Banned in the U.S.A. (song)

"Banned in the U.S.A."
Single by 2 Live Crew
from the album Banned in the U.S.A.
Released	May 3, 1990 (1990-05-03)
Format	Cassette
Recorded	1989
Genre	Political hip hop
Length	4:24
Label	Luke Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Luther Campbell David Hobbs Marquis Ross Christopher Wongwon
Producer(s)	Mr. Mixx Luke Records 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew singles chronology
"The Fuck Shop" (1989) "Banned in the U.S.A." (1990) "Mama Juanita" (1990)

"Banned in the U.S.A." is a song recorded by the American hip hop group 2 Live Crew. It was released in May 1990 as the lead single from its album of the same name. It peaked at number 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot-100 chart and is the group's highest-charting song on that chart. It reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.^[1]

Content

The song is a reference to the decision in a court case that the 2 Live Crew's album As Nasty As They Wanna Be was obscene. (The decision would later be overturned on appeal.) Bruce Springsteen granted them permission to sample his song "Born in the U.S.A." for it. It also contains a sample of then-President George H. W. Bush proclaiming the United States' government to be a government "Of the people, for the people, by the people." The music video for the single shows a video clip of Bush uttering the phrase at the part of the song in which it appears.

Charts

References