2 Live Crew: Banned in the USA
Fresh Kid Ice aka Chris Wong Won of hardcore rap outfit 2 Live Crew has passed away. The Miami-based group drew plenty of controversy for their wild, sexually explicit lyrics—many of which were remarkably misogynistic—but this also made them poster children for freedom of speech. (Their most successful record 1989’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be was the first to be classified as legally obscene.) This mission is evident in their track “Banned in the USA“—which heavily samples Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”—on which Fresh Kid Ice raps, “Don’t keep thinking that we will quit / We’ll always stand and never sit / We’re 2 live, 2 black, 2 strong.” Also widely recognized as the first rapper of Asian decent, Fresh Kid Ice leaves behind quite a legacy.
