# what do Black People think of the Beastie Boys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599 "2004-10-11T08:26:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/1 "2004-10-11T08:26:31Z")
I was thinking about this recently - next to LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys are probably the longest-standing rap artists out there, having sustained a now 20-year career while remaining relevant and authentic. But what do black people think of the Beastie Boys? I’m sure that there’s been stigma because they’re white, and a bit experimental within the confines of mainstream hip hop (incorporating bossa nova, dub, expressing their roots with hardcore freakouts and meandering rare groove workouts at times), and frankly a bit goofy, jokey, and corny at times. Yet, the Beasties are about as authentic as it gets in hip hop; they were a part of the culture before most current rap artists were even fans, and they’ve retained the spirit of hip hop, relying on analogue beat boxes, crusty breakbeats, and their record collections while the industry has moved on to souless keyboards. If anything, they should get the most respect. But what do Black People think of them? ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/2 "2004-10-11T09:40:58Z")
I would venture that some would like it and some not. Speaking as a white person, I think they are extremely over-rated. Every cd has maybe one or two songs which are listenable. But I am white, so you don’t want to know, right? :wally ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/3 "2004-10-11T09:52:13Z")
Black people do not have a hive mind. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/4 "2004-10-11T10:20:15Z")
This is purely anecdotal, but a couple of friends of mine thought they were funny, had some decent beats, etc., but didn’t have much opinion other than that. So I asked them straight up if they thought they were ripping off black artists. One of them laughed and said “…and that makes them different from other white artists HOW?”… ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/5 "2004-10-11T10:29:24Z")
Not only do they not have a hive mind, they don’t own the concept of “hiphop.” Which is more racist: allowing a musical development to spread and generate new followers, regardless of their race? Or white people refusing to perform “black music,” and a segregation of styles? That concept is far scarier than the eternal logrolling of musical influences. Also, _Ill Communication_ is in my lifetime top ten or fifteen albums; it’s singularly brilliant from beginning to end. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/6 "2004-10-11T11:06:45Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > So I asked them straight up if they thought they were ripping off black artists. One of them laughed and said “…and that makes them different from other white artists HOW?”… Who were they ripping off? As **Freejooky** correctly notes, they’ve been around longer than almost anybody going today. They didn’t invent the genre, but that doesn’t mean they ripped their style off from anybody. ---
**Author:** ![cryptic\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@cryptic\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cryptic_j)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/7 "2004-10-11T13:48:28Z")
Doesn’t all modern music orginate someway down the line from black artists??? The Beatles started off with Rock’n’Roll - - but that doesn’t mean that something like “Help!” or “Elenor Rigby” was a rip-off of black music… I’ve never been a fan of the Beasty Boys - and I’m white… (so yeah you didn’t want my opinion) - - but I also make hip-hop music - - I have respect for the Beasty boys because they do what they do… which I think is what Hip-Hop is about… and anyone can do that I think… Of any race… sorry, I got a bit deep there… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/8 "2004-10-11T14:02:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Who were they ripping off? As **Freejooky** correctly notes, they’ve been around longer than almost anybody going today. They didn’t invent the genre, but that doesn’t mean they ripped their style off from anybody. He was laughing when he said it, and I believe he was referring to the traditional influence of “black” music on “white” music, not making a direct accusation of specific thievery. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Sayid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jack\_Sayid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Sayid)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/9 "2004-10-11T16:16:38Z")
Considering that they get virtually no airplay on Hip Hop radio stations, not much. Despite their heavy Hip Hop elements, the Beastie Boys are still very much in the predominately white, Alternative Rock arena. Having said that, I still think _Paul’s Boutique_ is the best Hip Hop album of all-time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/10 "2004-10-11T20:17:17Z")
