This struggling Miami, Florida, hip-hop band rocketed to fame in 1989 on the basis of a free-speech controversy sparked by their album As Nasty as They Wanna Be. 2 Live Crew formed in the mid-1980s, just as rap and hip-hop music (see entry under 1980s—Music in volume 5) was enjoying its first blush of mainstream success. Its first album, 2 Live Crew Is What We Are (1986), featured danceable rap tunes dealing with sexual subjects and sprinkled with profanity, making it hard for the group to get radio (see entry under 1920s—TV and Radio in volume 2) airplay. Its third album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, brought the band great notoriety when, in June 1990, the song "Me So Horny" was deemed legally obscene by a Florida judge, forcing many stores to refrain from selling it. The group appealed the judge's decision and eventually won.

The controversy spurred sales...