{{Gruppo
|Nome Gruppo = 2 Live Crew
|Nazione gruppo = USA
|Immagine bandiera nazione = Immagine:flag_of_the_United_States.svg
|Generi musicali = hip hop
|Anni di attività = 1985 - in attività
|Numero totale album pubblicati = 12
|Numero album studio = 11
|Numero album live = 1
|Numero raccolte= 0
}}

'''2 Live Crew''' è un gruppo statunitense, noti soprattutto per una considerevole polemica suscitata dai temi misogini ed a sfondo sessuale presenti nei loro dischi, particolarmente nell'album del 1989 ''As Nasty As They Wanna Be''. 

Andando oltre il contributo alle polemiche sui temi dei dischi, la 2 Live crew ha dato un notevole contributo alla crescita del movimento hip hop diffondendo lo stile musicale tipico di Miami e rendendo popolare una categoria di ballo che ha preso il nome di Booty Rap. 

==Breve biografia==
Il gruppo inizia la sua carriera musicale non a Miami, bensì in California, con una formazione iniziale che comprende:
* Fresh Kid Ice (Chris Wong Won)
* DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs)
* Amazing V 
In seguito si aggiunge Luke Skywalker (poi Luke, all'anagrafe Luther Campbell). Nel 1985 il gruppo pubblica il singolo di debutto ''Revelation''. Dopo il trasferimento a Miami è la volta del secondo brano, ''What I Like''. A seguito di questi primi successi, con la produzione affidata a Brother Marquis (Mark Ross), realizzano l'album ''2 Live Crew Is What We Are'' nel 1986, contenente i singoli ''We Want Some Pussy'' e ''Throw The D'', che già dal titolo fanno intuire liriche spinte, ma in quel momento non costituivano che un dettaglio trascurabile. 

La polemica scoppia nel 1987 quando un negozio di dischi in Florida subisce una denuncia per aver venduto un album del gruppo ad una quattordicenne. Il gruppo è costretto a pubblicare versioni ''Clean'' e ''Dirty'' dei loro cd per evitare nuovi incidenti di questo tipo. Il primo album prodotto con questa procedura è ''Move Somethin''' dello stesso anno, ma i problemi su questo fronte non terminano perché nel 1988 un altro negozio di dischi in Alabama viene denunciato per aver venduto una copia non "pulita" del disco ad un  poliziotto in borghese. Nel 1989 le grane arrivano dalla pubblicazione di ''As Nasty As They Wanna Be'', che infrange le leggi della Florida concernenti le oscenità e viene dichiarato materiale osceno per iniziativa del Governatore Bob Martinez e dello Sceriffo Nick Navarro, su pressioni della ''American Family Association''. 

Ovviamente, il polverone alzato dai problemi legali provoca un'impennata delle vendite dell'album che vende due milioni di copie: i teenagers statunitensi lo considerano una sorta di frutto del peccato. La 2 Live Crew subisce addirittura un arresto per essersi esibita in un club locale, e viene rilasciata pochi mesi dopo. Le visite nei tribunali non terminano per la band: George Lucas cita Campbell per essersi appropriato del nome Luke Skywalker, il componente della band cambia nome semplicemente in Luke, pubblicando più tardi un polemico album solista dal titolo ''Banned in the USA''.

{{Infobox musical artist
| Background = group_or_band |
 Name = 2 Live Crew |
 Img =<!--Use a picture with the band only, NOT an album cover---fair use image abuse.--> |
 Years_active = 1985 - Present |
 Origin = Miami, Florida |
 Genre = Rap/Hip-Hop<br>Miami Bass<br>Dirty Rap |
 Label = Fresh Beat / Macola Records<br>Luke Records<br>Lil Joe Records |
 Current_members = Verb<br>Dj Ballistic Billy |
}}

'''2 Live Crew''' is a rap group. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album ''As Nasty As They Wanna Be''. 

==Early career==
2 Live Crew was created by David "Treach DJ single sold well in Florida, encouraging the group to release ''What I Like''. In 1986, due to the popularity of the new single Throw the D**k, the group, including new member Mark "Brother Marquis" Ross replacing Amazing Vee due to military commitments, relocated to Miami and teamed up with Ghetto Style DJ's and soon to be manager and eventual performer Luther Campbell, who used the nickname "Luke Skyywalker" (and was subsequently sued by George Lucas<ref> "2 Live Crew biography" [http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/2-Live-Crew-Biography/091956AFA0F03DC5482569710009AC15]</ref>).

