Luther Campbell
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Luther R. Campbell, also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke or Luke, is a rapper and record producer perhaps best known for his work with 2 Live Crew.
Campbell's work as a performer can be characterised as Southern rap; most of it is part of the Miami bass sub-genre. The sexual content of his lyrics caused controversy and led to legal cases. Usually, Campbell does not rap but shout or chant rather than rap - very often in a call & response manner, with him calling and the crowd responding. He was not an original member of the 2 Live Crew, but only joined them after their first steps as a Californian rap crew. Only through Campbell they became Southern rappers. Their pre-Campbell recordings did not include any pornographic lyrics. Luke's first LP, "Banned in the USA", was basically a 2 Live Crew record. When Brother Marquis left the group, Luke began working with guest rappers.
Luke himself started rapping on the album "Freak for Life", but he basically remained true to his call & response style. It may be interesting to note that Lil Jon (who used to produce Miami bass records) has a vocal style not too dissimilar from Luke - in any case, they both (normally) don't rap and use guest rappers. Crunk music may be seen as the heir of Campbell's brand of Miami bass - both lyrically and musically.
Campbell runs Luke Records, which shortened its name from Luke Skyywalker Records after George Lucas filed a legal case against them for infringing on the name of his Star Wars character, Luke Skywalker.
Discography
- 1990 The Luke LP featuring The 2 Live Crew: Banned in the USA (Luke Records)
- 1992 Luke Solo: I Got Shit On My Mind (Luke/Atlantic)
- 1993 Luke: In the nude (Luke)
- 1994 Luke: Freak For Life... 6996 (Luke)
- 1996 Luke: Uncle Luke (Luther Campbell Music/Alliance)
- 1997 Luke: Changing the Game (Luke/Island)
- 2001 Uncle Luke: Something Nasty (Luke/Koch)
- 2000 Luke's Freak Fest 2000 (Luke/Loud)