2 Live Crew, the primary progenitors of a hip-hop sub-genre called Miami Bass, will probably be better remembered for their important legal battles than their music. Their sexually explicit songs that often objectified women and which featured relatively simple bass-driven beats drew the attention of many conservative law enforcement officials from their hometown of Miami, as well as elsewhere. 2 Live Crew's legal perils during the late 1980s and early 1990s opened up debates about censorship and made them unwitting proponents of free speech.

Foreshadowing the legal battles over intellectual property that dogged the group a few years down the line, the group's first legal confrontation involved the appropriation of the name Luke Skywalker as a stage name by the group's leader (born Luther Campbell, Dec. 22, 1960). Lucasfilm, the owner of the Star Wars trilogy trademark, promptly sued the group when they began to find aboveground exposure when 2 Live...