Unlike nearly all white rap acts, the Beasties aren’t white boys in blackface. They’re the embodiment of the modern lower-Manhattan street kid. If hip-hop is as much a New York thing as it is a black thing, if keeping it real means faithfully representing your social aesthetic, if it’s another way of saying perfect pitch, then the Beasties keep it as real for their peoples as Jay-Z and Snoop do for theirs. For modern lower Manhattan, Kids is The Godfather and the Beasties are Sinatra.

Beastie Boys refused to be put in a box their entire career.

After their 1987 multi-platinum debut album Licensed To Ill, released on Def Jam, they had been incorrectly labeled as “Frat Boy Rap” by several publications. Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons both wanted Beastie Boys to keep creating party-fun jams such as “Fight for Your Right” & “Brass Monkey,” and play the Bad Boy Persona.

Unmoved by Rick and Russell’s intentions, though, Beastie Boys decided to leave Def Jam and take a break from recording.

”Yeah, I can't imagine that we would have just caved in and made 'Fight for Your Right Part 2', 'Paul Revere Part 2', 'Brass Monkey Part 2', and go out on tour wearing VW medallions. I can't really imagine we would have done that, which is what they would have wanted us to do. So, yeah, I guess that would probably have been it. I guess. But that's all hearsay.” - Michael Diamond, Mike D

it should be noted Beastie Boys hasn’t played Fight For Your Right live since 1987

In 1988, they found the Dust Brothers. This production team were experimenting with sampling to an extent no other production team had done in the 80’s.

Before sampling laws in the 90’s, artists could sample however many songs they wanted at zero cost

This led to the hip hop masterpiece of Paul’s Boutique in 1989. In total, 105 songs are sampled, including 24 in the final track alone. This album is largely considered their Magnum Opus based on the lyrical content and production.

“Fuck ‘Brass Monkey!’ None of that fast-rapping commercial s***!” - Adam Yauch, MCA

The final track, though, is inspired by the Abbey Road Suite by the Beatles and it is called “B-Boy Bouillabaisse.” It features 9 separate tracks, each containing their own world of flows and production.

”The dirty secret among the black hip-hop community at the time of release was that Paul's Boutique had the best beats." - Chuck D, Public Enemy

From here, Beastie Boys felt like they accomplished all they could with sampling.

Their next album in ’92, Check Your Head, leaned heavy into the live rock instrumentation. They mixed Rock and Rap in a way that had not been heard of prior.

Their ’94 next album Ill Communication, features the smash “Sabotage” and an unreal music video. This song, and video, became just as big as Fight For Your Right. This was a huge achievement for the Beastie Boys. This showed they could achieve just as much commercial success, without sacrificing their artistic merit and creativity.

Then, on their 1999 album Hello Nasty, they leaned heavy into the electronic sound. Not only did it feature the incredible single of Intergalactic, it also had remarkable solo tracks from Adam Yauch.

Adam Horowitz, Ad Rock, is quoted as saying Hello Nasty is their best record for the follow reasons:

1. 22 songs, the most of any Beastie Boys album, so you get the most for your money
2. Abundance of critical praise
3. Intergalactic is the f***ing jam
4. It's a super weird record for a top 40 album in the late 90s. "Name another band that sounds like a few different bands all on the same record"
5. It's more mixtape than record, gives you lots of variety
6. It's Ad-rock's personal favorite, because it was recorded during major transitional life moments for them at very significant places, feels very full-circle
7. The best record cover/artwork
8. 'Sneaking Out The Hospital' is the best song title ever
9. 'Dedication' is "so bad it's awesome"
10. End of an era. After Hello Nasty, they were grown-ups, getting called sir in cafés, having children.

Just wanted to make an official Beastie Boys thread for the fans, because I feel like this group is criminally underrated in what they contributed to hip hop

Dont care for them but respect to the thread anyway

Thank you sir!

In

Fav rap group oat after Tribe

No
Sleep
Till BROOKLYN!

Real

lets go !!!!!! All timers

Idk if Hello Nasty is truly better than Pauls Boutique but those are my perpetual #1 and #2 picks, both perfect

in

pauls boutique greatest rap album oat

Nicely done on the op @YoungWaltDisney

Love the beasties

they had 1 hit

Ty sir

Real as s***, it is definitely a masterpiece & in my Top 5 Hip Hop albums

You didn’t even read my Op sir. They had an even bigger hit with 94’s “Sabotage” but keep trying

Not only that, Licensed to Ill had Fight for Your Right Brass Monkey & No Sleep Til so clearly not “one hit”

Miles Davis loved that s***

real recognize real

didn’t know that.. you got a source? That’s dopeeee

yeah he said he couldn't stop listening to it

Wikipedia

Ill Communication the best ❤️

Beastie Boys Makin With The Freak Freak

“Miles Davis claimed he never got tired of listening to it”

Imagine the jazz legend who started his career in the '40s, was influenced by Duke and Bird, saying your rap album is in his rotation

Beautiful