2 Live Crew’s ‘Nasty Lyrics’ a Bum Rap? : The law: Politics and prurience mix in Florida’s reaction to 2 Live Crew’s album ‘As Nasty as They Wanna Be.’

Florida’s state prosecutor said Tuesday he will not proceed with a controversial investigation related to an album by a Miami rap group. But the prosecutor left open the door to local authorities wishing to file criminal racketeering and obscenity charges against the group’s record company and retailers.

Statewide Prosecutor Peter Antonacci’s move is the latest chapter in a continuing and closely watched dispute in the state over the alleged sales to minors of the expletive-laced 2 Live Crew album “As Nasty as They Wanna Be.”

Two weeks ago, Republican Gov. Bob Martinez ordered Antonacci’s office to investigate complaints about the album. The prosecutor’s action on Tuesday essentially takes his office out of the matter, but leaves unresolved some of the governor’s basic concerns about the album.

“This office does not have the jurisdiction to bring individual obscenity charges,” said prosecutor Antonacci in a telephone interview from his Tallahassee office, “and we have chosen to refer these complaints to local prosecutors.”

The Florida case is of particular interest to the record industry, which is facing a variety of album content challenges across the country, because it involves possible criminal charges against the rap group’s record company as well as retailers who sell the album.

Concern over explicit lyrics in popular music has spawned warning label proposals by legislators in six states, including Florida, with at least 15 other states considering similar measures.

But the 2 Live Crew matter has received especially widespread attention from outside the state, and it has even become an issue in this year’s Florida governor’s race.

Rick Arpel, director of government affairs for the New Jersey-based National Association of Recording Merchandisers, called the investigation an abuse of government clout.

“There are 43 laws around the country similar to Florida’s obscenity statute,” Arpel said. “But . . . there’s never been a single pop music sound recording found to be obscene. But when government officials start rattling their sabers, it creates a chill and scares off store owners who have a legal right to carry (explicit) product.”

The Florida case began early this year with a complaint from a conservative Miami lawyer but took on its much broader political importance nearly three weeks ago with a letter from Martinez to Antonacci, a Democrat, blasting 2 Live Crew’s music as “vulgar” and “disgusting.”

The governor suggested that the album failed to meet accepted standards of “legitimate public expression protected by the First Amendment.”

Martinez’s letter noted that “a pattern of racketeering is arguably present” and that Skyywalker Records, 2 Live Crew’s label, could possibly be targeted for prosecution as “an enterprise within the scope of RICO,” the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Under Florida law, the sale of sound recordings depicting “sexual excitement or activity” to minors is considered a felony. Retailers found guilty of selling “obscene” records to anyone under 18 could face penalties of up to five years in jail for each individual sale and/or $5,000 in fines. The law also states that sale of such recordings to adults is a misdemeanor.

The governor cited a recent obscenity ruling issued against 2 Live Crew by a judge in Lee County (Ft. Myers) and a Dade County (Miami) investigation into the possible sale of the “Nasty” album to minors.

Often criticized as misogynistic, 2 Live Crew’s songs frequently describe violent sexual acts involving oral copulation, sadism, masochism and sodomy.

The 2 Live Crew case has become a campaign issue in this year’s Florida governor’s race. Martinez is facing a 30%-40% negative rating in statewide polls, and, some critics say, he is using the album issue to drum up further support among conservatives.

Ann Neal, senior vice president of legal affairs at the Washington-based Recording Industry Assn. of America, which represents the nation’s major record companies, says her organization has been monitoring the progress of the investigation very closely.

“Sometimes when your political chips are down, you try to come up with whatever you can. Even free speech can go out the window,” Neal said. “The fact that the statewide prosecutor failed to act upon this case underscores our feeling that the events surrounding the probe were politically motivated.”

“I respect the governor and wish him the best of luck,” said 2 Live Crew lyricist Mark Ross. “But I just wish that he didn’t have to use 2 Live Crew to get reelected.”

But Mark Silva, a political writer for the Miami Herald, suggests that the governor has little to gain by exploiting the 2 Live Crew controversy.

