"Me So Horny"
Single by 2 Live Crew
from the album As Nasty as They Wanna Be
ReleasedJanuary 20, 1989 (1989-01-20)
Recorded1988
Genre
Length
  • 4:36
  • 4:25 (clean version)
LabelLuke Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew singles chronology
"Move Somethin'"
(1988)		 "Me So Horny"
(1989)		 "Yakety Yak"
(1989)

"Me So Horny" is a song by the rap group 2 Live Crew on their album As Nasty as They Wanna Be. The explicit nature of the lyrics of this song and the album led to the initially successful prosecution of the group on obscenity charges and the album being banned from sale in Florida. This ban was overturned on appeal.[1][2]

It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and number 26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, staying on the Hot 100 for 30 weeks, despite lack of airplay due to the controversial nature of the lyrics (and/or possibly because of the associated controversy). The song also reached number one in the Netherlands.

The song samples music from the 1979 hit song "Firecracker" by Mass Production and dialogue from the Richard Pryor film Which Way Is Up? and the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket.

Samples

The song heavily samples the 1979 funk hit single "Firecracker" by Mass Production. It also features lines from two different films:

Which Way Is Up? (1977) – The "Gonna do that thing. What we gonna do? Oh sock it to me. [moaning]" sample heard at the beginning of the song (and occasionally sampled throughout) is from the scene in which Leroy (Richard Pryor) listens in on his father Rufus (also played by Pryor) having sex in another room.[3]

Full Metal Jacket (1987) – The lines listed below were sampled from the scene in which Private Joker (Matthew Modine) and Private Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) are approached by a Da Nang prostitute (Papillon Soo Soo). The exchange between Joker and the prostitute is used at the beginning, while the "Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky" sample is used in the chorus and throughout the song. Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" can be heard underneath the samples at the beginning and end; that song appeared in the original scene in the movie.[4]

Da Nang prostitute: Well, baby, me so horny. Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky.
[later in the same dialogue exchange]
Private Joker: What'll we get for ten dollars?
Da Nang prostitute: Every t'ing you want.
Private Joker: Everything?
Da Nang prostitute: Every t'ing.

The "Me So Horny" sample was also featured three years later, when Sir Mix-a-Lot included the sample in "Baby Got Back".

Success and controversy

The song became a major hit for 2 Live Crew, topping the rap charts and going to No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989. As Nasty as They Wanna Be reached No. 3 on the rap album charts and No. 29 on the album chart. The album eventually sold millions of copies.[5] Because of the controversy, the song's title was never mentioned by Shadoe Stevens when he played the song on the radio show American Top 40, though it did get mentioned on a Summer 1990 episode when the group's second top 40 hit, Banned in the U.S.A. was on the chart.

The success of the single and the album led to concern over the explicit nature of rap lyrics both by 2 Live Crew and by gangsta rappers such as Geto Boys, Ice-T and N.W.A.[6]

Then–Broward County prosecutor Jack Thompson prosecuted 2 Live Crew on obscenity charges and persuaded a Federal District judge to declare the album obscene in June 1990. 2 Live Crew performed songs from the album including "Me So Horny" and were prosecuted for obscenity. Record store clerks who sold copies of the album were also arrested.[5]

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. testified on behalf of the group during the trial. The decision was later overturned on appeal and the ruling was upheld by the US Supreme Court. The publicity from the trials led to further sales of the album.

In 1999, the group, minus former bandleader Luther Campbell, rerecorded the song as "Bill So Horny" during the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton for perjury under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. However, the remix failed to chart.

In 2008, it was ranked number 83 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Chart performance

Music video

The music video mainly features the members of the band rapping while scantily clad women are shown dancing on a stage.

Two versions of the video were ultimately released. The original "uncut" version featured the dancing women in G-string bikini bottoms (with rotoscoped black squares placed over the women's buttocks) and sport brassieres. The MTV version featured alternative lyrics for the song (to comply with MTV's standards and practices) and alternative footage of the dancers in cycling shorts instead of bikinis.

Covers and re-mixes

Parodies

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Opinion | IN THE NATION; Lyrics and the Law (Published 1990)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-07-19.
  2. ↑ "In Rap Group's Album, Graphic Sexual Lyrics (Published 1990)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-07-19.
  3. ↑ "Clip from Which Way Is Up? featuring the sampled audio". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  4. ↑ "Clip from Full Metal Jacket featuring the sampled audio". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  5. 1 2 "Recording Ruled Obscene Brings Arrest (Published 1990)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16.
  6. ↑ "Distributor Withdraws Rap Album Over Lyrics (Published 1990)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
  7. ↑ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received July 15, 2015". Imgur. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ "The 2 Live Crew – Me So Horny" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  9. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "2 Live Crew". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 6. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  10. ↑ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 5, 1990". Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  11. ↑ "The 2 Live Crew – Me So Horny" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. ↑ "The 2 Live Crew – Me So Horny". Top 40 Singles.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Billboard.com artist chart history". Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1990". Ultratop. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1990". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1990". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
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