> [@cryptic\_j](#): > > Doesn’t all modern music orginate someway down the line from black artists??? Country? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/11 "2004-10-11T20:24:10Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Country? Eh, I guess you could argue that country and the blues are both folk music, so… I don’t know. It’s not like any black leaders are going to try and claim credit for country anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/12 "2004-10-11T20:24:18Z")
Death metal bears almost no resemblance to the blues structure. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/13 "2004-10-11T20:39:10Z")
I can assure you that many (if not most) urban hiphop fans know Beastie Boys for what that are and always have been: a parody of hiphop. Sometimes the parody is good and people enjoy it, sometimes it is bad and that really reeks. But certainly not generally considered to be a “straight” hiphop group. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/14 "2004-10-11T20:44:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Eh, I guess you could argue that country and the blues are both folk music, so… I don’t know. It’s not like any black leaders are going to try and claim credit for country anyway. 😉 Every culture on the planet has its own folk music. Blacks can’t have started _all_ of them. > [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Death metal bears almost no resemblance to the blues structure. Maybe not, but you can draw a direct evolutionary line from death metal back through heavy metal, through rock, and straight back to the blues. (Yeah, I’m sure I’m leaving out a couple steps.) What about electronica? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/15 "2004-10-11T21:09:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Every culture on the planet has its own folk music. Blacks can’t have started _all_ of them. That’s completely true. There is a real connection between the blues and country, but it might be European music rather than African. I’m not saying country IS descended from black music so much as I’m wondering if you could make the argument. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/16 "2004-10-11T21:15:10Z")
To veer totally off-topic, I always was of the opinion that metal actually is far more similar to classical music than to blues. Both use lots of scales and are quite patterned and kind of mathematical, wouldn’t you agree? And BTW, to say that black people invented all forms of music is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/17 "2004-10-11T21:24:03Z")
> [@Jack Sayid](#): > > Considering that they get virtually no airplay on Hip Hop radio stations, not much. It has always kind of irked me that whenever the Beastie Boys come out with a new rap record it gets played all over the “new rock” stations and isn’t even mentioned on the hip-hop stations. Same as how Eminem (never realized how weird that name was until I tried to type it and then said it outloud a few times) will occasionally get played on a new rock station but you will never hear, say, Lenny Kravitz on a hip-hop station. It’s almost like a triple standard. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/18 "2004-10-11T21:28:19Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > To veer totally off-topic, I always was of the opinion that metal actually is far more similar to classical music than to blues. Both use lots of scales and are quite patterned and kind of mathematical, wouldn’t you agree? And BTW, to say that black people invented all forms of music is just silly. I’ve noticed that a lot of the super-heavy death metal types (Six Feet Under, Dimu Borgir, Cradle of Filth maybe?) will try to “legitimize” themselves by associating themselves with classical music. That way when people say that their music is just a bunch of noise they can come back saying that they took X number of years of classical guitar lessons and their favorite musician is Mozart, and then proceed to play a bunch of noise ;). ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/19 "2004-10-11T21:31:16Z")
An anecdote: Once upon a time (early 90’s or so) some friends and I were hanging out, skateboarding in a friends apartment complex parking lot. The car doors were open and we were blasting Ill Communication, which was brand new about this time. A man came out of his building (I’ll mention he was darker skinned only in relevance to the OP) and came over to ask us what we were jamming to. “Oh, it’s the new Beastie Boys” He didn’t say anything for the duration of the track that was playing. Then, “Are they white?” Not with any negative inflections, just out of honest curiosity. “Ahhhh…Yeah…They are” Again, no reply for the rest of the next track. A smile crept across his face…slowly… “Man, that’s some dope shit.” With that he went back inside. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599/20 "2004-10-11T21:44:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s completely true. There is a real connection between the blues and country, but it might be European music rather than African. I’m not saying country IS descended from black music so much as I’m wondering if you could make the argument. Possibly, although it’s my understanding that country was influenced primarily by Irish folk. I could be totally wrong about that, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-black-people-think-of-the-beastie-boys/268599.md?page=2)