Editor's note: This alligatorSports Brand Picks Column, in its entirety, is not meant to disrespect any women, in its entirety. Well, you know what we mean.
If the above disclaimer sounds familiar, then your ears have been graced by the sounds of one of the most controversial rap groups ever, The 7th Floor Crew.
The Crew - mostly comprised of Miami football players - recorded a self-titled, nine minute long rap song in 2003 in a UM dorm room, and the song caused an uproar when it was released on a blog in 2005.
The criticism stemmed from the widespread profanity - the disclaimer is the only full line in the song we can print - and perceived degradation of women, as the song is centered on group sex.
Members of the media labeled The 7th Floor Crew a disgrace, and the university issued an apology, but like it or not, the song has remained part of the culture of Hurricanes football.
The fact is, the song was floating around campus for two years without incident before it caught the national spotlight and was denounced, and fans use the term "taken to the 7th floor" to describe a blowout win or loss, as in, "The 'Canes took the Gators to the 7th floor" or vice versa.
To get a deeper look at this phenomenon, we thought we'd go straight to the source - Marvelous Marvin Henderson, who organized the group, produced the track, wrote some of the lyrics and edited the final cut.
The Song
Henderson, a budding musician and producer in Miami under the name GoMarvelous, originally recorded a three-minute version of the song (set to Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Only Knew") with UM receiver Darnell Jenkins and a friend, Nick.
When more football players heard the song before the next day's practice, they wanted in, and Henderson opened up his dorm room - Pearson 704 - which doubled as a studio, for a recording session.
"My dorm room had 22 people in it that day," Henderson said. "It was all in fun, and it was just a rap session. It was so fun to have all those guys come by and record and have all those people watch the football players do their thing."
Throughout the day, Hurricanes Greg Olson (G-reg), Jon Beason (Big Beast), Tavares Gooden (T-Good), Jenkins (Lil' Newt), Willie Cooper (Dub-C), Terrell Walden (T-Buck) and Akieem Jolla (Hollaman) shuffled through to record their verses, along with Henderson and Nick (Big Nick).
Marvelous wrote Olsen's verse, but most of the song was freestyled, Henderson said, with much of T-Buck's rap based on actual events, including the bit involving the trunk of a car.
Henderson was most impressed with Olsen's rapping skills, especially since he had to navigate tough lyrics.
"Greg is like, out-of-town, straight-up white boy, so he was the most surprising guy on the track."
Late that night, Olsen came by from his room across the hall and asked for a copy of the song. Henderson obliged, and that was the start of The 7th Floor Crew craze.
"The next morning, I went to get some food in the cafeteria and everyone in there started clapping, laughing and pointing at me," Henderson said. "I asked the lady at the front what was going on and she said, 'You. You the man.'"
He asked a few friends about the commotion and discovered it was all because of the song. Despite only leaving his hands hours earlier, the song had already made the rounds, and it was a hit.
The Aftermath
Henderson insists that the song was done in fun and that women who were never "mudded by the whole crew" were present during its recording. He added the above disclaimer soon after, when a female student suggested that it would clearly show the song as a joke.
But news organizations didn't see the humor when the song found its way to the Internet.
ESPN's Pat Forde went so far as to say the following in his column: "How long does it take to undermine more than five years of hard work improving the image of a once-tainted football program? It could be as little as 9 minutes, it turns out."
"That's just the University of Miami," Henderson said. "Whenever we do something, it's always trouble with people. They associate us with a lot of stuff like gangs, and it's ridiculous. If we dance in the end zone, it's a problem."
He watched as reporters tried to stir the pot over the next few days, trying to get negative feedback about the song.
"I really appreciate how all the fans embraced it," he said. "The news reporters were on campus asking all the girls how they felt about the song, and they were like, 'Oh, it's fun. We play it all the time.' So the news crews would just go find someone else and they'd say the same thing. They just wanted to find someone to speak against it so they could hype up their little terror syndrome, but everybody love it and embraced it."
Despite the initial negative publicity, members of the crew went on to have pretty successful careers. Three established solid careers in the NFL - Beason is a linebacker with the Carolina Panthers, Olsen plays tight end for the Chicago Bears, and Gooden is a linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens, where his number changed from 52 to 56.
(Note: five multiplied by six is 30)
Henderson - whose birth name is actually Marvelous, though it was later changed to Marvin - reaped the benefits of the publicity, launching a career in music.
He plays the piano, keyboard, trumpet, drums and is a novice on the guitar, and is currently building what he calls the GoMarvelous Empire.
GoMarvelous' plans are to release an album next year and form an all-female band to produce and manage. He's also building a Web site, GoMarvelous.com, has pages on MySpace and YouTube, and he's planning to release a clothing line (called The M Collection) as well.
