History Music / BeastieBoys

+Music/TheClash, Music/BadBrains, Music/MilesDavis

Beastie Boys were a famous rap trio that was around from 1979 to 2014, enjoying critical and commercial success throughout their career, helping invent and popularize RapRock (alongside Music/RunDMC), playing an important role in the popularization of hip-hop as a whole (partly by being white), being one of the few rap groups whose members play instruments, being one of the main influences on AlternativeRock before they even actively tried to court the genre's fans with their later work, and being the first white rap group to gain massive success.

+Music/{{NWA}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/CypressHill, Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/KidRock, Music/{{Sublime}}, Music/RageAgainstTheMachine, Music/HedPE, Music/{{Korn}}, Music/LimpBizkit, Music/LinkinPark

Burgeoning success or not, Beastie Boys were still undoubtedly a TokenWhite among TheEighties rap scene. However, they sidestepped any problem of credibility within the rap community by aiming their music directly at an audience of rock fans that probably didn't really care about rap. Their debut album, ''Music/LicensedToIll'' (1986), relied on a simple recipe of pounding beats, loud guitars, punk riffs, Music/LedZeppelin samples and hilariously over-the-top lyrics full of Bacchanalian excess, guns, drugs, alcohol abuse and tons of {{boast|fulRap}}ing about the Boys' prowess with the ladies and similar matters. ''Ill'' sailed straight to #1 on the US charts, becoming the first rap LP to do so, attracted predictable whining from people who didn't understand that it was all an elaborate joke, sold over 10 million copies and produced a massive hit single: the goofy PunkRap "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)", a parody of "attitude songs" with guitars by Kerry King from Music/{{Slayer}}, accompanied by a video depicting the Boys crashing a dorky party and making all hell break loose.

* PunkRap: "Fight For Your Right", "Time For Livin'" and "Sabotage".

The Beastie Boys were a famous rap trio that was around from 1979 to 2014, enjoying critical and commercial success throughout their career, helping invent and popularize RapRock (alongside Music/RunDMC), playing an important role in the popularization of hip-hop as a whole (partly by being white), being one of the few rap groups whose members play instruments, being one of the main influences on AlternativeRock before they even actively tried to court the genre's fans with their later work, and being the first white rap group to gain massive success.

Initially formed as a hardcore punk band in 1979, the group changed its name to "The Beastie Boys" in 1981. Its initial line-up had Michael "Mike D" Diamond on vocals, John Berry on guitar, Adam "MCA" Yauch on bass and Kate Schellenbach on drums. Supporting such famous bands as Bad Brains, Music/DeadKennedys, The Misfits and Reagan Youth, the band recorded its first hardcore EP, ''Pollywog Stew'' in 1982. Berry left in 1983, being replaced by Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, and the group recorded its first rap song, "Cooky Puss". Gradually, they created their specific style, quickly switching between rapping, shouting and line-trading.

The now-rap-oriented Beastie Boys were signed to Def Jam in 1984. Schellenbach left, Rick Rubin took over as producer and the classic line-up of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock became permanent. A few singles followed, such as a contribution to the ''Film/KrushGroove'' soundtrack named "She's on It", "Hold It Now, Hit It" and the double A-side "Paul Revere/The New Style", along with opening spots for Music/PublicImageLtd, Music/{{Madonna}} and a joint tour with Run DMC, Music/LLCoolJ, Whodini and the Timex Social Club.

Burgeoning success or not, the Beastie Boys were still undoubtedly a TokenWhite among TheEighties rap scene. However, they sidestepped any problem of credibility within the rap community by aiming their music directly at an audience of rock fans that probably didn't really care about rap. Their debut album, ''Music/LicensedToIll'' (1986), relied on a simple recipe of pounding beats, loud guitars, punk riffs, Music/LedZeppelin samples and hilariously over-the-top lyrics full of Bacchanalian excess, guns, drugs, alcohol abuse and tons of {{boast|fulRap}}ing about the Boys' prowess with the ladies and similar matters. ''Ill'' sailed straight to #1 on the US charts, becoming the first rap LP to do so, attracted predictable whining from people who didn't understand that it was all an elaborate joke, sold over 10 million copies and produced a massive hit single: the goofy PunkRap "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)", a parody of "attitude songs" with guitars by Kerry King from Music/{{Slayer}}, accompanied by a video depicting the Boys crashing a dorky party and making all hell break loose.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: "Paul Revere" is basically a [[TheWestern Western]] that the Beastie Boys happen to inhabit, 80s rap slang, wacky names, baseball hats and all.
* BadBadActing: The beginning of the "Fight For Your Right" music video.

