On this day, Oct. 21, in 1990, three members of the rap group 2 Live Crew were acquitted of obscenity charges in Florida.Luther Campbell, Chris “Fresh Kid Ice” Wong Won and Mark “Brother Marquis” Ross could have faced a year in prison for their songs, which were considered sexually explicit.
The charges came after police officers in the audience at a show recorded the Hollywood, Fla., performance.
At trial, the recording was nearly inaudible and jurors could not decipher the lyrics. Then-Duke University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. — better known for the “beer summit” that followed his arrest in Cambridge, Mass., last year — testified in defense of the lyrics.
— Emily Babay
