- Me So Horny
-
"Me so horny" Single by 2 Live Crew from the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be Released 1989 Format CD single, 7" Genre Funk
Hip-Hop
Dirty RapLength 4:36 Label Life Records Writer(s) Luther Campbell, Mr. Mixx, Brother Marquis,
Ricardo Williams & Fresh Kid IceProducer 2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew singles chronology "Move Somethin'"
(1988)"Me So Horny"
(1989)"Yakety Yak"
(1989)"Me So Horny" is a song by rap group 2 Live Crew on their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. It reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 despite (possibly because of) lack of airplay due to the controversial nature of the lyrics. The explicit nature of the lyrics of this song and the album led to the initially successful prosecution of the group on obscenity charges and the album being banned from sale in Florida. This ban was overturned on appeal.[1][2]
The song samples "Firecracker" by Mass Production and lines from the Richard Pryor film Which Way Is Up? and the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket.
Contents
Film samples
Lines from two different films are used in the song.
Which Way Is Up? (1977) - The "Gonna do that thing. What we gonna do? Oh sock it to me. [moaning]" sample heard at the beginning of the song (and occasionally sampled throughout) is from the scene in which Leroy (Richard Pryor) listens in on his father Rufus (also played by Pryor) having sex in another room.[3]
Full Metal Jacket (1987) - The lines listed below were sampled from the scene in which Private Joker (Matthew Modine) and Private Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) are approached by a Da Nang hooker (Papillon Soo Soo). The exchange between Joker and the hooker is used at the beginning, while the "Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky" sample is used in the chorus and throughout the song. Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" can be heard underneath the samples at the beginning and end; that song appeared in the original scene in the movie.[4]
- Da Nang Hooker: Well, baby, me so horny. Me so horny. Me love you long time. Me sucky sucky.
- [later in the same dialog exchange]
- Private Joker: What can I get for ten dollars?
- Da Nang Hooker: Every t'ing you want.
- Private Joker: Everything?
- Da Nang Hooker: Every t'ing.
Success and controversy
The song became a major hit for 2 Live Crew, topping the rap charts and going to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989. As Nasty As They Wanna Be reached #3 on the rap album charts and #29 on the album chart. The album eventually sold millions of copies.[5]
The success of the single and the album led to concern over the explicit nature of rap lyrics both by 2 Live Crew and by gangsta rappers such as Geto Boys, Ice-T and N.W.A..[6]
Then-Broward County prosecutor Jack Thompson prosecuted 2 Live Crew on obscenity charges and persuaded a Federal District judge to declare the album obscene in June 1990. 2 Live Crew performed songs from the album including "Me So Horny" and were prosecuted for obscenity. Record store clerks who sold copies of the album were arrested.[7]
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. testified on behalf of the group during the trial. Sinéad O'Connor was one of the celebrities who supported the group on the grounds of the right to free speech.[citation needed] The decision was later overturned on appeal and the ruling was upheld by the US Supreme Court. The publicity from the trials led to further sales of the album.
In 1999, the group, minus former bandleader Luther Campbell, rerecorded the song as "Bill So Horny" during the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton for allegedly lying under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.[citation needed] However, the remix failed to chart.
In 2008, it was ranked number 83 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Chart performance
Chart (1989) Peak
positionU.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 26 U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks[8] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play[8] 5 U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[8] 34 Chart (1990) Peak
positionDutch Top 40[9] 1 Preceded by
"All Around the World" by Lisa StansfieldDutch Top 40 number-one single
February 3, 1990 – February 10, 1990 (2 weeks)Succeeded by
"Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'ConnorMusic video
The music video mainly features the members of the band rapping while scantily clad women are shown dancing on a stage.
Two versions of the video were ultimately released. The original "uncut" version featured the dancing women in G-string bikini bottoms (with rotoscoped black squares placed over the women's buttocks) and sport brassieres. The MTV version featured alternate lyrics for the song (to comply with MTV's standards and practices) and alternate footage of the dancers in cycling shorts instead of bikinis.
Popular culture
- In the Family Guy episode "A Hero Sits Next Door", Brian asks Peter if he found any replacements for Guillermo for baseball pitch. Peter admits he's currently searching, including a Chinese in a cutaway:
- Dealer: Hideo-san would be honoured to play for your team, but he wishes to know what compensation you offer.
- Peter: Uhh... Me-me love you long time?
- American Industrial metal act Revolting Cocks covered the song on their 2010 longplayer Got Cock?. The album also included a remix of the track.
- A comedy hip-hop duo known as 2 Live Jews (whose name is an obvious parody of 2 Live Crew) released a spoof of the song, called "Oy! It's So Humid". This spoof replaces the line, "Me love you long time" with "It's like a sauna in here." This is one of the tracks of their first album, titled As Kosher As They Wanna Be.
- Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine did a Lounge cover on the 2005 album, Aperitif for Destruction.
- In the movie Disturbia Ashley (Sarah Roemer) changes Kale's (Shia LaBeouf) ringtone to "Me So Horny" whenever his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) calls.
- A parody group known as "MC Pillsberry & the 4 Large Crew (aka Too Large Crew)" made a spoof of the song called, "Me So Hungry". This title was also used for a similar spoof by 3 Local Boyz.
- Andy LaPlegua of Combichrist made an EBM version of the song for his solo album "13 Ways to Masturbate" released under the moniker of Dj Scandy.
- In the movie Bruce Almighty, the song is renamed "Bruce So Horny (He Love You Long Time)", as one of the many ways Jim Carrey attempts to win back his girlfriend.
- In the movie Be Cool (2005), Vince Vaughn goes to a strip club and "Me So Horny" is playing.
- In the movie How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, when Simon Pegg gets back to his apartment with Kirsten Dunst, she says she loves this song and it is playing in the background.
- In the American Dad episode "Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold", Roger (disguised as one of his alter egos, Lauren Vanderbooben) walks to her office desk to "Me So Horny".
- Australian TV show Pizza often used the chorus throughout the series, particularly when characters had fantasies about having sex with "hot chicks".
- In the South Park episode "Cow Days" (season 2, episode 13), Eric Cartman falls off a bull and suffers head trauma, which makes him think he is a Vietnamese prostitute called Ming Li. As Ming Li, he says "Me so horny, me love you long time, prease harro harro prease sucky sucky" to attract a soldier.
See also
External links
- Allmusic article
- Boston Review article on obscenity trial
- NME article on obscenity trial
- MTV Article on release of "Bill So Horny"
- Anecdotage article on trial
References
- ^ New York Times
- ^ New York Times
- ^ "Clip from Which Way Is Up? featuring the sampled audio". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTlQWVPFXZI.
- ^ "Clip from Full Metal Jacket featuring the sampled audio". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hch3HL8gPTk.
- ^ New York Times
- ^ New York Times
- ^ New York Times
- ^ a b c d "Billboard.com artist chart history". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=37154&model.vnuAlbumId=640530. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
- ^ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 5, 1990". http://www.radio538.nl/web/show/id=44685/chartid=5185. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
Categories:- 1989 songs
- 2 Live Crew songs
- Obscenity controversies
- Funk-rap songs
- Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
- Singles certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
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