Beastie Boys: Classic or Dud?

Partly also because I dont know how much of my dislike is music and how much is context (not that you can separate them really): I mean "Intergalactic" was a fun single for a few plays. When you go to indie clubs or to parties or to people's houses and it is the ONLY THING WITH A BEAT YOU HEAR it gets a bit grating. ("Body Movin'" was shit from the off, though). So while I deplore the fact that the Beastie Boys have for most of the 90s been the now-I-will-like-some- hip-hop choice of every student, thats not the Boys' fault. Or is it?

The problem is they're awful rappers. This matched the themes of Licensed perfectly but nowadays it's just tiresome - so occasionally you'll hear something good ("Sabotage" I like a whole lot mostly cause it's not pretending to be hip-hop at all) but generally it's blah. So dud, nowadays.

I'm conflicted about Grand Royal the magazine, too. On the one hand these kind of this-is-cool magazines piss me off even as a joke. On the other hand it's often right.

Licensed to Ill is not one of the greatest records ever made, either. It's got a handful of (now extremely tired) classics and a lot of filler. I couldn't listen to it all the way through, so I gave it to my little brother a couple of years ago. And HE doesn't even listen to it. And he's 14!

It shouldn't even be a question.

They're swirling down the toilet at breakneck pace now, that last track was awful as was the last album. Tom, re your comment about the rapping -- I thought MCA was pretty good for a while there, as on "A Year And A Day" and "Professor Booty." But the other two suck, yeah, for sure. Great videos, though, which no one has men

They have been consistently 4-5 years ahead of their time with every album they put out. LICENSE TO ILL: White brat rap that pulled it off the street and into your house (via MTV). Weren't afraid to sample the most obvious beats. PAULS BOUTIQUE: Only the best rap album ever. The 70s beats and style predated the general populus' 70s revival by 4 years. CHECK YOUR HEAD: By the time everyone else was catching onto the 70s thing, the Boys come out with something COMPLETELY different. They combine punk, funk, soundtrack stuff, classic rap, play their own instruments, etc... Constantly pushing the boundaries.

Need I go on? Well, they might have faded *slightly* after that, but the rest of the albums are still really good and do still show growth. Also, look at their instrumental stuff. Quite good and varied. Impressive resume for 3 snotty kids from Brooklyn.

By far Hello Nasty is their most noble and mature album they have ever recorded and, too me, the one that represents them the most sincerely.

Anyway, the Beastie Boys ARE "palefaced pretenders", if by that you mean that they wear their influences on their sleeves. But, dismal and annoying "License to Ill" aside, they've chanelled that influence into innovation nearly unmatched in hip-hop. "Paul's Boutique", "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication" are certified classics in my book, each great in its own unique way. So, despite wanted to slap their annoying faces with "License to Ill" and wanting to do it again with the try-to-hard old-schoolness of "Hello Nasty"...Classic.

Let it remain

These guys plainly know their shit and not only do they possess the musical skills, they are 'setters, they appear to be self-depreciating and they rip the fucking piss. These are good things, by the way. The cops vid - I know it's tired but it still reigns as the joint I'm afraid. And for all the ho-hum tracks, they write enough killers to be forgiven the toss.

I like em. I respect em. They played the game to their rules. And won. Sure they're a pain in the ass. But you need these boys: totally classic.

Are they marking their own albs down at the Record and Tape now?

I liked their schtick, LOVED their magazine, was happy to see their vids, enjoyed their pranks. I don't question their worth as an industry. I just think their achievements in irreverance on CD are pretty minor. "So Watcha Want" is their only transcendent hip hop single, and anyone who thinks Paul's Boutique is the greatest rap album of all time just isn't listening for the same things I look for in rap music, things that usually have something to do with, you know, rapping.

(btw, I don't think the Beatles were perfect so I ain't saying the Beasties are, dig?).