The album, "R&Me Musik (Rhythm and Me)" combines R&B with urban rock.
"Right now the focus is just to finish my album and create a big, big effect," he said. "When I come out, I don't want it to be like, 'Oh, who's this guy?' I want it to be like, 'Who the heck is this guy?'"
But for all his focus on those plans, there's still room in his heart for The 7th Floor Crew.
He says his shows are packed with fans who remember him for the song, and he has considered making a second edition with current Miami players, set to No Good's "Ballin' Boys."
"Obviously it would be a little more commercial since it touched some people the wrong way," Henderson said. "I'd make it a bit cleaner, and I'd have to talk to the coaches so they don't get pissed at me."
He didn't rule out the possibility of a UF rap either. Tim Tebow, Cameron Newton, Percy Harvin, Deonte Thompson, Major Wright and Carlos Dunlap would be his choices for a Gators rap group. Our guess is that Tebow would record the disclaimer.
While it seems a reunion tour is unlikely, Marvelous, T-Good, Big Nick, Lil' Newt, Dub C, T-Buck, G-reg, Big Beast and Hollaman have cemented their places in rap and sports history.
"I just hope that everybody will continue to show support and love and see the humor in what we did, because it was fun," Henderson said. "We left a big legacy, and it's a trademark now."
Life After the Crew
Marvelous Marvin Henderson became a Miami-area producer.
Tavares Gooden (T-Good) was drafted in the third round by the Ravens and is entering his rookie season.
Nick Sadowski (Big Nick)'s whereabouts are unknown, but he is presumed to be cleaning up the wreckage from the 7th Floor's roof collapse.
Darnell Jenkins (Lil' Newt) signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted wide receiver after the 2008 NFL Draft. He was cut on Aug. 29.
Willie Cooper (Dub C), who attended the same high school as UF players Brandon James and Jacques Rickerson, graduated from UM in 2007 and tried out for several NFL teams to no avail. He returned to the headlines in 2006 when he was shot in the buttocks while standing in his yard, and teammate Brandon Meriweather returned fire.
Terrell Walden (T-Buck), a cornerback, transferred to Tennessee's Lane College from Miami, and is not in the NFL.
Greg Olsen (G-reg) was a first-round pick of the Bears and is entering his second season.
Jon Beason (Big Beast) is in his second season with the Panthers after being taken in the first round.
Akieem Jolla (Hollaman), once a five-star recruit at receiver, transferred to New Mexico State for his senior season, but battled injuries and tallied just 135 yards on 23 catches.
Now, on to the picks!
Tied for first place, with a 7-3 record, is Assistant Sports Editor Evan "I like to do the abnormal sportswriter thing and take real classes" Drexler, whose only concern for this picks column was the proper AP style for the term "mudded."
Also in first place with a 7-3 record is Karl "I wish I could grow facial hair like Dave Wannstedt" Hyppolite, whose innocent mind thinks G-Reg's third leg must come in pretty handy while making sideline catches.
Rounding out the three-way tie on top, also with a 7-3 record, is Phil "Can you tell I attended a Poynter Institute seminar or two?" Kegler, who had to cut back on his Checkers intake last week after the unhealthy food started affecting his demeanor, by driving him to physically assault an opponent in a pickup basketball game. Seriously.
Way down in fourth place is sports editor Brian "I've been holding poop in for a week" Steele, who wants to ride on a seven-man train with the Pouncey twins, Simon Cowell, Dr. Phil, Dwight Howard and Daniel Radcliffe. Not a bad group, SteeleDaddy.
In dead-ass last place with a piss-poor 2-8 record, two games behind our guest picker last week, because he wants to make sweet love to East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pinkney through a Bojangles BoBerry biscuit (think American Pie, folks) is Mike "Tiftarea football rules" McCall. And no, he won't be getting extra points for picking ECU to "upset" a weak Virigina Tech team.
| ED | KH | PK | MM | BS | MMH | |
| WVU-ECU | WVU | WVU | ECU | ECU | WVU | WVU |
| MiaOH-Mich | Mich | MiaOH | Mich | Mich | Mich | Mich |
| SMU-Aub | Aub | Aub | Aub | Aub | Aub | Aub |
| GT-BC | BC | BC | GT | GT | GT | BC |
| Miss-WF | WF | Miss | WF | WF | Miss | Miss |
| USF-UCF | USF | USF | USF | USF | USF | USF |
| UNLV-Utah | Utah | Utah | Utah | UNLV | Utah | Utah |
| Stan-ASU | ASU | ASU | ASU | Stan | ASU | ASU |
| OreSt-PSU | PSUt | PSU | PSU | PSU | PSU | OreSt |
UF-UM ED: UF 49-17; KH: UF 38-14; PK: UF 49-21; MM: UF 34-17 ; BS: UF 38-17; NB:UM 35-28
