2 Live Crew Is What We Are

• Artist: 2 Live Crew
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1986
• Total Time: 32:40
• Type: Contains explicit content
• Genre: Rap

Review

There was a time when many New York hip-hoppers refused to believe that rappers from Miami could record a gold or platinum album or give them any real competition. That was before 1986, when the 2 Live Crew's debut album, 2 Live Is What We Are, came out on Luther Campbell's Miami-based Luke Skyywalker Records (later renamed Luke Records). This LP did a lot to popularize Florida-style bass music, and like the gangsta rap that was coming from California, it demonstrated that rappers didn't have to be from New York to sell a lot of records. Musically, 2 Live Is What We Are was a definite departure from New York rap -- the grooves are much faster -- and lyrically, the album put booty rhymes on the map. The 2 Live Crew wasn't the first rap group to talk about sex, but this album did take sexually explicit rap lyrics to a new level of nastiness. With X-rated offerings like "Throw the D" and "We Want Some Pussy," Campbell and his colleagues popularized a style of rap that thrives on decadence for the sake of decadence. These tunes are as humorous as they are raunchy; Campbell has often compared the 2 Live Crew's booty rhymes to the off-color humor of Richard Pryor, Andrew Dice Clay, and Rudy Ray Moore -- and, to be sure, there are some parallels. Like those comedians, the 2 Live Crew is genuinely funny -- but only if you have a taste for X-rated humor. Anyone who finds Moore, Pryor, and Clay offensive should avoid the 2 Live Crew as well. But for those who do appreciate that type of humor, 2 Live Is What We Are is a classic of its kind. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
2 Live Is What We Are (Lyrics)		2 Live Crew	(4:17)
We Want Some Pussy [Mix]	Luther Campbell, David Hobbs, Mark Ross, Chris Wong Won	2 Live Crew	(2:49)
Check It Out Y'all [Freestyle Rappin']	M. Ross, Chris Wong Won, L. Campbell, D. Hobbs	2 Live Crew	(5:03)
Get It Girl (Lyrics)	Luther Campbell, Fresh Kid Ice, David Hobbs, Mark Ross	2 Live Crew	(3:55)
Throw the "D"	Chris Wong Won	2 Live Crew	(3:09)
Cut It Up		2 Live Crew	(3:49)
Beat Box [Remix]	David Hobbs, Chris Wong Won	2 Live Crew	(4:32)
Mr. Mixx on the Mix!		2 Live Crew	(5:13)

Credits

Mr. Mixx (Producer), Mark Boccacio (Engineer), Luther Campbell (Executive Producer), Bruce Greenspan (Mixing), Bruce Greenspan (Engineer), Fresh Kid Ice (MC), Manny Morell (Art Direction), Bob Rosenberg (Editing), Fresh Kid Ice (?), Brother Marquis (MC), Manny Morell (Design), Brother Marquis (?), Manny Morell (Artwork), Treach (?), Treach DJ Mr. Mixx (DJ), Mark Boccacio (Mixing), Mr. Mixx (Mixing)

2 live crew