The Miami Bass Sound. David "Treach DJ Mr. Mixx" Hobbs was credited with the production.

The year 1987 saw the release of ''The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are'', featuring profane and sexually graphic Will to Power did trick edits on ''Beat Box'' and was billed "King of the Edits". The record went gold. Though the controversy did not rise to the levels the group would reach in the future, a Florida store clerk was charged and acquitted of felony charges for selling the album to a fourteen-year-old girl in 1987.

Campbell decided to sell a separate clean version in addition to the explicit version of the next album, ''Move Somethin''' (1988), produced by Mr. Mixx. 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 record store owner was held liable for obscenity over music. The charges were dropped after a jury found the record store not guilty.

==As Nasty As They Wanna Be==
thumb|right|Cover art from '''2 Live Crew''' album [[As Nasty As They Wanna Be.]]'''Stanley Kubrick's ''Full Metal Jacket'' and took a sample from Mass Production's Firecracker. This album was also produced by Mr. Mixx

The Jack Thompson, a "lawyer" affiliated with the AFA, met with Broward County sheriff received a ruling from Judge Mel Grossman that probable cause for obscenity violations existed.<ref> Conyers, David. "Sheriff files suit over rap album", St. Petersburg Times, March 28, 1990, page 4b. </ref> Navarro warned record store owners that selling the album may be prosecutable. 2 Live Crew filed a suit against Navarro. That June, Judge Jose Gonzalez ruled against the album, declaring it obscene and illegal to sell. Charles Freeman, a local retailer, was arrested two days later, after selling a copy to an undercover police officer. This was followed by the arrest of three members of 2 Live Crew after they performed some material from the album at a live performance. They were acquitted soon after. In 1992, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the obscenity ruling from Jose Gonzales, and the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear Broward County's appeal. A notable feature of the case was the distinguished literary critic and now Harvard University professor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as an "expert witness" on behalf of the defendants. He argued that the material that the county alleged was profane, actually had important roots in African-American vernacular, games, and literary traditions and should be protected.

As a result of the controversy, ''Skywalker" for his record label, political solo album, ''Born in the U.S.A.''  2 Live Crew paraphernalia with the Luke Skyywalker or Skyywalker logos are usually sought after as collector's items.

In 1991, ''2 Live Crew'' released the very first live rap album, ''Sports Weekend'', a full-length studio original. It peaked at #22 on The Billboard 200 and #19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It did not gain the same sales level that they experienced with ''As Nasty As They Wanna Be''. The 2 Live Crew members went their separate ways after this. Luke pursued his solo music career and other projects.

In 1992, Fresh Kid Ice released unreleased tracks from pre-Luke 2 Live Crew Deal With This under the name '''Rock on Crew''', while Luke and Ice also released new solo albums, ''I Got Shit on My Mind'' and ''The Chinaman'', respectively.

Mark "Brother Marquis" Ross co-starred alongside Fred Williamson in the film South Beach and started a new group with Aldrin "DJ Toomp" Davis, a former member of Poison Clan, which was also signed to Campbell's label. They named the group 2 Nazty, and released the album "Indecent Exposure" on Attitude Records in 1993. The single was called "Can't Say I Love You," but it did not chart, and the group never released a second album. The single was a departure from the typical 2 Live nasty rhymes, and focuses on what a deep emotion love is, and how it should not be said to anyone lightly. The rest of the album sounds like a 2 Live Crew record, and focuses on sexual exploits of the members. 

The hard feelings over the split of the 2 Live Crew is apparent on the album, as Marquis is heard on the track "Interview" saying he was fired from the group, and that the other members had no love for him. DJ Toomp also has a line in "Be My Bitch" comparing signing a deal with Skyywalker Records to signing your life away.

==The New 2 Live Crew==
1994 saw Luke, Fresh Kid Ice and a new addition to the group, Verb, regrouping as '''The New 2 Live Crew''', issuing ''Back at Your Ass for the Nine-4''. This album peaked at #52 on The Billboard 200 and #9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The New 2 Live Crew broke up in 1995.