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Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
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1992 |
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1992 |
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1986 |
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1994 |
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1992 |
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As the First White Rap Group of Any Importance, the Beastie Boys Received the
Scorn of Critics and Strident Hip-Hop Musicians, Who Accused Them of Cultural
Pirating, Especially Since They Began As a Hardcore Punk Group in 1981. But
The Beasties Weren't Pirating - They Treated Rap As Part of a Post-Punk
Musical Underground, Where the Do-It-Yourself Aesthetics of Hip-Hop and Punk
Weren't That Far Apart. Of Course, the Exaggerated B-Boy and Frat-Boy Parodies
Of Their Unexpected Hit Debut Album, Licensed to Ill, Didn't Help Their Cause.
For Much of the Mid-'80s, the Beastie Boys Were Considered As Macho Clowns,
And While Their Ambitious, Dust Brothers-Produced Second Album, Paul's
Boutique, Dismissed That Theory, It Was Ignored by Both the Public and the
Press At the Time. In Retrospect, It Was One of the First Albums to Predict
The Genre-Bending, Self-Referential Pop Kaleidoscope of '90s Pop. The Beasties
Refined Their Eclectic Approach with 1992's Check Your Head, Where They Played
Their Own Instruments. Check Your Head Brought the Beasties Back to the Top of
The Charts, and Within a Few Years, They Were Considered One of the Most
Influential and Ambitious Groups of the '90s, Cultivating a Musical Community
Not Only Through Their Music, but with Their Record Label, Grand Royal, and
Their Magazine of the Same Name.It Was Remarkable Turn of Events for a Group
That Demonstrated No Significant Musical Talent on Their First Records. All
Three Members of the Beastie Boys - Mike D (Born Mike Diamond, November 20,
1966), Mca (Born Adam Yauch, August 5, 1965), and Ad-Rock (Born Adam Horovitz,
October 31, 1967) - Came From Wealthy Middle-Class Jewish Families in New
York and Had Become Involved in the City's Punk Underground When They Were
Teenagers in the Early '80s. Diamond and Yauch Formed the Beastie Boys with
Drummer Kate Schellenbach and Guitarist John Berry in 1981, and the Group
Began Playing Underground Clubs Around New York. The Following Year, the
Beasties Released the 7" Ep Pollywog Stew on the Indie Rat Cage to Little
Attention. That Year, the Band Met Horovitz, Who Had Formed the Hardcore Group
The Young and the Useless. By Early 1983, Schellenbach and Berry Had Left the
Group - They Would Later Join Luscious Jackson and Thwig, Respectively - And
Horovitz Had Joined the Beasties. The Revamped Group Released the Rap Record
"Cookie Puss" As a 12" Single Later in 1983. Based on a Prank Phone Call the
Group Made to Carvel Ice Cream, the Single Became an Underground Hit in New
York. By Early 1984, However, They Had Abandoned Punk and Turned Their
Attention to Rap.In 1984, the Beasties Joined Forces with Producer Rick Rubin,
A Heavy Metal and Hip-Hop Fan Who Had Recently Founded Def Jam Records with
Fellow New York University Student Russell Simmons. Def Jam Officially Signed
The Beastie Boys in 1985, and That Year They Had a Hit Single From the
Soundtrack to Krush Groove with "She's on It," a Rap Track That Sampled
AC/Dc's "Back in Black" and Suggested the Approach of the Group's Forthcoming
Debut Album. The Beasties Received Their First Significant National Exposure
Later in 1985, When They Opened for Madonna on Her Virgin Tour. The Trio
Taunted the Audience with Profanity and Were Generally Poorly Received. One
Other Major Tour, As the Openers for Run-D.M.C.'S Ill-Fated Raisin' Hell Trek,
Followed Before Licensed to Ill Was Released Late in 1986. An Amalgam of
Street Beats, Metal Riffs, B-Boy Jokes, and Satire, Licensed to Ill Was
Interpreted As a Mindless, Obnoxious Party Record by Many Critics and
Conservative Action Groups, but That Didn't Stop the Album From Becoming the
