The rap duo BWP was formed in 1989 by Tanisha Michelle Morgan and Lyndah McCaskill. BWP stands for Bytches With Problems, and Bytches is an acronym for “Beautiful Young Thing College Honeys en’ Shit”. The duo was marketed as a female version of 2 Live Crew meets NWA and were known for their vulgar and aggressive lyrics, with Morgan telling The Baltimore Sun:

We do use a lot of profanity. We’re very street. Very straightforward. We don’t want to sugar-coat it. You use profanity when you’re angry. And we’re mad.

BWP was on Russell Simmons' Rush record label, and he called them his favorite of the 46 acts he was working with at the time. Fellow Rush/Def Jam alumni Mark Sexx of No Face produced and co-wrote the duo’s debut album The Bytches. But in December 1990, two months before its release, there was a disagreement between Rush’s president Leor Cohen and Sexx & BWP about a controversial lyric. Cohen told The Orlando Sentinel:

…this line goes above and beyond – it stretched my imagination beyond the breaking point. I couldn’t continue being manager of this label if I put this record out with that line on it.

Sexx called the move “sexism” claiming, “If it was the Geto Boys or 2 Live Crew saying that line, I’m sure it would be OK with him”. McCaskill added, “It’s an important line for the whole album, and I feel strongly it should be on there.” Sexx threatened “all out war”, adding, “Either the album includes the line or it doesn’t come out. I’ll sue for breach of contract.” The line was ultimately removed.

That same month, two advance singles “Wanted” b/w “We Want Money” and “Two Minute Brother”, containing clean versions of the tracks, were released. A music video for the latter was also released, helping the song debut on the US Rap Chart that month. The song eventually peaked at #6. At the album’s release party in February 1991, Dr Dre famously assaulted journalist Dee Barnes, leading to a $22m lawsuit against the rapper/producer.

BWP performed “Two Minute Brother” on the talk show Donahue, an appearance that devolved into a heated debate between McCaskill and Pamela “Harmony” Scott after she accused BWP of promoting negative stereotypes about black women.

In June, it was announced the music video for “Wanted”, a song inspired by a time McCaskill claims police had “beat me down physically and put me in a choke hold”, would feature footage of the infamous March 1991 beating of Rodney King, with BWP donating $1500 to a charity set up by George Holliday – the man who videotaped the incident – in order to gain permission to use it.

Videos for “No Means No” and “We Want Money” were also released, the latter being the first known music video produced by Hype Williams – who would go on to produce award-winning videos like Will Smith’s “Gettin' Jiggy wit It”, Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” and TLC’s “No Scrubs”.

In 1993, Def Jam shelved BWP’s second album just a few days before its scheduled release date. McCaskill claimed it was held back because the lyrics were deeemed “unladylike”. In 2020, the album finally appeared on YouTube.