2 Live Crew – Before Luke

As I slowly convert my old LP’s to digital format, I continue to unearth some gems from my younger days. I bought the 12″ single “What I Like” b/w “The Revelation” by the 2 Live Crew back in 1985. This was the year before they released their explicit debut album, ‘2 Live Crew is What We Are.’ “What I Like” features Fresh Kid Ice, AKA Trinidad-born Chris Wong Won. He had just moved to Miami from California to caplitalize on the success of the single “The Revelation” in the Miami area. These tracks were released before Luke Skyywalker (Luther Campbell) joined the group and caused all the controversy with 1989’s ‘As Nasty as they Wanna Be’.

“What I Like” is Fresh Kid Ice on the mic, with the booty shakin’ drum machine beats, and scratching (including a Morris Day cackle in the chorus). Vintage old school. And it’s 2 Live Crew without one single profane word! How many times has that happened?