What Is Luther Campbell's Net Worth?
Luther Campbell is an American rapper and producer who has a net worth of $7 million. Luther Campbell, also known as Luke Skyywalker and Uncle Luke, is a rap pioneer and businessman who gained fame as the leader of 2 Live Crew, one of hip-hop's most controversial and influential groups.
As the founder of Luke Records (originally Skyywalker Records), Campbell helped establish Miami bass as a distinct hip-hop subgenre in the 1980s. 2 Live Crew's explicit lyrics led to significant legal battles over First Amendment rights and obscenity laws. Their album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" became the first album declared legally obscene by a federal court in 1990, though this ruling was later overturned. The Supreme Court case Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music (1994) set an important precedent for fair use in parody after 2 Live Crew was sued for their parody of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman." The ruling significantly impacted copyright law and artistic expression.
Beyond music, Campbell has been involved in various business ventures and community activism in Miami. He has worked as a radio host, newspaper columnist, and youth football coach. He ran for Mayor of Miami-Dade County in 2011. He continues to be an advocate for hip-hop culture and free speech, while also working to promote education and youth programs in his community.
Early Life
Luther Roderick Campbell was born on December 22, 1960, in Miami, Florida. He was named after Martin Luther King Jr. and was raised alongside four siblings by parents with Jamaican and Bahamian ancestry. Campbell's mother forced him to leave his house each day from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, regardless of whether or not he had a job.
Early Career
After finding work as a cook at the Mt. Sinai Hospital, Campbell started promoting various concerts in Miami. Throughout the 1980s, Luther succeeded in attracting a range of the most popular rap groups in America to Miami. In 1983, he started to learn more about audio editing and music production after taking an 8-week course at a local radio station.
Campbell's career took a major step forward when he was one of the first people to take notice of 2 Live Crew – the group behind the hit "Revelation." Although the group was from California, their hit became quite popular in Miami nightclubs. Luther Campbell organized their subsequent performance in Miami and then started to manage the group directly.
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2 Live Crew
After Campbell began managing the 2 Live Crew, his music career began in earnest. The rap group relocated to Florida in 1986 and recorded a number of singles with Luther's assistance. Both parties then collaborated to create Luke Skyywalker Records, and Luther joined the 2 Live Crew under the MC name "Luke Skyywalker." As his new record label became more successful, Luther gave the 2 Live Crew a formal record deal.
In 1986, the group released its debut album, "The 2 Live Crew is What We Are." The album became quite popular, especially within the local music scene. The album eventually achieved gold certification and propelled all of the group's members to considerable fame. In 1988, the 2 Live Crew followed up with another album, "Move Somethin'." The album once again reached gold certification with hits like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and eventually reached the top 20 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.
This new album proved to be the subject of considerable controversy. An undercover police officer purchased a copy of the album in 1988, and the record store owner was held liable for the alleged obscenity of the music. Although the charges were eventually dropped against the record store owner, the incident prompted Luther to create a clean version of the album.
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2 Live Crew then moved ahead with a third album in 1989, "As Nasty As They Wanna Be." By this point, 2 Live Crew was a well-known presence throughout the United States, and the album quickly reached double-platinum status. Although this was their most commercially successful album yet, it also became 2 Live Crew's most controversial. In 1990, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida determined that the album was "legally obscene."
Although the Eleventh Circuit overturned this decision, "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" holds the honor of being the first album in history to earn the legal classification of "obscene." The defendants (including Campbell) were acquitted in part thanks to an address by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. It remains a monumental case in the context of free speech in the United States.
In 1990, Campbell followed up with "Banned in the U.S.A," an album that was, for the most part, a solo effort under the MC name Luke Skyywalker (although it was later credited as a 2 Live Crew album). Thanks to singles like "Do the Bart," this album reached the top 20 on the charts. The album also contained the song "F*** Martinez," which was a reference to then-Governer Bob Martinez – a man who had encouraged law enforcement officers to arrest record shop owners selling music by 2 Live Crew.
In 1991, 2 Live Crew released "Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2." This would prove to be the last album released by the original members of 2 Live Crew. In 1992, Campbell released "I Got S*** on My Mind," which was his first official solo album. In 1993, he followed up with the album "In the Nude," and in 1994, he released "Freak for Life." This latest effort proved to be his least successful album yet.
In 1995, Campbell's record label, Luke Records, Inc., went bankrupt. In 1996, he released another solo album called "Uncle Luke." This proved to be more successful, but his follow-up with "Changin' the Game" in 1997 was a complete flop – with the exception of having a high-charting single in "Raise the Roof."
In 1998, Campbell appeared as an actor in the film "Ride." In 2001, he released his seventh album, "Somethin' Nasty." His final release came in 2006 with "My Life & Freaky Times." Also in 2006, Luther took a voice acting role as the host of a radio station in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories."
Relationships
Campbell has had seven children from five separate relationships. In 2008, he married Kristin Thompson, a law school graduate from Dallas, Texas. They subsequently welcomed Luther's seventh child into the world.
Legal Issues
In 2009, Campbell was arrested for failing to pay his child support payments.
Real Estate
Luther's primary residence is a 6,400-square-foot lakefront home in the Miami suburbs. He paid $725,000 for the home in 2012, and its current estimated value is $1.3 million.
