7th Floor Crew

The 7th Floor Crew is an underground rap group comprised primarily of current and former University of Miami students in Coral Gables, Florida in the United States. The group gained notoriety when it was reported that the group includes some University of Miami football players. The group is named for the 7th floor of the University of Miami's Mahoney Residential College [ [http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,42701-1;42739-3,00.html Mahoney Residential College] ] .

While 7th Floor Crew never released an album, they received substantial national media attention in 2005 when their song of the same name, "7th Floor Crew", was ultimately covered by ESPN, "Sports Illustrated" and other national media. The song can be downloaded in two segments from a MySpace site that reportedly belongs to the group [ [http://www.myspace.com/7thfloorcrew MySpace: 7thfloorcrew] ] and other sites.

Members of the crew reportedly include former and current UM players, including two first round 2007 NFL Draft selections linebacker Jon Beason (referred to in the song as "Big Beast"), Tight End Greg Olsen (referred to in the song as "G-Reg").

There was also a small controversy over the identity of one of the performers called "Hollaman". The Boston Herald reported that the performer was the at that time recently signed New England Patriots player Brandon Meriweather, but an investigation showed that he wasn't even living in the dorms at that time and had nothing to do with it [ [http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/2007/05/university-of-miami-meriweather-not-member-of-7th-floor-crew University of Miami: Meriweather not member of “7th Floor Crew”] ] .

Lyrical themes

The song, whose lyrics are set against the beat and chorus from Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Only Knew", has been met with many of the stereotypical criticisms of gangsta rap music. The lyrics describe various sex acts, such as group sex, oral sex and sexual boasts by each of the group's male members, told through a narrative that is littered with sexual profanity. ESPN initially reported the lyrics to also be racist [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2226701 'Demeaning' recording credited to Miami athletes] ] , but with closer scrutiny of the lyrics as well as the racial makeup of the performers showed this not to be the case.

The song was purportedly recorded privately and intended initially to be shared only among the group's University of Miami and other friends. But it received major notoriety when Miamity.com, run by University of Miami student Kyle Munzenrieder, revealed that the group included players from the University of Miami football team who had created the song under pseudonyms [ [http://miamity.com/2005/sports/dont-let-your-ho-go-to-the-7th-floor/ Miamity: Don't Let Your Ho go to the 7th Floor] ] .

Former Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Sinorice Moss, who was drafted by the New York Giants in the 2006 NFL Draft, verified in an ESPN.com chat that the song was created by members of the team, though he was not among them. Moss stated, "That's something that they did like two years ago. A couple of the freshmen and older guys made a rap song. It was a really cool song". [ [http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=9888 Chat with Sinorice Moss] ]

Performers

*Marvelous Henderson A.K.A GoMarvelous (Miami producer) [ [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=29944879 GoMarvelous] ]
*T-Good (Tavares Gooden, LB) [ [http://airbornecombatengineer.typepad.com/wreck_ramblin/2005/11/the_7th_floor_c.html Wreck Ramblin': The 7th Floor Crew] ]
*Big Nick
*Lil' Nuke
*Dub C
*T-Buck
*G-Reg (Greg Olsen, TE) [ [http://ballhype.com/story/raunchy_rap_lyrics_for_bears_draft_pick_olsen_chicago/ Raunchy Rap Lyrics for Bears Draft Pick Olsen] ]
*Big Beast (Jon Beason, LB) [ [http://sports.ign.com/articles/850/850832p1.html IGN: Jon Beason Interview] ]
*Hollaman (Brandon Meriweather) [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_meriweather] ]

ESPN coverage

After hearing the song, ESPN columnist Pat Forde wrote: "How long does it take to undermine more than five years of hard work improving the image of a once-tainted football program? It could be as little as 9 minutes, it turns out." [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2226626 Rap recording could threaten Miami's progress] ] . Nine minutes references the length of the 7th Crew song.

University of Miami condemnation

ESPN and other national and local media coverage predictably resulted in condemnation of the song by the UM administration. UM athletic director Paul Dee, in a statement, said that "the content of the recording is unfortunate, inappropriate and demeaning. This speech is not appropriate and does not reflect the values of the University or the Athletic Department" [ [http://www.gatorcountry.org/wearetheboys/?p=1198 We Are the Boys: Miami AD apologizes for 7th Floor Crew’s explicit rap song] ] .

The track begins with one of the rappers, Marvelous, stating a disclaimer that asserts that the song is "in its entirety is not meant to disrespect any women in its entirety". Then, when the redundancy of his statement is met with mocking laughter by other 7th Floor Crew members, Marvelous urges the producer of the song, in no uncertain terms, to "play the track".

References in popular culture

*The term "Taken to the 7th Floor", based on the song, has since become a widely used phrase, used predominantly in reference to Miami Hurricanes football. When the University of Miami wins by a large margin, fans say the opposing team got "Taken to the 7th Floor". Conversely, it has been used against UM when they lose by a large margin.

ee also

*Miami Hurricanes football

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/GoMarvelous Producer of the 7th Floor Crew's site at MySpace] , where other songs "The 7th Floor Crew's Producer" can be heard (contains mild-lewd lyrics).
* [http://www.bonitanews.com/news/2005/nov/18/explicit_content_warning_excerpts_7th_floor_crew_s/ "7th Floor Crew" lyrics and download at bonitanews.com] .
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jones/051118/crew "Nothing Shocking About Crew"] , ESPN.com.