Fastest-Selling Debut in Columbia Records' History, Moving Over 750,000 Copies
In Its First Six Weeks. Much of That Success Was Due to the Single "Fight for
Your Right (To Party)," Which Became a Massive Crossover Success. In Fact,
Licensed to Ill Became the Biggest-Selling Rap Album of the '80s, Which
Generated Much Criticism From Certain Hip-Hop Fans Who Believed That the
Beasties Were Merely Cultural Pirates. On the Other Side of the Coin, the
Group Was Being Attacked From the Right, Who Claimed Their Lyrics Were Violent
And Sexist and That Their Concerts - Which Featured Female Audience Members
Dancing in Go-Go Cages and a Giant Inflatable Penis, Similar to What the
Stones Used in Their Mid-'70s Concerts - Caused Even More Outrage. Throughout
Their 1987 Tour, They Were Plagued with Arrests and Lawsuits, and Were Accused
Of Inciting Crime.While Much of the Beasties' Exaggeratedly Obnoxious Behavior
Started Out As a Joke, It Became a Self-Parody by the End of 1987, So It
Wasn't a Surprise That the Group Decided to Revamp Their Sound and Image
During the Next Two Years. During 1988, They Became Involved in a Bitter
Lawsuit with Def Jam and Rick Rubin, Who Claimed He Was Responsible for the
Group's Success and Threatened to Release Outtakes As Their Second Album. The
Group Finally Broke Away by the End of the Year and Relocated to California,
Where They Signed with Capitol Records. While in California, They Met the
Production Team the Dust Brothers, and They Convinced the Duo to Use Their
Prospective Debut Album As the Basis for the Beasties' Second Album, Paul's
Boutique. Densely Layered with Interweaving Samples and Pop Culture
References, the Retro-Funk-Psychedelia of Paul's Boutique Was Entirely
Different Than Licensed to Ill, and Many Observers Weren't Quite Sure What to
Make of It. Several Publications Gave It Rave Reviews, but When It Failed to
Produce a Single Bigger Than the Number 36 "Hey Ladies," It Was Quickly
Forgotten About.Despite Its Poor Commercial Performance, Paul's Boutique
Gained a Cult Following, and Its Cut-And-Paste Sample Techniques Would Later
Be Hailed As Visionary, Especially After the Dust Brothers Altered the
Approach for Beck's Acclaimed 1996 Album, Odelay. Still, the Record Was
Declared a Disaster in the Early '90s, but That Didn't Prevent the Beasties
From Building Their Own Studio and Founding Their Own Record Label, Grand
Royal, for Their Next Record, Check Your Head. Alternating Between Old-School
Hip-Hop, Raw Amateurish Funk, and Hardcore Punk, Check Your Head Was a Less
Accomplished Than Paul's Boutique, Yet It Was Just As Diverse. Furthermore,
The Burgeoning Cult Around the Beasties Made the Album a Surprise Top 10 Hit
Upon Its Spring 1992 Release. "Jimmy James," "Pass the Mic," and "So Whatcha
Want" Were Bigger Hits on College and Alternative Rock Radio Than They Were on
Rap Radio, and the Group Suddenly Became Hip Again. Early in 1994, They
Collected Their Early Punk Recordings on the Compilation Some Old Bullshit,
Which Was Followed in June by Their Fourth Album, Ill Communication.
Essentially an Extension of Check Your Head, the Record Debuted At Number One
Upon Its Release, and the Singles "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot" Helped Send It to
Double-Platinum Status. During the Summer of 1994, They Co-Headlined the
Fourth Lollapalooza Festival with the Smashing Pumpkins. That Same Year, Grand
Royal Became a Full-Fledged Record Label As It Released Luscious Jackson's
Acclaimed Debut Album, Natural Ingredients. The Beasties' Grand Royal Magazine
Was Also Launched That Year.Over the Next Few Years, the Beasties Remained
Quiet As They Concentrated on Political Causes and Their Record Label. In
1996, They Released the Hardcore Ep Aglio E Olio and the Instrumental
Soul-Jazz and Funk Collection, the in Sound From Way Out! Also That Year, Adam
Yauch Organized a Two-Day Festival to Raise Awareness and Money About Tibet's
Plight Against the Chinese Government; The Festival Went on to Become an
Annual Event. The Beastie Boys' Long-Awaited Fifth Lp, Hello Nasty, Finally
Appeared During the Summer of 1998.