The band emerged in 1986 to a chorus of bad publicity in the media where the line up of Mike D, MCA and Ad-rock would encourage audiences or anyone who would listen to Fight for your right to party. The publicity as a result got them on the front pages and intrigued interest in the band because up to this point, Hip-Hop and White people wasn't the norm.
The band started life in 1979 as a hardcore punk band, but after many personnel changes and a change in music direction saw the line up trim to down to a trio. By the mid 1980s they found themselves a mentor by the name of the legendary Rick Rubin who was a rap producer and boss of Def Jam records.
Following that meeting they set to work and the result was the first hip-hop album to top the American charts. The album was named Licensed to ill which you could describe as an unprecedented white rap set which capitalised on Americas interest in urban black music. Suddenly as a result this opened the doors for others to follow and repeat that success from the 1980s and beyond. Around the same time as the Beastie Boys was Run DMC who enjoyed similar success to the Beasties.
Crucial to the Beastie Boys success was the sampling of hard rock songs incorporated into there brand of music. None was better than the sampling of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin on the opening of the song Rhymin & Stealin. The biggest hit from the album was Fight for your right to party which saw the yelling of lyrics and the whining of Adam Horovitz's voice complement each other. Other hits followed such as Shes on it and No Sleep til Brooklyn. Suddenly the band were international and breaking down divides.
Following the success of that album, they split from Rick Rubin and teamed up with the Dust Brothers and Produced Paul's Boutique. Although commercially not a great success it was considered a industry changing album with its large array of sampling and multi layering, the album spawned the hit Hey Ladies.
Since there arrival in the 1980s the band have become resilient and now are the elder statesmen for hip-hop. The band are still going and have come a long way since there riotous arrival in 1986. Boys have to grow up at some point.
To enjoy the Beasties click on the link. Enjoy!
Fight for your right to party
No Sleep til Brooklyn
Shes on it
Hold it now, hit it
To Purchase the 1980s albums or need further information click on the album title
Licensed to ill
Paul's Boutique
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