* BitingTheHandHumor: Ad-Rock said that "Sabotage" is a tongue-in-cheek rant at their producer, Mario Caldato Jr, who insisted that the Beastie Boys finish ''Ill Communication'' as quickly as possible, even at the expense of creativity.

** Arguably "An Open Letter To NYC" as well, as the lyrics involve New York City recovering and staying strong after the 9/11 attacks.

* ParentalHypocrisy: ""(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" has this line:

* PornStash: "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)" also has the lines: "Man, living at home is such a drag / Now your mom threw away your best porno mag."

** Before they were widely known, a British Airways ad used a brief clip of "Beastie Revolution". It was done without permission - the Beastie Boys sued, won and used some of the money to buy the drum machine heard on ''Licensed To Ill'' and other Def Jam releases from around that time.

* RockstarSong: "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", about touring the country and being good at it. "Fight For Your Right To Party" is a mockery of this.

** In context, the lyric "got an A from Moe Dee for sticking to themes" from "Intergalactic". Kool Moe Dee famously included "rap report cards" in the liner notes to two of his albums, in which he judged his contemporaries on specific categories and then gave them an overall grade. The Beastie Boys were given a C overall, the lowest rating he gave out, but they did in fact get a 10 out of 10 for "sticking to themes".

* SignatureStyle: Shooting some of their music videos (ex: "Shake Your Rump") with fisheye lenses. Today, it's become a bit of a DeadHorseTrope to the point where anyone who utilizes the technique is more likely than not homaging the Beastie Boys [[note]](or director Hype Williams)[[/note]].

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Discounting the all-instrumental jams (which arguably count as Step Up To The Instruments), some of the Beastie Boys' songs have served more as spotlight for guest stars than themselves:

** The ''Beastie Boys Book'' concludes with 2 "mixtape" lists that one would need a magnifying glass to read.

In the resulting tour, the Boys did all they could to live up to their self-imposed MemeticBadass status, trashing hotel rooms, attracting lawsuits and arrests (including a gig in Liverpool where Ad-Rock was arrested after only 10 minutes) and having a set that included female members of the audience dancing in cages and giant inflatable motorized penises. In the aftermath, the Beasties signed to Creator/CapitolRecords and set to work with producer duo The Dust Brothers on their next album, which would be a [[NewSoundAlbum change of pace]] towards more funky, sample-heavy material. The result was ''Music/PaulsBoutique'' (1989), routinely considered their masterpiece of {{Sampling}} as art - nearly 105 songs were sampled, from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul%27s_Boutique sources as varied as]] Music/TheBeatles, hip-hop, funk and soul tracks, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/IsaacHayes, Music/TheRamones, the Film/{{Jaws}} theme, the "Shower Theme" from Film/{{Psycho}} and others, with the result being 15 catchy, diverse tracks ranging from funky hip-hop to rap-rock ("Johnny Ryall", "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun"). While not matching ''Ill'''s monumental commercial impact, it did sell well enough and drew critical acclaim where the band was previously dismissed as {{One Hit Wonder}}s. It's still considered one of the best hip-hop and alternative music albums ever made, and it arguably saved the Beasties from becoming the OneHitWonder that ''Licensed to Ill'' had suggested they would be.

* PowerWalk: Happens at the end of the music video to "Sabotage".

One of the tracks on ''Boutique'', "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun", featured live instrumentation, with MCA on bass and Ad-Rock on guitar. Their follow-up album, ''Check Your Head'' (1992), saw the Boys pick up their instruments again (Mike D on drums, Ad-Rock on guitar, MCA on bass), accompanied by Mark "Money Mark" Ramos-Nishita on keyboards and longtime collaborator Mario "Mario C." Caldato Jr. as engineer and producer. This was another NewSoundAlbum, seeing the Beasties engage in a game of musical MixAndMatch, putting together hip-hop with a ton of samples (including the one they're most proud of, one from "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" by Music/BobDylan), jazz- and funk-inspired jamming, instrumentals and a punk rock cover of "Time for Livin'" by Sly and the Family Stone. ''Head'' also marks a crucial point in the band's evolution, being the moment where they left behind their earlier over-the-top Badassery: while they would still boast from now on, they would be more blatantly humorous and not discuss [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll ingesting of every controlled substance known to man, sex, and wacky fratboy hijinks]]. They also found the time make their label Grand Royal Records an actual label (one of their first signed bands was Music/LusciousJackson, featuring their old bandmate Kate Schellenbach) and publish ''Grand Royal Magazine'', credited with coining the term "mullet" and giving the Music/SneakerPimps their name.

