Does anyone know how they’re so awesome? It makes absolutely no sense, yet I’ve listened to the License to Ill album more than any other album. Heck, I’ve probably listened to it more than my 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th most listened to albums combined. I guess it helps that it was one of the first albums I ever had and that I never grew tired of it but I still don’t get it. How did these geeky looking white kids end up having a successful rap career?
A few"cites."
Because Russell Simmons is a marketing genius. He saw that the punk crowd at the time was checking out the hip-hop scene, so he found a group that would fuse the two. You really can’t give the man enough credit for making hip hop into what it is today.
They’re so impressive because they “bust mad rhymes with an 80% success rate.”
The marketing has nothing to do with it. It may be relevant to sales but not why I’ve listened to Ill Communication probably two or three thousand times, and still bust it out pretty frequently.
I can’t speak for the humans, but dogs love them cuz they’re crazy sniffable.
Because they’ve GOT MORE RHYMES THAN PHYLLIS DILLER!
More rhymes than Abe Vigoda too.
I thought it was because of their rhymes that are rough and rhymes that are slick.
The Beastie Boys are so awesome it’s simply not fair. I have “So Whatcha Want,” “No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn,” and “Intergalactic” in heavy rotation on the iPod (or did, until some fucker stole it.)
Also “Paul Revere” and “Sabotage.” Oh, and “She’s Crafty.”
However, the OP asks why they are awesome, and it’s hard to explain. (How they were marketed explains why they’re popular, but not why they’re awesome.) The beats and rhymes are pretty good, but I think what sells them is their showmanship. They may not be the Three Tenors, but they’re completely, totally into entertaining the audience, through every medium they use. On their tracks they just throw it out there; hilarious rhymes, funky mixes, electric guitars, in whatever combination they think is cool and funny and enjoyable. That makes it cool and funny and enjoyable for the audience, too.
The sense of fun comes through in their videos, too, which more than anything else strike you as being made for the sake of trying to just makea really entertaining video, as opposed to most videos, which so often are either trying to make a point (which the Beastie Boys don’t have) or sell sexiness (which the Boys don’t have, either.)
Well said, RickJay. Not much to add; just to chime in that, for as crude and rude as they can be, they have taste. They pick excellent collaborators, focus on the groove, stick to good songcraft and construct their music with good sounds. The intro chord/riff on Sabotage is just wonderful to blast.
Because the Bad Brains was their biggest influence? This at least is the claim in the movie American Hardcore. In fact the Beastie Boys (initial BB) was imitating their heros the Bad Brains (initial BB).
Pretty funny if the Beasties were out there saying the biggest influence was from a guy named Hunting Rod. Bwahahahahaha
The Beasties might not have been the toughest kids on the block, but they knew how to kick a beat’s ass. Add some great rhymes, plenty of attitude and all the good stuff already mentioned above, and that is why the BB’s are so awesome.
i don’t believe I’ve ever heard their music. Can someone provide a link please to their very best tune, guaranteed to make me a slavish fan of theirs for life?
Thanks for enslaving me.
They were something different back in the day. Had a unique sound. I’ve always thought they were over-hyped though. I can’t stomach anything off LTI anymore but Check Your Head has some good tracks.
I think “Rump Shaker” would be a good start, off of Paul’s Boutique, I believe. It pretty much showcases what everyone here is talking about: funky beats, humorous rhymes, killer samples/sound effects…plus the Beastie Boys play their own instruments, a fact which shouldn’t be overlooked in an era where much of rap is soulless, corporate drivel made with computers.
I’ve been meaning to start a thread on how under-rated they are. They were innovators. Some of the slang that they popularized remains in hip hop mainstream through today. One of their strengths is that allow themselves to transcend genres.
Some other great songs not yet mentioned:
Hey Ladies
Shadrach
Pass the Mic
Body Movin’
The title is Shake Your Rump, but yes, that’s one of my favorites and it’s on Paul’s Boutique. (Rump Shaker is a different song from a few years later.) I think their best song has to be Paul Revere from their first album, License to Ill. It’s a fictional version of how the group met and it’s told in the style of a Western movie. It’s a great shaggy dog story. Egg Man (Paul’s Boutique) is another great, weird story and it’s built around a sample from Superfly.
If we have to be serious about what makes them good, it’s that they’re funny, they’re creative, and they always seem to enjoy what they are doing.
They had me sold that they were hip hop. They weren’t trying to jump on hip hop, they weren’t trying to prove that white boys could do hip hop, and they were accepted 100% into the hip hop community because they were real hip hop, interesting lyrics, fun story telling, hype energy, straight up B-boys!
I agree with what has been said so far, and I wanted to mention To The Five Boroughs, which is one of my favorite Beastie Boys albums. “Right Right Now Now,” “It Takes Time to Build” and “Ch-Check It Out” are some of my favorites, but the album really works as a whole. For older songs that haven’t been mentioned, I like “Sure Shot.”
Sure, consider yourself enslaved.