Le Juan Love

LeJuan Roy Biggers was born in October 27, 1974. When barely out of his tweens, the Allapattah Junior High student seemed an odd fit with the decidedly adult-oriented crew at Luke Skywalkker Records. However, the 2 Live Crew’s subsequent practice of releasing clean versions of their albums beginning with As Clean as they Wanna Be suggested they harbored a desire to reach whatever segment of the bass audience wanted their trunk rattling beats to be clean. Their efforts to reach this crowd began two years earlier, in 1987, when Biggers (as LeJuan Love) released his first single, “Everybody Say Yeah.” Sampling Stevie Wonders’ “Fingertips” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” and rapped as it was by a kid, by all rights it should’ve been absolutely excruciating. However, with his Brother Marquis-like flow (the 2 Live Crew MC is co-credited with the lyrics) and Mr. Mixx’s inestimable production talents, against all odds it works. In March of 1988, though it only reached #78 in the R&B/Hip-Hop Charts, it was a massive regional hit in the south and remains an enduring classic of the bass genre. The full-length, I Still Feel Good (1989-Luke Skyywalker), followed, credited to LeJuan Love and DJ Man. It was again produced by Mr. Mixx and reached #59. With only seven vocal tracks (with lyrics again co-credited to Brother Marquis), it’s unlikely that the recording at Hollywood Studios was much of a drain on the teen’s school performance and the degree of his involvement isn’t clear. However, the lyrics mostly eschew outrageous boasts in favor of rhymes believable coming from the mouth of a young teen. There’s an overall focus on young love and school, albeit not in an annoyingly cutesy, exploitive manner (a la ABC). Occasionally, such as on hardcore tracks like “My Hardcore Rhymes” and “Ain’t Nobody Bad like Me,” Love actually manages to come off sounding a bit like a young L.L. Cool J., whom he also channels on the sensitive, pleading “Please Stay.” The follow-up single, “Jockin' Robin” b/w “Mega Mix,” with its weird, stuttering rhythm based on Earl Palmer’s drumming on the 1958 Bobby Day hit, “Rockin’ Robin,” was an undoubtedly strange choice for a single. It sold poorly although it became something of a classic in Brazil’s favelas. After it’s flop, Love’s last recording was alongside Poison Clan and Professor Griff on Luke’s “This Is to Luke from the Posse” off his solo debut, Banned in the U.S.A. By then, 2 Live Crew and Luke were splintering. With Brother Marquis going off to Atlanta to form 2 Nazty and Mr. Mxx forming Mr. Mixx & Da Roughneck Posse on rival bass label, 4 Sight, LeJuan Love was left out in the cold. After the end of his brief recording career, Biggers went on to work at a Carlisle Tire & Wheel. Many years later, in 2006, he made moves to return to music, startin Da Realist Entertainment with Justin Hampton. Through that venture, he’s made several new recordings. As with most of his largely forgotten ‘80s rap peers, his newest releases have been made available on myspace and find him predictably, if disappointingly, making music in a generic, Atlanta-influenced commercial rap style.