#TBT: 2 Live Crew

Back in the 80s, things were a lot different. Hip hop was just getting its start, and it was a whole lot more PG-rated than it is today. Then, along came a few dudes named the 2 Live Crew, who would change things forever with their raucous brand of hip hop.

The big ol' booty on their 1988 album Move Something' was a step in the direction of free speech and free art. If that wasn't controversial enough, they put not one, not two, not three, but FOUR (count 'em) round tushes on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. In classic 2 Live Crew fashion, these ladies were flaunting their curves in Miami thongs.

2 Live Crew helped to pioneer X-rated rap and Miami bass music, so it's only right that we give them their own #TBT celebration. Today, we throw it back to these nasty Floridians' music.

To get a group of people to chant this in the 80s was a whole lot more taboo than it is today. Their X-rated lyrics made people love 'em, but your boss won't, so be sure to know (duh) that this is NSFW. 

Before their was the term "EDM," there was Miami bass, a new kind of dance music taking over the south. Peep a classic here...

Everyone knows this one. It probably isn't what Manfred Mann had in mind when he made the original, but it's too catchy for words, so just hit play... 

This one will still get dance-floors moving on the right night. It's another cut from 2 Live Crew's second album, Move Somethin'.

As Nasty As They Wanna Be is the only album to ever be legally ruled as obscene. Think about that for a second: United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the album was legally obscene. This is the same city that has nearly-naked men and women in every restaurant...

"The Fuck Shop" is some more of that X-rated, guitar-sampling, Miami bass from the 2 Live Crew dudes.

After the heat their third album got, 2 Live Crew capitalized on the controversy with their fourth album, Banned in the USA.

Ahhh the 90s. This video is so perfect in so many ways.

You won't get any mind-bending bars on this one, but if you need a crazy, summer-time party jam, this can do.

Some artists have dirty versions of their songs, others have NASTY versions. 2 Live Crew falls under the latter category.