miami for a performance. He took a special interest in the group and began managing them.

2 Live Crew eventually fully relocated to Florida without Amazing Vee and in 1986, 2 Live Crew recorded "Throw the D" with "Ghetto Bass" on the B-side, they went into a joint venture with Campbell to start Luke Skyywalker Records, which was also his first MC name.

In April of that year, Brother Marquis joined the group in Miami. Campbell gave The 2 Live Crew a record deal and officially joined the group. They exploded on the local scene with their gold-selling debut album, ''The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are'' (1986). This made Luke Skyyywalker and his bandmates rap superstars in south Florida. On April 20, 1987, a clerk at Starship Records in Callaway, Florida was arrested and charged with a felony for selling a copy of ''The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are'' to a 14-year-old girl. The charges were dropped before trial.

In 1988, the group released their second album, ''Move Somethin''. It was certified Gold and featured the singles "Move Somethin'" and "Do Wah Diddy Diddy". The album improved on the charts from the previous album, making it to #68 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #20 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

Campbell decided to sell a separate clean version in addition to the explicit version of the album. A record store clerk in Alexander City, Alabama, was cited for selling a copy to an undercover police officer in 1988. It was the first time in the United States that a store owner was held liable for obscenity over music. The charges were dropped after a jury found the owner not guilty.

Their third album ''As Nasty as They Wanna Be'' (1989) became the group's largest seller, being certified 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; this ruling was later overturned by the Eleventh Circuit. It is the first album in history to be deemed legally obscene. An obscenity trial followed, in which Henry Louis Gates, Jr., addressed the court on behalf of the defendants, all of whom were eventually acquitted.

University of Miami "pay-for-play" allegations

Campbell was also infamous in the late 1980s and early 1990s for his association with the University of Miami football team. Campbell was alleged to have been behind what was referred to as a "pay-for-play" system, which involved cash rewards for acts such as scoring touchdowns and big hits, although Campbell has never actually donated to the University of Miami or its athletics department.

In 1993, Campbell threatened to go public with various alleged violations by the university's athletic department and its football program if Ryan Collins, a black player on the team, wasn't named starting quarterback that season.

1990s

1990 saw the release of ''Banned in the U.S.A.'', originally credited as Campbell's solo album featuring 2 Live Crew and in later editions credited as a 2 Live Crew album. The album included the hits " Do the Bart" and the title track. It was also the very first release to bear the RIAA-standard Parental Advisory warning sticker. It peaked at number 20 on the Hot 100.

The eponymous title single is a reference to the decision in a court case that the group's album ''As Nasty as They Wanna Be'' was obscene. Bruce Springsteen granted the group permission to interpolate his song " Born in the U.S.A." for it.

Displeased over the decision of Florida Governor Bob Martinez who, on being asked to examine the album, decided it was obscene and recommended local law enforcement take action against it and over the subsequent action of Broward County, Florida, sheriff Nick Navarro, who arrested local record-store owners on obscenity charges for selling the group's albums and the subsequent arrest of members of the group on obscenity charges, the group included the song "Fuck Martinez", which also includes multiple repetitions of the phrase "fuck Navarro". The group found two other men with the same names, and had them sign releases, as they thought that this action would make it impossible for Martinez or Navarro to sue them.

That same year they released '' Live in Concert'', the group's first and only live album, and their fifth record overall. It was released under the Effect subsidiary label of Luke Records. The album peaked at number 46 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

'' Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2'' (1991) is the sixth album overall and fifth studio album by the 2 Live Crew. A clean version was released later that same year titled ''Sports Weekend: As Clean as They Wanna Be Part II'' and was the sequel of ''As Clean as They Wanna Be''. This would be the last studio album by all original members of the 2 Live Crew.

In 1992, '' I Got Shit on My Mind'' was released. It was his first official solo album without The 2 Live Crew. It peaked at #52 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and #20 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It was the album that spawned the hit single "I Wanna Rock" (better known more prominently as "Doo-Doo Brown"), which became Campbell's signature song. Upon its initial release in 1992, the song did not garner much attention until the following year, when it became a runaway hit, and charted at 73 on the Hot 100.

June 8, 1993 saw the release of his third solo album ''In the Nude''. It was another success, reaching #54 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

One of The 2 Live Crew’s songs, which used a parody of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", was the subject of a 1993-1994 lawsuit, ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'', which was argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The ''Miami New Times'' described Campbell as "the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech".

In 1994, he reunited with Fresh Kid Ice, and a local rapper named Verb made an album under the banner The New 2 Live Crew. It is the last 2 Live Crew related project to feature him. The album became a moderate hit, peaking at #52 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, as well as producing two charting singles, "Hell, Yeah" and "You Go Girl" who were both made into music videos.

''Freak for Life'' is Campbell's fourth album. It was released on July 12, 1994, through Luke Records

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