Thirty years after getting arrested onstage for obscenity--and going straight from the jailhouse to record the iconic “F--- Martinez”--the 2 Live Crew impresario, rap legend and notorious college-sports sugar daddy bares his soul in a wide-ranging conversation. In revealing the motivation behind his fight for free speech and assessing the manner in which athletes, and African Americans, are finding their voices during this turbulent time, Uncle Luke is full of poignant and uproarious wisdom. Powered by Gameplan
We begin with Luke’s recounting of his arrest 30 years ago on obscenity charges, after 2 Live Crew’s album became the first in history to be ruled legally obscene, and the fallout that included the recording of “F--- Martinez” (his ode to the-then Florida governor). After Natalie suggests some potential remixes, one of which would serenade the current Senate Majority Leader, the conversation turns toward the fight against racial injustice and the power possessed by athletes. Campbell explains why he believes NFL and NBA players should sit out the current season and why college athletes (like Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard) are right to protest against racism at their institutions, including the plantation and slave quarters that exist on the campus of one prominent NCAA program. Campbell chastises NFL owners for being scared of the current president and campaigns for a pair of expansion teams owned by African-Americans who aren’t “sellouts like Jay-Z.”