| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1312004785056680600 |
| 2 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 4 | |
| 5 | [[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Beasties_596.jpg]] |
| 6 | [[caption-width-right:349:Listen alla y'all, it's sabotage![[note]]L to R: Mike D, MCA, Ad-Rock[[/note]]]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | [floatboxright: |
| 9 | Influences: |
| 10 | +Music/{{Ramones}}, Music/TheClash, Music/BadBrains, Music/MilesDavis |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Influenced: |
| 13 | +Music/{{NWA}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/CypressHill, Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/KidRock, Music/{{Sublime}}, Music/RageAgainstTheMachine, Music/BloodhoundGang, Music/HedPE, Music/{{Korn}}, Music/LimpBizkit, Music/LinkinPark |
| 14 | ] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | -> ''Now here's a little story I've got to tell\ |
| 17 | About three bad brothers you know so well\ |
| 18 | It started way back in history\ |
| 19 | With Ad-Rock, MCA, (and me) Mike D.'' |
| 20 | -->-- "Paul Revere" |
| 21 | |
| 22 | 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 and Music/UrbanDanceSquad), 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. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Not too bad for three Jewish kids from New York City. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Initially formed as a hardcore punk band in 1979, the group changed its name to "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 Music/BadBrains, Music/DeadKennedys, Music/TheMisfits 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. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | 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 Music/RunDMC, Music/LLCoolJ, Whodini and the Timex Social Club. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | 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 RapRock song "(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. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | 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. 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. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | 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 fun GenreMashup, 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. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | Evolution continued with ''Ill Communication'' (1994), which built on the musical smorgasbord of ''Head'' and managed to return the Boys to #1 on the charts. This was mostly achieved through another massive hit single, the furious, one-chord RapRock of "Sabotage", with a Spike Jonze-directed video parodying [[TheSeventies 1970s]] cop shows. The Beasties continued touring but became more involved with charity and political activism - MCA had converted to Buddhism in the meantime, organising the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1996 and including the Beasties' first overly political/spiritual tracks, "The Update", the instrumental "Shambala" and "Bodhisattva Vow". |
| 37 | |
| 38 | 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 mix 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. |
| 39 | |
| 40 | A long hiatus followed, filled by side-projects (Mike D's Country Mike project, Ad-Rock's BS 2000), a planned tour with Music/RageAgainstTheMachine that was cancelled after Mike D was seriously injured in a biking accident and organising further Tibetan Freedom Concerts. Also, the group's label Grand Royal Records collapsed in 2001 due to mounting debt issues. Its non-Beastie Boys assets and back catalog were purchased by fans who started [=GR2=] Records. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | The first new song by the band appeared in 2003, the ProtestSong "In a World Gone Mad". The all-rap, self-produced ''To the 5 Boroughs'' (2004) followed. While it again hit #1 on the US charts, the [[NewSoundAlbum minimalist sound]], heavy old-school hip-hop influence and [[{{Anvilicious}} explicit political slant to the lyrics]] divided the fanbase. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | The Beasties then created their first all-instrumental album, ''The Mix-Up'' (2007), which continued mining the funk-, soul-, dub-, Latin- and jazz-influenced grooves that had been present on their albums since ''Head'', with additional contributions by Money Mark and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz. The band toyed with the idea of releasing a remix album with vocals by other artists, but this was dropped. The album was supported with appearances at various festivals such as Roskilde, Bestival, Electric Picnic and Southside. |
| 45 | |
