Before Luther Campbell was Uncle Luke, he was Luke Skyywalker. But George Lucas sued him for violating copyright. And that's how the nasty boy went from car wars to Star Wars.
The Lucas lawsuit was just the beginning of his infamy. Soon, Miami bass became the trunk rattle heard 'round the world. It started with the party crew that Luke ran with, Ghetto Style DJs. Later, alongside his 2 Live Crew homies, Luke fought and won a major free-speech battle for all Americans.
Nobody shakes their ass to the Constitution, though. So here are his ten most significant contributions to booty music.
See also:
-Uncle Luke and Naughty by Nature Headlining New Times' Brew at the Zoo 2013
-Naughty by Nature Talks Partying With Uncle Luke and Drinking Brew at the Zoo
10. "Lizard Lizard," with No Good N Jiggie
Late in 1998, Luke Records put out an album by No Good N Jiggie, two booty rappers with a Trick Daddy-esque flow. "Lizard Lizard" was the name of the album, as well as the lead single. The concept was boosted from a Taco Bell commercial in which a Chihuahua taunts Godzilla.
9. 2 Live Crew's "Throw the D" and "Ghetto Bass"
Using a TK Records break from Herman Kelly and Life's "Dance to the Drummer's Beat," along with layers of samples, lyrics, and calls, this is as close as anybody who wasn't there will ever get to what it was like to shake your ass on a Friday night at the Pac Jam teen dance club.
8. "Do It Do It"
The beat pattern is straight out of the Bahamas, and the aftershocks of this Goombay Festival assquake can still be felt in the Miami music of today. Also, great saxophone riff.
7. 2 Live Crew's "We Want Some Pussy"
This group-sex anthem is more explicit than N.W.A., parties harder than the Beastie Boys, and features 808 drums, hard-rock guitar, and some of the greatest sexual hyperbole ever, such as "Nibble on my dick like a rat does cheese."
6. 2 Live Crew's "Pop That Pussy"
Laced with lyrical gems like "I love the way you lick that champagne glass/It makes me wanna stick my dick in your ass," this track features a chorus so infectious that French Montana stole it for his 2012 hit single "Pop That."
5. "Rodeo"
This theme song (and epic music video) from his short-lived VH1 reality show, Parental Advisory, features Luke doing something he never did anywhere else -- rapping in traditional verse/chorus/verse format, on beat, with pre-written lyrics.
4. 2 Live Crew's "Face Down Ass Up"
There has been no greater moment in talk-show history than when Luke dropped the chorus of this song alongside his 2 Live Crew homies live on The Phil Donahue Show while back-up dancers shook their moneymakers in the middle of a shocked studio audience.
3. "I Wanna Rock"
This was not the first song to gain national radio exposure using the buzzwords doo-doo brown. (That honor goes to Frank Ski.) But it was the first international hit to do it. And to this day, there are kids in Germany who just wanna party like they're from Liberty City.
2. "Scarred"
Many true booty music connoisseurs consider this 1996 cut to be their favorite Luke song. Lifting the same Barry White sample as Quad City DJs' "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)," this song features a Trick Daddy verse, infectious use of the word hydraulics, and a notorious "Cap D comin'!" (for "Captain Dick") opener that party people still scream today.
1. "It's Your Birthday"
This song's hook (and the way it's sung) is so often used in TV sitcoms that we're sure it has saturated more brains and propelled more booties than anything else Luke ever did. We're talkin' millions. Maybe even billions. Go Luke, it's your birthday.
Uncle Luke. As part of Brew at the Zoo. Presented by Miami New Times. Saturday, May 4. Zoo Miami, 12400 SW 152nd St., Miami. The party starts at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $35 to $75 plus fees via ticketfly.com or $45 to $85 at the gate. Ages 21 and up. Visit Miami New Times' Brew at the Zoo microsite.
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