2 Live Crew developed a large underground following with their 1986 album 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, which infiltrated the suburbs as white teenagers couldn't resist lascivious tracks like "We Want Some Pussy" and "Throw the Dick." This set the stage for a perfect storm of controversy, as their next album was even dirtier. The lead single "Me So Horny" had an infectious beat courtesy of a sample from the song "Firecracker" by the R&B group Mass Production, and probably would have been a modest hit even without the filthy words, but the outrageously raunchy song peaked the interest of some folks (notably the Florida lawyer Jack Thompson) who found it horribly offensive, and made 2 Live Crew a national act by alerting the media. 2 Live Crew was unapologetic, and with the first amendment on their side, sold over 2 million albums while politicians tried to censor the group.
In June 1990, As Nasty As They Wanna Be became the first album declared legally obscene in federal court. This meant that anyone performing the songs or selling the album was technically subject to arrest, and of course that's exactly what happened: two days later a Fort Lauderdale record store owner was arrested for selling the album, and two days after that, members of 2 Live Crew were arrested for performing the songs in a Florida nightclub. It quickly became clear that the law was unsustainable - a cover band even got themselves arrested for performing the songs - and it was eventually overturned.
Much of this song's appeal came from the group's decision to release a clean version of the album, making "Me So Horny" about as offensive as an Austin Powers movie. Although the dirty version sold 8 times as many copies, distribution of a clean version led to some radio play for the single and airplay on MTV, which drew lots of attention to the group.
The title phrase comes from the movie Full Metal Jacket, where "Me so horny, me love you long time" is spoken by a Vietnamese prostitute. Played by the actress Papillon Soo Soo, it comes from a scene where she is trying to solicit Matthew Modine's character. A lot of the dialogue from the scene is sampled throughout this song, and taken out of context, it sounds like it came from a porn movie. Full Metal Jacket, directed by Stanley Kubrick, was actually a highly acclaimed film and was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Adapted Screenplay.
This song entered the American Top 40 in October 1989, about nine months before the obscenity ruling jacked up sales of the album.