More people should voice their two cents on this group. They're more fun than any other ex-beerbrawlers-turned-new-age-buddhists. Allegedly MCA has an emo band. Their protest song has Zoolander quotes. They need an editor bad. They take an ungodly amount of time between albums. They're white rappers. Ad-Rock, who kicked the cutie in the patootie and needs girls to do his laundry, is dating Kathleen Hanna. They really look awkward when they play their own instruments. And when they're on, they make me happier than any other group ever.

nasty = nasty little man = public relations firm (dealing w/ beastie boys but more importantly ATP) = "hello nasty" = receptionist's phrase.

They're the San Francisco of hip-hop.

wtf? they are the west islip of hip-hop. not to mention they live in your town... just cuz they "pimp" harputs does not mean BB = SF... ew gross.

reminder: this is the beastie boys thread.

As an SF resident, I can't tell if I'm supposed to be offended or not...

btw when is your both show shakey mo?

I hope you haven't heard LL Cool J.

I'll defend the Beasties (on some levels), I just don't get where this weird regional insult is coming from, or what it has to do with anything...

HI! I have heard LL COOL J! OMG! HAHA! LOL! ^_^

sounds good shakey mo, let me know the details.

Beck's "Odelay" was a critical orgasm, but it was little more than Paul's Boutique Part 2 (and I'm guessing the upcoming Tenacious D record will be Part 3).

hahahaha. sigh.

xps The under-20 crowd seem to love that Olivia Rodrigo song that sounds just like Beck!

"I Don't Know" is the 'eye of the duck' of Hello Nasty. Take it out and the whole thing doesn't loom quite the same. I love it

Look

the only interesting thing about the post-HN records is how Mike D becomes by far the best rapper in the group in their old man phase

possibly in delivery! the thing I learned from interviews (or maybe the book) is that they always wrote collaboratively. so Adrock would show up to a session with some lines, and propose "I think Mike could do this part" and they generally had a consensus on any split

never any quibble about who wrote what or rapped what

anyone have the "original" version of Intergalactic stashed? the one that has lyrics about Spock and Uhuru and includes a line like "the spice is the worm and the worm is the spice"

seems apropos this week

never mind. of course it’s on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDKST8N3gSo

whoa, I remember hearing about an early version of the track but had no clue how different it was. I think it's mentioned in the Sounds of Science book somewhere, they were working on the album and didn't really have a single and one of the guys (maybe not even one of the Boys) was like "you still got that intergalactic, planetary thing? maybe do something with that"

hadn't heard that, seems p cool. so the orig uranus rhyme was 'i'm from uranus that shit is heinous.' *hunt3r ducks hides and chortles*

yeah, it was on the web in the 90s but I can't remember if it was on their official site or "leaked"

Trying to catch up on various things on an Apple trial subscription, so I watched the Spike Jonze documentary last night. Mostly liked it, but the very thing that I'm guessing many (most) people love best about the film, the "evening with Mike and Adam" fomat, that threw me. Of the two of them, found Adam funnier and more comfortable addressing the audience.

I was confused as to why they skipped right over "She's On It" (my own introduction to them at the time), going from "Rock Hard" to Licensed, but while checking dates quickly clued in: the video, with a bit about Spanish Fly. Turns out they haven't included the song or video on anything for a while.

I wasn't sure about their general attitude to Licensed...Sometimes it felt like they would have been better just to say "Look, we were 18 and stupid" than try to say that something like "Girls" was meant as an ironic joke that people somehow took seriously. I don't know, and have no way of knowing what was what--maybe that is true.

One sublime joke: the visual punchline to them going on tour with Madonna in 1985 and screaming abuse at the audience to make sure they got noticed.

“Girls” is much improved if you just change it to “Squirrels” in your head.

Sometimes it felt like they would have been better just to say "Look, we were 18 and stupid" than try to say that something like "Girls" was meant as an ironic joke that people somehow took seriously. I don't know, and have no way of knowing what was what--maybe that is true.

I thought they had maintained that "Fight for Your Right" specifically was an ironic joke that people somehow took seriously, but that for "Girls" and lots of the other stuff from that era the party line has been "look, we were 18 and stupid"?

