Beastie Boys

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BEASTIE BOYS

Formed: 1981, New York, New York

Members: Michael Diamond/Mike D, lead rapper, drums (born New York, New York, 20 November 1965); Adam Horovitz/King Ad-Rock, lead rapper, guitar (born New York, New York, 31 October 1966); Adam Yauch/MCA, lead rapper, bass (born Brooklyn, New York, 15 August 1967).

Genre: Rap, Alternative Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Ill Communication (1994)

Hits songs since 1990: "So What'cha Want," "Sabotage"

The Beastie Boys proved to be the most unlikely force in pop culture twice in their relatively sprawling career. Originally, they were the first white rap group of note, and for a period, regardless of their race, the most popular and controversial. The second time around, they reinvented themselves as the soul of genre-bending mid-1990s pop. Their chart presence seemed all but depleted at the start of the 1990s, the result of a backlash against their explosive popularity and drunken frat boy antics. Then seemingly out of nowhere, they re-emerged as a more sensitive and organic band with the release of their third album, Check Your Head (1992). They brought together an audience that liked hip-hop just as much as rock, and dabbled in disco kitsch to kick-start the 1990s fascination with the 1970s. This potent mixture made the group party favorites once again, but with a new social conscience that brought politics to the mainstream in an otherwise apathetic decade.

Rock to Rap to Riches

The Beastie Boys grew up in middle-class New York families, and like other kids of their age and class, they immersed themselves in the city's eclectic underground music scene. Diamond and Yauch formed the Beastie Boys as a hardcore punk band in 1981, and released Polly Wog Stew (1982) before Horovitz joined the band the following year. Exhibiting an early knack for absorbing influences, the band released the rap-inflected Cooky Puss in 1983, which caused a minor stir in the downtown scene. As a result, the band decided to shift gears and concentrate on the hip-hop sound. They attracted the attention of Def Jam Records founder Rick Rubin, who signed them to the label and produced their first notable single, "She's on It" (1985). The single solidified their high-concept sound and image: prankster rappers, who combined the beats and rhyming of hip-hop with the heavy metal guitars of white suburbia.

After tour stints opening for Madonna and Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys were unleashed on an unsuspecting mainstream with the release of Licensed to Ill (1986), which quickly became the best-selling album in rap history. The record features witty raps that satirize frat boys and B-boys alike, all set to Rubin's hard-rocking beats. Sales were driven largely by the single "Fight for Your Right (to Party)," a knuckleheaded anthem driven by crude raps and blaring guitars. The irony of their music was largely lost on their audience, who simply found it great to get drunk and party to. The Beastie Boys responded by becoming the kind of people they set out to mock, mounting a tour that celebrated rock star excess and gross behavior. They were attacked from all sides, accused of demeaning women, corrupting youth, and lampooning black culture. By the time the tour ended, the band was burned out, and retreated from public view.

The New Style

Over the next two years, the group seemed to further self-destruct; in actuality, they began laying the groundwork for their return to mass appeal. First, they split with Def Jam after a feud with Rubin. Then they signed to Capitol Records and released Paul's Boutique (1989), a sprawling album built on the inventive sampling strategy of their new production team, the Dust Brothers. Their fan base balked at the album's sophisticated collage of old-school funk and psychedelia, and the more subtle (but no less comic) raps, which lacked the shock value of Licensed to Ill. The album failed commercially, but its sonic template proved to be wildly influential—the Dust Brothers went on to produce best-selling albums for Beck, White Zombie, and the Rolling Stones.

In 1992 the Beastie Boys returned to prominence with Check Your Head, a loose and diverse album that saw them combining the wild sampling of Paul's Boutique with live instrumentation. In the three years since its release, Paul's Boutique had found favor with hipsters and college radio DJs, and the Beastie Boys were suddenly hip, not merely popular. Their new image reflected their move to California, complete with 1970s-inspired clothing and a new commitment to women's rights and Buddhist spirituality. Their music was similarly inspired, running the gamut from party funk to old school rap to classic rock and hardcore punk. Check Your Head has something for everyone, all filtered through the Beastie Boys's come-one-come-all party aesthetic. This egalitarian attitude is the glue that holds together its wildly eclectic tracks; thus, the old school thump of "Pass the Mic" flows seamlessly into the Zeppelin-esque rock of "Gratitude." "So What'cha Want" emerges as the definitive track, with the fuzz-distorted Boys rapping goofily over a primal arena-rock drumbeat, and jittery scratches and horn samples providing irresistible texture. Check Your Head is at once catchy and soul stirring, and paved the way for genre-straddling hitmakers like Beck, Kid Rock, and Rage Against the Machine.

