Sex-themed rap group 2 Live Crew hits Destin (PHOTO)

DESTIN — A rap group that has stirred up controversy and broken ground with raunchy lyrics is coming to Destin.

Club Overboard will host 2 Live Crew, which gained fame in the late ’80s with songs such as “Me So Horny.” Members Fresh Kid Ice, Brother Marquis and Luke will perform at the club Saturday.

Fresh Kid Ice said 2 Live Crew’s explicit lyrics and music videos packed with nearly naked women paved the way for other rap acts.

“Back in the day, we were the first ones to have sexy women,” he said. “We used them as eye candy.”

The group’s sex-themed tracks — including “We Want Some (expletive)” and “Throw That (expletive)” — drew some criticism. 2 Live Crew became one of the first music acts to sell an album with an explicit lyrics warning label.

They were also one of the first to cut dirty and clean versions of their music, Fresh Kid Ice said. While the explicit versions were meant for adults, they often made their way into children’s hands through older brothers and uncles.

“It was basically like locker room talk,” Fresh Kid Ice said.

The rapper said the group “brought explicit lyrics to hip hop,” leading the way for acts such as N.W.A.

“We used sex; they used the gangsters,” he said.

2 Live Crew started in California in the mid ’80s when Fresh Kid Ice and other founding members were in the Air Force. They moved to Miami in 1986 and “brought the South to the party” of high-profile hip hop acts.

The group was recently part of a VH-1 event honoring southern rappers. Fresh Kid Ice said it felt good for the group to get its “just desserts” after being long considered the “black sheep” of hip hop.

2 Live Crew will perform as they get ready to release a new album, “Just Wanna Be Heard,” set to ship later this summer. A single, “Cougar,” is a tribute to the “older sexy woman,” Fresh Kid Ice said.

He said he’s been to Fort Walton Beach and Destin before: “It’s a nice vibe up there.”

“I hope a lot of people come out to check it out so we can take it back to the old school,” he said.

In 1990, Fresh Kid Ice and Luke were charged with obscenity for performing in Fort Lauderdale after a federal judge ruled their lyrics obscene. The ruling was later overturned.