Former rap star Luke Campbell has stepped away from the entertainment industry to help the local Miami community, as the assistant football coach at Miami Central High School.
Campbell, who is almost 50, is a former group member of 2 Live Crew, a group signed to his pioneering independent Miami-based label, Luke Skyywalker Records.
Campbell has traded his raunchy image for the assistant coaching position, where he coaches boys, both on and off the field.
“I’m happy and proud of what we accomplished but that part of my life is over,” Luke Campbell told the Bellingham Herald. “The entertainer – I left him on stage.”
In his role as an assistant coach at Miami Central, Luke stresses the need for teamwork, education and maintaining a positive attitude.
“I don’t tolerate cursing or the N-word,” Luke continued. “I tell them, ‘Don’t ever disrespect a girl because that makes you less than a man.’ And ‘Pick the girl who is responsible, not the one with Fs on her report card. Easy to get in, hard to get out. I’ve lived that life.'”
The former rap star was cleared by the Miami-Dade Public School system to coach the team, after Campbell received letters of support from community leaders, parents, neighborhood kids and Central High’s principals.
Luke is much more than a coach, according to C.J. Gaines, an 18-year-old wide receiver for the Rockets.
“I don’t see him as a rapper,” Gaines said. “I see him as a father.”
