Los Angeles Times September 8, 1990, Saturday, Home Edition MTV: THE NAUGHTY ENVELOPE, PLEASE; MTV AWARDS: BACKSTAGE, CENSORSHIP WAS THE ISSUE OF THE EVENING. LUTHER CAMPBELL LET LOOSE, AND EVEN SINEAD O'CONNOR GOT INTO THE ACT. By DENNIS HUNT, TIMES STAFF WRITER "Hey, I'm a clean guy," Luther Campbell joked to reporters backstage at the MTV Awards show, just after he performed his protest single "Banned in the U.S.A." with his group, 2 Live Crew. But a short while later, he unleashed a fiery, profane tirade against censorship and racism that was anything but clean. Campbell has largely kept his cool through his group's obscenity battles. But during a question-and-answer session backstage at the Universal Amphitheatre Thursday, Campbell lost it. Preceding the eruption was a statement that he's sensitive to the complaint that his X-rated lyrics aren't for kids. "We in this group have kids, who don't need to hear these adult lyrics," he said. "But people always forget that we make two different versions of songs -- a clean version for the kids and an adult version. Our main goal is entertaining adults." Then came the tirade. Here's the clean version: "The censors walked by all those magazines and all those porno flicks to grab one tape out of the record rack -- our tape. Don't you think that's sick? They grab us out of there and (they say) we're going to harass them. It's a black company and they have no one standing behind them. They ridicule us for some (stuff) that has been burning in the backwoods (for years)." Censorship was the big issue of the evening when artists and presenters talked to the media backstage. Said Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, "Even if we're not the targets of censorship ourselves, we feel a solidarity and unity with people who are, because if we don't stand up for their rights, nobody will be around to stand up for ours." Rapper Queen Latifah also expressed solidarity with the group: "I don't have to approve of what they say. Who am I to judge what they say? We rappers tend to stick together. I'm not going to diss 2 Live Crew. What I'm concerned about is that right now they're telling 2 Live Crew their lyrics are too nasty, and next time they may be telling me my lyrics are too pro-black. I'm going to support them. I may be next." Sinead O'Connor even got into the censorship fight, insisting that her well-publicized refusal to allow the national anthem to be performed before a recent concert was really an indirect protest against censorship -- which, she said, is disguised racism. "It's the (American) system I have disrespect for, which imposes censorship on people, which as far as I'm concerned is racism. I didn't want to go on stage after the national anthem of a country that's harassing people when they perform at gigs." O'Connor patiently fielded all questions -- even fan-mag-type inquiries like, "Do you have a sense of humor?" To that one, she stonily replied, "Of course I do, of course I do." One of the big attractions of the show was the New Edition reunion, with Bobby Brown working again with the R&B vocal group he left a few years ago to start a solo career. Backstage, Brown refused to deal with questions about his supposed conflicts with the group and seemed genuinely moved by the reunion. (The group celebrates its 12th anniversary today.) "I feel these are my brothers," he said. "You miss your family. Once you get back with your family you feel a lot better. This is still my family." Sometime in the future, though none of the members would say when, the group plans to reunite for a movie, a soundtrack album and a tour.