“I don’t see it as a political ploy because the voters that this ‘nasty lyric’ investigation might appeal to are already in his camp,” Silva said. “I think it’s more of a moral issue for him. He is a devout Catholic, a fervent anti-abortionist, and this seems to be a matter of personal moral conviction for him.”

“As Nasty as They Wanna Be” has sold more than 1.2 million copies, and after 33 weeks is holding steady at No. 35 on Billboard’s pop chart and No. 40 on the black chart. Although a sanitized version of the record titled “As Clean as They Wanna Be” is also available, the sexually explicit album outsells it nine to one, according to the record company.

Luke Skyywalker Records, 2 Live Crew’s Miami-based record company abides by a warning label agreement established in 1985 between the record industry and the Parents Music Resource Center, labeling its product with a sticker that warns of explicit lyrics.

Skyywalker President Luther Campbell also sent a letter to retailers Feb. 23 offering to provide stores an additional sticker that reads: “Warning: Explicit language contained. Parental discretion advised. 18 and older only.”

The current controversy surrounding 2 Live Crew began on New Year’s Day when Coral Gables attorney Jack Thompson sent letters to both the governor and Dade County State Attorney Janet Reno, requesting an investigation into the possible violation of state obscenity statutes regarding the rap group’s album.

Thompson, a 38-year-old Sunday school teacher who ran unsuccessfully as Reno’s Republican opponent in Dade County’s last election, initiated his crusade after reading a transcription of the group’s sexually explicit lyrics given to him by a member of the Rev. Donald Wildmon’s Tupelo, Miss.-based media watchdog organization the American Family Assn.

Dissatisfied with the lack of response from the state attorney’s office, Thompson arranged a private purchase on Jan. 17, in which he alleged that three separate retailers in Dade County sold the 2 Live Crew’s “Nasty” tape to a 16-year-old. State Attorney Reno told The Times that her office is reviewing the evidence regarding the alleged sales to minors in her district.

Following the incident, Spec’s music chain instituted a 52-store policy banning the sale of records with warning labels to anyone under 18. Shortly thereafter, Spec’s parent company, the Albany, N.Y.-based Trans World Corp. also enacted an 18-to-purchase rule for its 450 outlets on the East Coast. The Hialeah Gardens, Fla.-based Peaches chain has removed the album from its 22 stores.

On Feb. 1, Thompson sent a copy of 2 Live Crew’s lyrics to the Lee County sheriff’s department. He also sent a letter to the state attorney in Lee County, who, based on a prior obscenity ruling in the 20th Judicial District, had 14 months earlier banned 2 Live Crew’s 1988 recording “Move Something” from store shelves.

On Feb. 9, Lee County Judge Isaac Anderson ruled that there was “probable cause to believe” that “As Nasty as They Wanna Be” was an obscene recording. Armed with a copy of the judge’s obscenity order, police visited or phoned every record shop in the county, advising store owners of the ruling.

Lt. Bob Maycomber, chief deputy and head of the Lee County Sheriff Department’s narcotics and vice section, told The Times that local retailers cooperated with police, voluntarily removing the product from their shelves. Luke Skyywalker Records has not contested the judge’s ruling in court.

Broadening the scope of his attack on Feb. 12, Thompson sent copies of the 2 Live Crew lyrics to 67 more sheriff departments.

A letter written by Thompson persuaded the sheriff’s department in Seminole County to conduct its own 2 Live Crew tape-buying operation on Feb. 20. Industry observers expect a similar obscenity order to be handed down against the “Nasty” record in Seminole County before the end of the week.

In Lake County, police contacted by Thompson are also moving to block the sale of N.W.A’s critically acclaimed “Straight Outta Compton” rap record.

Thompson sent a letter to the Governor on Tuesday urging him to appoint a special prosecutor to carry on the state investigation.

“I think Luther Campbell and 2 Live Crew are pornographers. It’s as simple as that,” said Thompson from his Coral Gables home. “I will not give up until I put them out of business.”