| 46 | The group completed their new album, ''Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1'', with a ''Pt. 2'' due later formed of left-overs from the sessions. However, MCA had a cancerous tumour discovered in his throat and had to undergo surgery, causing the planned tour to be cancelled and the ''Hot Sauce Committee'' set delayed. ''Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1'' has been postponed indefinitely, while ''Pt. 2'' (with an almost-identical tracklist to ''Pt. 1'') was released on May 3, 2011. Additionally, a pseudo-sequel to the "Fight For Your Right" music video (featuring the first single from ''Pt. 2'', "Make Some Noise") was released the same day as the album. |
| 47 | |
| 48 | Adam "MCA" Yauch passed away on May 4, 2012, following a three-year battle with cancer. The group officially disbanded two years later. Ad-Rock and Mike D have hinted that they might still work together in the future, but not under the "Beastie Boys" name. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | In 2018, Mike & Ad-Rock released a coffee-table autobiography, ''Beastie Boys Book'', chronicling their history and also serving as an extended tribute to MCA. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | ---- |
| 53 | !!Members: |
| 54 | * MCA (Adam Yauch) - gritty baritone vocals; bass (1981-2012) |
| 55 | * Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) - boyish, yelping vocals; guitar (1982-2014) |
| 56 | * Mike D (Michael Diamond) - nasal, muted vocals "somewhere in the middle" of MCA and Ad-Rock; drums (1979-2014) |
| 57 | |
| 58 | !!!Contributing musicians: |
| 59 | * John Berry - guitar (1981-1982), left before the band became famous and was replaced by Horovitz. |
| 60 | * Kate Schellenbach - drums (1981-1984), left because she didn't fit into the new RapRock format, later played drums with Grand Royal artists Music/LusciousJackson. |
| 61 | * DJ Hurricane (Wendell Fite) - turntables, sampling (1986-1998) |
| 62 | * Mix Master Mike (Michael Schwartz) - turntables, sampling (1998-2014) |
| 63 | * Money Mark (Mark Ramos-Nishita) - keyboards, occasional vocals (1992-2014) |
| 64 | * [[Music/SuicidalTendencies AWOL (Amery Smith)]] - "[[HardcorePunk hardcore beats]]"[[note]]According to the ''Ill Communication liner notes''[[/note]] (1994-1996, plus the BS 2000 project) |
| 65 | * Eric Bobo - percussion (1994-1998) |
| 66 | * Alfredo Ortiz - percussion (2007-2014) |
| 67 | * Music/RickRubin - producer (1986) |
| 68 | * Music/TheDustBrothers - producers (1989) |
| 69 | * Mario C. (Mario Caldato Jr.) - producer, engineer (1989-1998) |
| 70 | * Music/BizMarkie (Marcel Hall) - made guest appearances on ''Check Your Head'' (singing to a Music/TedNugent sample on "The Biz Vs. The Nuge"), ''Ill Communication'', ''Hello Nasty'' (providing StudioChatter {{Piss Take Rap}}ping at the end of "Intergalactic") and ''The Sounds of Science'', as well as on tour. Surprisingly given Biz's [[HollywoodToneDeaf famous hit]], he mostly sang on key. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | !!Discography: |
| 73 | * 1982 - ''Pollywog Stew'' EP |
| 74 | * 1983 - ''Cooky Puss'' EP |
| 75 | * 1985 - ''Rock Hard'' EP (the band's first rap rock album) |
| 76 | * 1986 - ''Music/LicensedToIll'' |
| 77 | * 1989 - ''Music/PaulsBoutique'' |
| 78 | * 1992 - ''Check Your Head'' |
| 79 | * 1994 - ''Ill Communication'' |
| 80 | * 1994 - ''Some Old Bullshit'' (compilation comprising the ''Pollywog Stew'' and ''Cooky Puss'' [=EPs=]) |
| 81 | * 1995 - ''Aglio e Olio'' EP (a hardcore punk EP) |
| 82 | * 1995 - ''Root Down'' EP |
| 83 | * 1996 - ''The In Sound from Way Out!'' (compilation of instrumentals from ''Check Your Head'', ''Ill Communication'' and a few singles) |
| 84 | * 1998 - ''Hello Nasty'' |
| 85 | * 1999 - ''The Sounds of Science'' (anthology of greatest hits, B-sides and unreleased material) |
| 86 | * 2004 - ''To the 5 Boroughs'' |
| 87 | * 2007 - ''The Mix-Up'' |
| 88 | * 2011 - ''Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2'' |
| 89 | * TBA - ''Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1'' |
| 90 | |
| 91 | ---- |
| 92 | !!Let me clear my tropes!!! |
| 93 | * AcronymAndAbbreviationOverload: One of the verses of "An Open Letter to New York" contains this |
| 94 | --> '''Ad-Rock''': The L.I.E., the B.Q.E., Hippies at the band shell with the LSD Get my BVD's from VIM You know I'm reppin' Manhattan the best I can |
| 95 | * TheAdjectivalSuperhero: "The King Ad-Rock." |
| 96 | * AlbumTitleDrop: |
| 97 | ** ''Paul's Boutique'': The commercial snippet in "Ask For Janice". |
| 98 | ** ''Ill Communication'': MCA mentions it near the end of "Sure Shot", and Q-Tip repeatedly states it in "Get It Together". |
| 99 | --->"Like Ma Bell, I got the ill communication" |
| 100 | ** ''Hello Nasty'': In "Putting Shame In Your Game". (There's also a [[CoverDrop reference]] to the cover art in "Body Movin'", where MCA raps about being "packed like sardines in a tin".) |
| 101 | * AlternativeHipHop |
| 102 | * AlternativeRock |