The group followed up Check Your Head with the similarly paced Ill Communication (1994). The album debuted at number one on the strength of the single "Sabotage," an infectious rock workout that features the muscular guitar and manic vocals of Ad Rock. The Spike Jonze-directed video for the song, which features the Boys mocking the testosterone-fueled cop shows of the 1970s, proved to be just as popular. The album, by comparison, feels a little too comfortable, especially after the freshness of Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head, but it is just as catchy and worthy in its own right. "Sure Shot" kicks off the album with a slinky flute sample, and includes an apology by MCA for the boorish behavior of their past: "I gotta say a little something that's long overdue / The disrespect to women has got to be through." The raps and backing tracks are more refined, deeper, and less amateurish than those on Check Your Head. They offer classic Beastie humor and weirdness on "B-Boys Makin' with the Freak Freak," and hold their own with the legendary rapper Q-Tip on the hard-bouncing "Root Down."

Spot Light: The Tibetan Freedom Concerts

Despite its classification as an angry youth movement and its punk/independent rock pedigree, the alternative music explosion of the early 1990s was strangely apolitical. The Beastie Boys attempted to correct this by raising awareness of political and social issues at their shows and through their Grand Royal magazine. Their most enduring political act came in 1996 with the massive Tibetan Freedom Concert benefit. Buddhism convert Adam "MCA" Yauch co-founded the Milarepa Fund, a charity devoted to supporting Tibetan liberation from Chinese rule, after witnessing the plight of Tibetan Buddhists firsthand while traveling in the country. The first festival, held in San Francisco on June 15 and 16, 1996, raised funds for the charity, and attracted the participation of wildly diverse acts like De La Soul, Pavement, Sonic Youth, and the Fugees. Concerts in Washington, D.C., and New York followed in subsequent years, culminating with a worldwide event that took place in Chicago, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Sydney on June 12 and 13, 1999. The concerts raised millions of dollars for the Tibetan cause and treated hundreds of thousands of music fans to the best in forward-thinking pop, rock, and hip-hop. The fifth Freedom Concert never got off the ground, but the Milarepa Fund remained active, most notably organizing the New Yorkers against Violence benefit in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Yauch continues to work closely with the organization, helping to spread their nonviolence ethos throughout the world.

The Beastie Boys spent the next few years working on side projects and touring, including a headlining stint on the fourth Lollapalooza festival. They earned a reputation as a hard-working live unit, playing their instruments and commanding the stage like true professionals, effectively erasing the memory of their mid-1980s booze-fueled antics. They released a mini-album of hardcore tunes titled Aglio e Olio (1995), and a collection of their funk-jazz instrumental tracks, The In Sound from Way Out! (1996). They expanded the operation of their record label and magazine, both named Grand Royal. In addition, MCA dedicated himself to the plight of Tibetan Monks, and organized a yearly concert event, the Tibetan Freedom Concert, to raise money and awareness. Throughout their performances, the band spoke about international events and injustice, and encouraged their fans to get involved with causes ranging from Greenpeace to the anti-death penalty movement. The band attempted to bring issues to their audience in a nondidactic way, avoiding the earth-saving earnestness associated with the bands U2 and Rage Against the Machine. In this way, their messages did not obscure the music, and they effectively chipped away at the political apathy of their audience.

In 1998 the band released their fifth album, Hello Nasty. After a split with their longtime disc jockey Hurricane, the band hired Mixmaster Mike of the techno"turntablist" crew Invisibl Scratch Piklz to refine their sound. The result is an album steeped in the electronic grooves of the 1980s, effectively returning the group to the sounds that prompted their move into hip-hop. The songs reflect this new energy, with the Boys dropping their expert rhymes over supercharged rhythms. "Intergalactic" sets the tone; the Boys's complicated three-part flow coasts on a lock-step backing track. The album evokes video games, old school style, and the giddy thrill of hearing the simple yet futuristic beats of rap for the first time. "Body Movin' " is a classic Beasties rump shaker, and "Three MC's and One DJ" proclaims their ongoing mission to rock the party with class and style. Hello Nasty may not be as outwardly manic as earlier, but it shows the Beastie Boys aging gracefully, and keeping their forward-looking souls intact.

The Beastie Boys continue to perform with integrity and enthusiasm. Despite their seemingly condemnable beginning, they have revealed themselves to be genuine artists.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Polly Wog Stew EP (Southern, 1982); Cooky Puss EP (Southern, 1983); Rock Hard EP (Def Jam, 1985); Licensed to Ill (Def Jam, 1986); Paul's Boutique (Capitol, 1989); Check Your Head (Grand Royal, 1992); Some Old Bullshit (Grand Royal, 1994); Ill Communication (Grand Royal, 1994); Aglio e Olio EP (Grand Royal, 1995); The In Sound from Way Out! (Grand Royal, 1996); Hello Nasty (Grand Royal, 1998); The Sounds of Science (Grand Royal, 1999).