On the latest episode of “Drink Champs,” rapper, executive and former 2 Live Crew member Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell joined hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN.
Hailing from Miami, Uncle Luke spent his early years as a DJ and concert promoter. He eventually came across the California-bred rap unit 2 Live Crew, which he signed to his own record label and joined as a hype man and manager. The group emerged as superstars in the South throughout the 1980s, with songs like “Throw The ‘D’," “We Want Some P--sy!” and “Me So Horny,” which were featured on RIAA-certified albums like Is What We Are, Move Somethin' and As Nasty As They Wanna Be.
While their songs are now known for their explicit content and use of free speech, law enforcement pushed back on their raunchy content in what became a historic fight against filtering music. However, despite the many legal battles, Uncle Luke continued to drop music throughout the 1990s and thrived as a solo act. Well-respected in the world of entertainment, he spent the next few decades accomplishing side missions as an actor, newspaper columnist and even mayoral candidate. These days, he’s preparing his biopic and relishing in his impact as a legendary artist who took a lot of heat for pushing unfiltered material — which has now become the norm.
Nine takeaways from his second appearance on the show can be found below. You can watch the full episode here.
1. On establishing Hip Hop in the South
Uncle Luke talked about establishing the genre in the Southern United States and how his approach of having his own record label inspired others to create their own creative hubs. “We created Hip Hop in the South. No question about it. It was nonexistent,” he said before mentioning potential signees like Birdman and official deals with New Orleans’ Bust Down and Atlanta’s MC Shy D. The Miami native knew early on that teamwork made the dream work, as he also mentioned his attempt to sign with Master P. “P told me, ‘No I'm trying to do what the f**k you do. I see what you doing, how you moving,’ which was mad respect,” he added.
2. On preceding Napster with music downloads
The multi-hyphenate, 2 Live Crew and their team were ahead of the curve when the industry shifted from physical to digital units. Upon the release of “Banned In The U.S.A.” in 1990, they realized that they could virtually ship the record across the map to meet their ideal deadline. “These muthaf**kas had access to the computer where they downloaded that muthaf**ka to every radio station,” Uncle Luke said about his team. Elsewhere he added, “That was the first downloaded song ever in the history of music… For me, it was an emotional record. We had [gone] through all the bulls**t and we wanted to put it out on at that time [the Fourth of July] ...This was pre-Napster. Napster wasn't even heard of.”
3. On the word “twerk”
Back in the day, Uncle Luke and the 2 Live Crew popularized a number of phrases that preceded the word “twerk.” On the evolution of the language, the Hip Hop mogul blamed Drake for popularizing the new phrase and discussed previous monikers. “Everybody changed the muthaf**king sound, changed the dance. No, it's ‘booty shaking.’ It's ‘pop that p**sy.’ It's ‘doo doo brown.’ It's all three of them muthaf**kas,” he said. “We took heat for that s**t. And now everybody and all these damn girls wanna shake their a**.”
4. On attempting to unite The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac
Uncle Luke also broke down his bond with both slain rappers. On his relationship with Tupac, he explained, “Me and him would always end up in the room, vibing and s**t, talking about all kinds of s**t, largely Black history. [The Black] Panthers and s**t because I wanted to pick his brain about his mom.” And on his connection to Biggie, Luke said, “Big would come down to Miami and chill at my condo with a bunch of naked women and s**t.”
The trailblazer then explained that he unsuccessfully tried to reunite the two once they started beefing. “When Pac got out of jail, I went and interviewed him at the Suge Knight club (Club 662) in Vegas… I'm doing the interview and I'm trying to squash the beef also. But s**t, he just went zero to a thousand. He started talking about Faith [Evans] and all this. And girls and all this. And he just was on 12 up in that muthaf**ka.”
5. On “The Peep Show” origins and JAY-Z’s appearance
According to Uncle Luke, “The Peep Show” was created to test if artists were as nasty in real life as they were in their lyrics. “I was like, ‘Imma do a show because all these muthaf**kas talking about sex and this and all this wild s**t on the record. Now I done liberated everybody and made it ok for you to say what the f**k you wanna say on the record,” he recalled of his thought process. He then expressed that JAY-Z appeared on the show as a favor for Biggie. “Jay was the first one that ain't have a big record,” Luke expressed. Next, he said that he opted to have two girls have oral sex on camera during the discussion because he wanted to “throw people's minds off.” He succeeded as the New York rapper was visibly stunned.
6. On discovering Pitbull
The Luke Records founder was inspired to discover Pitbull because Fat Joe’s and Big Pun’s respective impacts in their merge of Latin American culture and Hip Hop. “I saw what they were doing, and I was like, ‘Man, I won't be complete if I don't get a Cuban rapper,’” Uncle Luke voiced. Pitbull was a battle rapper at the time, which was a challenge for Luke. “This was my first time trying to produce a guy that was a battle rapper. Because battle rap — it just keeps going, no structure. It's like a wild animal.” He officially took the diamond-certified artist under his wing, and then on tour. “I kept him busy so he could pick up everything about the business and then he applied it to himself,” the pop culture icon said. “To this day, that's like my son.”
7. On his comments toward Ice Spice, Sexyy Red and Megan Thee Stallion
In August, Uncle Luke hopped on Instagram to express that he wanted compensation from rappers such as Ice Spice, Sexyy Red and Megan Thee Stallion for being the reason they can create obscene music. He clarified those thoughts and said, “It was not like, ‘Ok, I need a check. I need some money.’ It was more a form of, ‘You guys need to understand where this s**t came from. And who paved the way.’” He went on to say that he has since had conversations with Sexyy Red and been in contact with Ice Spice before applauding their efforts altogether. “I love what they're doing,” he added. “The women have taken over and they're whooping the men’s [a**es] right now.”
8. On the Super Bowl LIX halftime show
Uncle Luke shared his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar being selected to perform at the Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans over Lil Wayne. “It brought up f**ked up memories of when the Super Bowl happened in Miami. Because I said something then, and I called [JAY-Z] out for it,” Uncle Luke said about the 2020 show that featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. “I don't look at it like a diss to Lil Wayne. I look at it as a snub of all New Orleans music. I look at it as snubbing Cash Money and No Limit and everything that New Orleans music is all about.” Regardless of his sentiments, the Miami bass creator made sure to show respect to both Hov and Lamar.
9. On being name-dropped in “The Motto” by Drake
In “The Motto,” from the multi-platinum Take Care, Drake raps, “Tell Uncle Luke, I’m out in Miami too.” The “Bad Girl Walk” star explained how he felt when he first heard the record. “Originally, I was like, ‘Oh, buddy being slick.’ Not the n**ga that just got his arm broke my Puff Daddy. Really?” Luke eventually chose peace and chalked the random shoutout up to the Toronto-born artist showing respect. “I didn't take it as a diss because if I would've taken it as a diss, then I would've had a conversation with him,” he continued before talking about the social media impact of the line. “It turned into a positive thing. Thank you, Drake. Good job.”