True with "Fight for Your Right"--conceived, they say in the documentary, as a parody of frat-boy mentality, but embraced as a celebration of such--but they also specifically try to distance themselves from "Girls." Maybe they've said otherwise elsewhere, I don't know.

https://slate.com/culture/2019/01/how-the-beastie-boys-made-amends-for-their-sexist-early-career.html

yes, we're agreeing with each other -- "look we were 18 and stupid" not as an excuse but as an apology

Agree with that totally. But that's not what they say in the documentary; it's "'Girls' was a parody/putdown of the stupidy being ascribed to us, it's just that no one understood that." That's different. I know it's a minor point...Adam's clear guilt over the way the band treated Kate Schellenbach came through clearly, and that was touching.

Can anyone explain this lyric in "Alive" to me?

Now here's a little something you might not like
My DJ's name is Mix Master Mike

is the implication that people don't like Mix Master Mike as a person? as a DJ? or they just don't like his name?

Is it being addressed to DJ Hurricane?

throwing a bone to Hurricane fans?

lol jinx xp

they wanted to shout him out and like rhymes with Mike

Good thing his name isn't Chuck

their competitors won't like that they have such a dope dj

^^^

"I put my turntable through a wah-wah pedal" <3

this revive reminded me about the DJ Hurricane CD i bought for $16 in 2000 and listed to once because I thought it sucked, what a waste.

why was their stance on Tibet "misguided", anyone?

and above me, I felt that way about the first BS 2000 record, which became the first thing I ever sold on ebay. Came around to liking it later.

I heard of BS2000 through "The Scrappy" on Jet Set Radio Future which I thought was badass, like some freaky version of Beastie Boys. so I was both excited and disappointed to find out there was an actual Beastie Boy on it. I remember Napstering the album and thinking it was not so exciting. turns out everything I liked about "The Scrappy" was in the remix.

I guess this really is gonna bounce around your brain for eternity, frogs.

Non sequiturs in movies/TV that have been bouncing around in your brain for eternity

lmao this is probably the 3rd or 4th time this has happened to me on ILX, I guess I have some kind of message board dementia

that said at least I can pinpoint the exact day I listened to this song last

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ZGfBWKQLk

interesting track, I like the music more than his vocals

thought the revival was connected to Jamelle Bouie's comments

I 100% agree with Jamelle, BBs begin for me with PB and peak on CYH/IC

same here, Licensed to Ill is fine but I never listen to it. honestly I think Hello Nasty is the peak but I just love the weird shit so that's just me

Mike D doing May 7 and May 10 gigs in Los Ángeles and an upcoming gig in NY. Doing gigs with his kids who have a band

https://consequence.net/2026/05/beastie-boys-mike-d-la-nyc-shows/

xp no I agree as well

I’m such a huge fan of these guys and somehow I’ve never given a full listen to either five boroughs or hot sauce committee, I really have to remedy that though I’m sure people will jump in here telling me not to bother with the former.

idk I prefer the former out of the two

check this out instead: https://www.discogs.com/release/950379-Beastie-Boys-New-York-State-Of-Mind

i haven't heard Hot Sauce but i like everything through the Mix-Up. they have an eclectic disco and that's part of the fun imo

Five Boroughs is very much one gear, but I think it is a LOT of fun. That said, my favourite era was when they'd constantly be swinging from rap to funk to punk.

My favs are Paul's Boutique and Hello Nasty, but I recently saw this video and it got me thinking I need an Ill Communication revisit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WvgGdivQzE

Hot Sauce is good. I dug it

I had ill communication with me when I moved to a new city and I didn't know anyone, and it was one of the only albums I had, and I listened to it all the time, and memorised most of the songs. i loved it so much

walk into the party with my fila fresh gear / people lookin at me like i was david koresh here

I was staying with a friend in SF and they had PB and IC on CD, I dubbed edits onto a C100 and listened to it constantly as I walked around SF for a week

Ill Communication was our goto house party cd in college, but PB was a very close second Hey Ladies, Shake Your Rump, Egg Man, Shadrach all house party dancefloor bangers

And both great hangout records too for the next day when you were hungover

Mike D (& Tamra Davis)'s stoner/surfer sons are pulling GenZ AnCo revival:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDEqAMA6fg0

Mike D's playing London in June, a mate is trying to get tix!