WHO IS HE? Luther Campbell. DJ, producer, founding member of the 2 Live Crew, former Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate.
WHY HAS HE REMAINED SO RELEVANT? The 2 Live Crew was already infamous for bringing Miami hip-hop and “booty bass” music to the mainstream in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, but Uncle Luke’s impact didn’t stop there. His record label, Luke Records, gave a start to artists like JT Money and the Poison Clan and his solo albums featured early verses from Miami rap icons like Trick Daddy and Pitbull. (Most of those songs are NSFW, just so you know)
BEYOND MUSIC. Uncle Luke has remained a presence in South Florida because of his community work. He’s been involved with local youth football (a show based on his Liberty City Warriors is coming to Starz next month) and been on the coaching staffs of local high school football powerhouses like Miami Jackson, Northwestern and Central.
Those connections have also made him a constant in local politics, particularly in advocating for Miami’s black community and neighborhoods like Liberty City and Brownsville. He ran for county mayor in 2011 in a packed field of candidates, and lost to current mayor Carlos Gimenez. He also maintains a regular column in the Miami New Times where he drops hot takes on everything from local politics to Donald Trump and even recently endorsed Philip Levine for governor.
We’ll be rolling out more entries in the Miamipedia but we know there’s stuff we haven’t thought about. Hit reply and let us know or hit us up at [email protected] to tell us any other suuuper Miami terms, phrases and people we should include. Until then, you can check out the previous installments here.