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 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, formed in 1984. The group was originally composed of DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot), though its most well-known lineup ...

. 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 Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee ...

, 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 Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. 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 Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

. He was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. 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

, bringing rap groups of that era to Miami. In 1983, he also enrolled in an eight-week study course at Miami

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

station WDNA, where he learned basic audio editing and production techniques. In 1984, Campbell took notice of a single from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

named "Revelation" by

, 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 The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

. 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

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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

-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 Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

granted the group permission to

interpolate In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a ...

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 A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

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, a move that was deemed necessary for the company to be able to release additional 2 Live Crew material outside of their distribution deal with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The album peaked at number 46 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

. '' Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2'' (1991) is the sixth album overall and fifth studio album by the

. 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

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

. One of The 2 Live Crew’s songs, which used a parody of Roy Orbison's "

Oh, Pretty Woman "Oh, Pretty Woman", or simply "Pretty Woman", is a song recorded by Roy Orbison and written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, '' ...

", was the subject of a 1993-1994 lawsuit, ''

Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'', 510 U.S. 569 (1994), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court copyright law case that established that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use. This case established that the ...

'', 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

, 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. ''Freak for Life'' peaked at #174 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #24 on the

, making it his lowest charting album at the time. One single found mild success, "It's Your Birthday" peaked at #33 on the Hot Rap Singles and #91 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. Also in 1994, Campbell co-founded ''Liberty City Optimists'', an inner city youth sports program. One of his notable apprentices is Devonta Freeman, who went on to play college football for Florida State Seminoles, rival of the Hurricanes. Campbell and his label, Luke Records, Inc. went bankrupt in 1995 and sold their catalogs to Joseph Weinberger and Lil' Joe Records, Inc. in 1996. '' Uncle Luke'' was released on May 14, 1996, on Luther Campbell Music and was mainly produced by Darren "DJ Spin" Rudnick, and Rod XL, with additional production by Frankie Cutlass,

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

and Doug E. Fresh. ''Uncle Luke'' was a success, peaking at #51 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #8 on the

and spawned a single, "Scarred", which made it to #64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #7 on the Hot Rap Singles, the song was also turned into a Video. '' Changin' the Game'' is the sixth album released by Campbell. It was released on November 11, 1997, on the Island Black Music label in collaboration with Luke Records and featured production from Campbell, Rod XL, Lil' Jon and Louis "Ugly" Howard. Though the album was met with some positive reviews, the album was a flop and remains Campbell's lowest charting album, only making it to #49 on the

. However, the single "Raise the Roof" found great success peaking at #26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Singles. The song helped to popularize the arm gesture by the same name which involved repeatedly extending ones arms upwards with the palms of the hands also facing upwards. The song is also featured in the compilation album '' Jock Jams Volume 4''. In 1998 he played a supporting role in the movie ''Ride'' a

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by Millicent Shelton. It stars Malik Yoba, Fredro Starr, and Melissa De Sousa. Also that year he made a special cameo appearance in

's '' The Players Club''. The

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

stars Bernie Mac, Monica Calhoun, Jamie Foxx, John Amos, A. J. Johnson, Alex Thomas, Charlie Murphy,

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden ...

, Faizon Love and LisaRaye.

2000s

'' Somethin' Nasty'' is the seventh album released by Campbell. It was released on March 13, 2001, on Luke Records through Koch Records' short-lived independent label distribution unit, KELA (Koch Entertainment Label Alliance) and featured production by Campbell's former 2 Live Crew bandmate, Mr. Mixx,

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger or simply Daz (formerly Dat Nigga Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. As a member of Death Row Records in the early 1990s, he is credited with the label ...

, Gorilla Tek, and Campbell himself. The album found minor success, peaking at #149 on the ''Billboard'' 200, #36 on the

and #6 on the

Top Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

. Campbell's last release, '' My Life & Freaky Times'', was released in March 2006, and peaked at 32 at the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The first singles serviced to radio were "Holla at Cha Homeboy", featuring Pitbull & Petey Pablo, and the

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

-leaning "Pop That" by Plan B and Rey Chester Secretweapon. That same year, Campbell appeared in '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'' as DJ Luke for the hip-hop station Fresh 105 FM. Campbell hosts a sports talk show on Miami's 790 The Ticket with former football player Terry Kirby on Saturdays. Campbell has previously entered the adult film industry and cites on his MySpace page the need to clean up the "sometimes amateurish new courtship of Hip-Hop and Adult Entertainment". He produced the adult entertainment movie ''Luke's Bachelor Party'' in 2007. In December 2007, Campbell launched The Luke Entertainment Group and took the company public trading under the symbol LKEN on Pink Sheets. In 2008, he starred in his own short-lived show on VH1, ''Luke's Parental Advisory''. Campbell was interviewed about his involvement with the University of Miami football program for the documentary ''

The U "The U" is a nickname often given to a university. Specifically, it has been used to refer to: * The University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida **Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's athletic program and teams * ''The U'' (film), a 2009 do ...

'', which premiered December 12, 2009, as part of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's '' 30 for 30'' series. In 2010, he briefly reunited with Fresh Kid Ice, Brother Marquis, and Mr. Mixx as the 2 Live Crew were honorees winners at the 2010 ''VH1 Hip-Hop Honors: The Dirty South Edition.'' On February 2, 2011, Campbell announced his intention to run for mayor of

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

on a platform that includes making housing projects safer, transparency in local government, and taxing strippers. He came in fourth in a field of 11 candidates, winning 11% of the vote. By Thanksgiving 2014, Campbell reunited with 2 Live Crew (Fresh Kid Ice and Brother Marquis) for a series of shows until 2015.

Personal life

On February 18, 2009, Campbell was arrested for falling behind on

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...

payments. He allegedly has six or seven children, each from a different mother. In February 2010, Campbell became a columnist for '' Miami New Times'', an

alternative weekly An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...

newspaper distributed in the

Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...

. Campbell's column, called "Luke's Gospel", provides "a forum for his crazy-ass views on current events," which include politics, sports and entertainment. He is quoted on the ''Miami New Times'' website as saying, "It's the perfect place for me. I am a free-speech guy. It's just a match made in Heaven. Can you believe it? Me turned loose on the world in ''New Times''. Wow." He supported Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign, stating: "I’m getting sick and tired of you motherfuckers who’s out here trying to take the Blackness away from Kamala Harris, our VP and soon-to-be president because your daddy, Donald Trump, gives you these talking messages, so you repeat the dumb shit."

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*1996: '' Greatest Hits'' *2000: '' Luke's Freak Fest 2000'' *2002: '' Scandalous: The All Star Compilation''

Singles

References

External links

Uncle Luke's Gospel – His Personal Blog
*
Luther Campbell Interview

Luke Entertainment Group
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luke, Uncle 1960 births American people of Bahamian descent American rappers of Jamaican descent Dirty rappers Florida Democrats Hip-hop record producers Living people Miami Hurricanes football People from Pembroke Pines, Florida Rappers from Miami Southern hip-hop musicians 21st-century American rappers