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With his past catching up to him, the formerly raunchy rapper may have to quit coaching the high schoolers that he has worked hard to pull out of the rough streets of Miami.
With his past catching up to him, the formerly raunchy rapper may have to quit coaching the high schoolers that he has worked hard to pull out of the rough streets of Miami.
As
a raunchy Miami rapper in the 1980s and 90s, Luther Campbell’s lyrics
were so shocking that he courted the wrath of then-Senator Al Gore’s
wife, Tipper, and the Parents’ Music Resource Council. But a lot can
happen in a couple decades: Campbell, now an assistant high school
football coach, has built a solid local reputation as a teacher and role
model, helping to turn around lives of underprivileged kids in the same
Liberty City area he grew up in.
But Campbell’s past is catching up with him. The man who gave us X-rated dancefloor anthems like “Me So Horny,” “Throw The D,” and “Pop That [Expletive],”
as the frontman from the wildly popular 2 Live Crew is in jeopardy of
not being granted a permanent coaching certificate by the state of
Florida.
(ARCHIVE: The Rap Against a Rap Group)
Campbell, 51, has coached for two seasons at Miami Central High and
one at Miami Northwestern as a defensive coordinator using a temporary
certification, which expires next year. But as Sports Illustrated reports, the Florida Department of Education has a little problem with his vulgar strip club-inspired lyrics.
The agency has appealed a judge’s decision to grant Campbell a
permanent certificate, saying that he lacks “the required good moral
character,” according to SI. That means the state’s Education
Practices Commission has to decide this summer if Campbell will be
allowed to continue coaching after the end of the 2012 football season.
This isn’t the first time Campbell has been in legal hot water. 2
Live Crew found themselves in the middle of controversy with their 1989
release As Nasty As They Wanna Be. The misogynistic lyrics and
explicit themes depicted on the album drew fire from all directions and
landed the group in a First Amendment battle after their lyrics were
declared obscene by a U.S. District Court judge, making the sale of the
album by retailers a potentially arrestable offense. An appeals court
overturned that ruling but not before the controversy boosted sales past
2 million copies.
His 2 Live Crew days behind him, Campbell has worked to develop a
trove of other Miami artists including Trick Daddy, Trina and Pitbull.
But he has also focused on building his youth sports program in Liberty
City as co-founder of Liberty City Optimists, an athletics and mentoring
program for Miami-area kids. Earlier this year, he even took a stab at running for Miami-Dade County mayor.
He began coaching football at Central High School in 2009, acting
as a surrogate father to several at-risk teens who later went on to play
college football. As they await the Education Practices Commission’s
verdict, students and the school community are afraid of losing not only
a coach, but a friend as well. “He’s like a dad,” Jacquintin Victrum, a
one-time mentee of Campbell’s who is now a linebacker at Northwestern
University, told SI. “You shouldn’t judge anybody on what
happened in their past. Honestly, everybody can see that he’s changed or
whatever. He’s a good man.”
But Jack Anderson, a Coral Gables, Fla., lawyer who helped get As Nasty As They Wanna Be
banned two decades ago, is skeptical of whether or not Campbell has
reformed. There’s been talk of a 2 Live Crew reunion tour (although
Campbell said that if it happens, he’d do it solo), and appearances
under his 2 Live moniker Uncle Luke in South Beach clubs (Campbell was
known as Luke Skyywalker in the ’80s and ’90s, but changed it after
threats of a lawsuit from George Lucas). “I commend him for wanting to
do this, but who is Luther Campbell right now?” Anderson asked. “Is he
new and improved and had a Road To Damascus epiphany, or does he still
have his hand in this?”
Campbell doesn’t talk much to his players for fear of worrying them
and remains hopeful he’ll be allowed a permanent certificate. But he
worries about how the kids he teaches will feel if he’s denied. “It’s
bigger than me,” Campbell said. “It would be sad in more ways than one.
They would be sending [the kids] a message that you can’t change your
life.”
(MORE: Talking Education in Miami)
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