Me So Horny
| "Me So Horny" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by 2 Live Crew | ||||
| from the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be | ||||
| Released | January 20, 1989 | |||
| Format | CD single, 7", cassette single | |||
| Genre | Dirty rap, funk rap, East Coast | |||
| Length | 4:36 | |||
| Label | Life Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Luther Campbell, Mr. Mixx, Brother Marquis, Ricardo Williams, Fresh Kid Ice | |||
| Producer(s) | 2 Live Crew | |||
| 2 Live Crew singles chronology | ||||
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"Me So Horny" is a song by rap group 2 Live Crew on their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and No. 26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1989, staying on the Hot 100 for 30 weeks, despite lack of airplay due to the controversial nature of the lyrics (and/or possibly because of the associated controversy). 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 music from the 1979 hit song "Firecracker" by Mass Production and dialogue 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'll we get for ten dollars?
- Da Nang Hooker: Every t'ing you want.
- Private Joker: Everything?
- Da Nang Hooker: Every t'ing.
The "Me So Horny" sample was also featured three years later, when Sir Mix-a-Lot included the sample in "Baby Got Back".
Music samples
Success and controversy
The song became a major hit for 2 Live Crew, topping the rap charts and going to No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989. As Nasty As They Wanna Be reached No. 3 on the rap album charts and No. 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.[5]
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. testified on behalf of the group during the trial. 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 perjury 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 (1989-1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Singles Chart)[7] | 180 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] | 9 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] | 1 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] | 31 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] | 26 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks[11] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play[11] | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[11] | 34 |
| Preceded by | Dutch Top 40 number-one single February 3, 1990 – February 10, 1990 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor |
Music 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
- 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.
- Australian TV show Pizza often used the chorus throughout the series, particularly when characters had fantasies about having sex with "hot chicks".
- In the American TV show "American Dad!" the chorus was played as Roger, disguised as "Laura Van Der Booben", walks through an office, trying to get sexually harassed.
- The parody music video "Me Want Maury" on the January 19, 1992 third season episode of In Living Color mocked Maury Povich (Jim Carrey) and Connie Chung's (Steve Park) attempts to conceive a child.
- In the American TV show "Parks And Recreation", the fictional radio show Crazy Ira & The Douche on the local radio station uses a part of the chorus as a sound effect to their obscene jokes.
- In the movie "American Pie: Reunion" the chorus is set as Stifler's ringtone.
See also
References
- ↑ New York Times
- ↑ New York Times
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- ↑ 5.0 5.1 New York Times
- ↑ New York Times
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- ↑ "Ultratop.be – The 2 Live Crew – Me So Horny" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
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- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The 2 Live Crew – Me So Horny". Top 40 Singles.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
