As Nasty as They Wanna Be

As Nasty as They Wanna Be is the third album by American Miami bass group 2 Live Crew. It was released on February 7, 1989, and became the group's largest seller, being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 1990, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the album was legally obscene; this ruling was later overturned by the Eleventh Circuit. This 11th Circuit decision was then appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. It is the first album in history to be deemed legally obscene.

On June 9, 1990, three band members were arrested by then-Sheriff Nick Navarro when they performed some tracks at a strip club in Broward County, Florida. In the "media circus" attendant on these events, only the Washington City Paper, Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center and The Nation magazine published the offending lyrics. The columnist Christopher Hitchens argued that the Crew should be left alone, and that the prosecution was bigoted. Hitchens also argued that both the judge and the sheriff were "racist shitheads".