Adding Michael "Mix Master Mike" Schwartz as DJ and returning to New York after nearly a decade in California, The Beasties churned out ''Hello Nasty'' (1998), which added an [[TheEighties eighties]] electro-funk influence to the huge MixAndMatch of genres from ''Head'' and ''Ill'', and sneaking in some Brazilian, Latin, lounge and dub influences. This album's big hits were the Rachmaninoff-sampling "Intergalactic", "Body Movin'" and the minimalist "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Three MCs and One DJ]]". The first two had their own requisite humorous videos, "Intergalactic" being a parody of kaiju films and "Body Movin'" parodying the film ''Film/DangerDiabolik'', (famous as the last episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''). The Boys received the MTV Video Vanguard Award that year and "Intergalactic" won the VMA for Best Hip Hop Video in 1999. They used both appearances to make lengthy, political speeches about how Muslims aren't terrorists (for the former) and the debacle that was Woodstock '99 (the latter). They also took the time to appear in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Hell Is Other Robots" in 1999. However, MCA was unavailable at the time of the recording, so he was voiced by Ad-Rock.

!!!Discography:

'''Members:'''

'''Contributing musicians:'''

'''Discography:'''

The now-rap-oriented Beastie Boys were signed to Def Jam in 1984. Schellenbach left, Rick Rubin took over as producer and the classic line-up of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock became permanent. A few singles followed, such as a contribution to the ''Krush Groove'' soundtrack named "She's on It", "Hold It Now, Hit It" and the double A-side "Paul Revere/The New Style", along with opening spots for Music/PublicImageLtd, Music/{{Madonna}} and a joint tour with Run DMC, Music/LLCoolJ, Whodini and the Timex Social Club.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The early HardcorePunk material, as compiled on ''Some Old Bullshit''. Even "Cooky Puss", their first hip-hop song, is pretty different from anything they did before or since - the music is definitely hip-hop influenced, but there's no actual rapping; the groups own voices are only heard in samples of their other songs and a series of crank calls to Carvel ice cream stores used as SpokenWordInMusic.

* SelfDeprecation: Aside from the title of the album itself being an example, the liner notes to ''Some Old Bullshit'' include a piece of hate mail dating from their hardcore punk years that, among other things, calls them "a pathetic, feeble imitation of Music/MinorThreat and The Necros". The letter may have also been included for the ItWillNeverCatchOn factor - the writer concludes by giving them the advice to "please save face and bow out of this mess as gracefully as you can", which is a bit ironic in light of how successful the group became a few years later.

* {{Sampling}} + SampledUp: [[Music/PublicEnemy Chuck D himself]] said that "the dirty secret" in the rap community back in 1989 was that "''Paul's Boutique'' had the best beats."

* MetalScream: "WWWHHHHHHYYYYYYY!!!" from "Sabotage". In fact, most of that song is screamed, yelled or shouted.

* 1994 - ''Some Old Bullshit'' (compilation comprising the ''Pollywog Stew'' and ''Cooky Puss'' EPs)

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

-> ''"The Beastie Boys fought, and possibly died, for my right to party."''
-->-- '''Mark''', ''Series/PeepShow''

--->(And when I got a new rhyme I'll just say) ''so!''

-->''Man, I've been making records since you were sucking on your mother's [[CrossesTheLineTwice dick!]]''

* ParentalFashionVeto: "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)": "Don't step out of this house if that's the clothes you're gonna wear".
* ParentalHypocrisy: ""(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" has this line: "Your pop caught you smoking and he says, "No way!" That hypocrite smokes two packs a day!"

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Best example of this would be "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", which starts out with the trope: "NO! SLEEP! TILL! (riff break) BROOKLYYYYNN!"