Songoftheday 11/18/16 - Sittin' at home with my d**k on hard, so I got the black book for a freak to call...

"Me So Horny" - 2 Live Crew
from the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be (1989)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 9

Today's song of the day comes from the lascivious rap group 2 Live Crew, who originally came together in California under producer David Hobbs (DJ Mr Mixx) and Chris Wong Won (Fresh Kid Ice), but moved to Florida upon their early regional success there. Recruiting Miami locals Luther Campbell, aka "Luke Skyywalker", and Mark Ross, aka "Brother Marquis", they released their debut album As Nasty As They Want To Be in 1986. With foul-mouthed lyrics and song titles like "Throw The Dick" and "We Want Some Pussy", they quickly gained a reputation for the go-to rap group for the stripper bars (like those in Tampa, Florida) that would provide inspiration for the Crew. The album went Gold, and set them up for their sophomore (or sophomoric) effort Move Somethin'. With a little more comic production at hand, they reached the top half of the Billboard 200 albums chart, and scored two minor R&B hits with the title track (#53) and a Fat Boys-style-gone-to-hell take-off of the 60s Manfred Mann hit "Do Wah Diddy" (#62). They also covered another oldies hit, "Yakety Yak", for the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito movie Twins and slipped into the British chart for their only time at #90 in 1988.

The following year, the group released what would be their biggest album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be. Continuing their no-holds-barred love of women as sexual objects, the piece started off with their first single "Me So Horny". Titled from a quip from the Vietnam War movie Full Metal Jacket and anchored by the groove lifted from funk band Mass Production's 1979 single "Firecracker", which just missed the pop top-40 at #43, the production was addictive enough for a few brave radio stations to play the track. But no matter, word of mouth got around, and the single became what would be called now a "viral hit"...

"Me So Horny" became the 2 Live Crew's first top-40 pop hit in November of 1989, eventually spending 30 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The track also climbed to #34 on their R&B chart, and #1 on their Rap Singles chart. The 12" single was a big hit in the clubs, going to #5 on the dance club play list. Internationally, the record topped the singles chart in the Netherlands for two weeks, and peaked at #9 in neighboring Belgium. However, the backlash from what considered itself "mainstream America" was hard and fast; they were brought up on obscenity charges in court which not only involved professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (the "have a beer with a cop and Obama" guy), but made it to the Supreme Court, who upheld the reversal of the original decree of obscenity. Looking back now, a bit quaint, don't you think?

Two more of the album's tracks made the Rap Songs chart, with "C'mon Babe" hitting #7 and "The Fuck Shop" (sampling Van Halen and Guns N' Roses) going to #14. The As Nasty As They Wanna Be sold millions of copies, and set the stage not only for rougher language in rap music, but also the rise of "Bass Music" so popular in the Miami area in the 90s.

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The extra-funky base of the single was the looped sample of Mass Production's "Firecracker", which went to #4 on the R&B chart in 1979...

Here's the 12" mix that hit the top-5 on the dance chart (their sole appearance there)...

A pair of Miami comedians who went by the "2 Live Jews" released a parody album hitching a ride to the success of this song called As Kosher As We Wanna Be, and spent nine weeks on the national albums sales chart peaking at #150...

...and finally, yes, the Crew appearing on the Arsenio Hall show making them scream in 1989...

Up tomorrow: Metal band wants you to keep those peepers open.