| 103 | * AmbiguousTimePeriod: "Paul Revere" is basically a [[TheWestern Western]] that Beastie Boys happen to inhabit, 80s rap slang, wacky names, baseball hats and all. |
| 104 | * BadBadActing: The beginning of the "Fight for Your Right" music video. |
| 105 | * BadToTheBone: "Sabotage" has been heard in every other movie since it came out, including not one, not two, but ''three'' Creator/ChrisPine movies: the 2009 ''[[Film/StarTrek2009 Star Trek]]'' reboot, the [[Film/StarTrekBeyond third installment]] of the ensuing trilogy, and ''Film/ThisMeansWar2012''. |
| 106 | * BarbaricBully: The Beasties' image during the ''Music/LicensedToIll'' era, heavily influenced by the {{Heel}} trope in ProfessionalWrestling (Rick Rubin, their producer at the time, was a huge WWE fan). |
| 107 | * BigApplesauce: It ''is'' their hometown, after all, and gets lots of {{Shout Out}}s ("Ask for Janice", "B-Boy Bouillabaisse", "An Open Letter to NYC"). Even when the Beasties were hiding in California and perfecting their GenreBusting sound during TheNineties, they never let people forget which city they represented. |
| 108 | * BitingTheHandHumor: Ad-Rock said that "Sabotage" is a tongue-in-cheek rant at their producer, Mario Caldato Jr, who insisted that Beastie Boys finish ''Ill Communication'' as quickly as possible, even at the expense of creativity. |
| 109 | * BoastfulRap: Taken to hilarious extremes. "I got more hits than Sadaharu Oh!" anyone? How about "I got more action than my man Creator/JohnWoo / And I got mad hits like I was Rod Carew"? |
| 110 | * BookEnds: ''Paul's Boutique'' slowly fades in with "To All The Girls"; then at the end of "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" that track is reprised and fades out. |
| 111 | ** Bookend-within-a-bookend: In "B-Boy Bouillabaisse", the second vignette "Get On The Mic" and the next-to-last vignette "Mike On The Mic" are two parts of the same recording. |
| 112 | * BrokenRecord: "Body Movin'" (the Fatboy Slim remix) |
| 113 | --> ''Body, body, body, body, body, body, body, body...'' |
| 114 | ** "Intergalactic" fits this, as well. |
| 115 | --> ''Another dimension, another dimension, another dimension, another dimension...'' |
| 116 | * BrooklynRage: MCA. |
| 117 | * CarHoodSliding: A shot of one of the characters performing a hood slide is featured in the music video to "Sabotage", as expected since the whole video is a [[TheSeventies 70s]] cop show parody. |
| 118 | * CerebusSyndrome: ''Paul's Boutique'' dropped the frat gimmick (but still included cartoonishly over-the-top violence), and ''Check Your Head'' dropped their trademark cartoony attitude altogether (without sacrificing the smartass humor). |
| 119 | ** ''To the 5 Boroughs'', recorded in the wake of 9/11, has a political bent which its predecessors lacked and addresses the tragedy in songs such as "An Open Letter to NYC." |
| 120 | * CharacterAsHimself: The music video for "Sabotage" features Sir Stewart Wallace (played by MCA) guest-starring as himself. |
| 121 | * ClusterFBomb: While they're not as bad as a lot of other rappers, several of their albums have been salty enough to earn the Parental Advisory warning (''Ill Communication'', for example). |
| 122 | * CoverVersion: A HardcorePunk take on Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone's "Time for Livin'" appears on ''Check Your Head'', and earlier on the same album there's the jokey "The Biz vs. [[Music/TedNugent The Nuge]]", which samples Ted Nugent's "Home Bound" and has Music/BizMarkie [[WithLyrics sing new lyrics]]. |
| 123 | * CowboyEpisode: "Paul Revere" on ''Licensed to Ill.'' More obscurely, in 1999, a full-length LP called ''Country Mike's Greatest Hits,'' recorded as a Christmas present for friends and family. |
| 124 | * CreditsGag: On ''Ill Communication'', Biz Markie appears "courtesy of his own damn self". |
| 125 | * CurseCutShort: The final verse of "Brass Monkey," cut off by the chorus: |
| 126 | --> ''We got the bottle, you got the cup,'' |
| 127 | --> ''Come on everybody let's get fffffffff...'' |
| 128 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The early HardcorePunk material, as compiled on ''Some Old Bullshit''. Even "Cooky Puss", considered 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; other than [[{{sampling}} samples]] of some of their earlier songs, the group's voices are only heard in a series of crank calls to Carvel ice cream stores used as SpokenWordInMusic. |
| 129 | * {{Egging}}: An obsession of the band during the '80s which led to the tracks "Egg Raid on Mojo" and "Egg Man." |
| 130 | * {{Epic R|ocking}}apping: "B-Boy Bouillabaisse". |
| 131 | * EverythingIsAnInstrument: Keyboardist/carpenter Money Mark plays the screw gun on "Stand Together". |
| 132 | * ExternalCombustion: A car explodes on ignition in the video to "Sabotage". |
| 133 | * FakeOutOpening: "Awesome; I [[PrecisionFStrike Fuckin']] Shot That!" begins by duplicating the opening crawl from the 1983 gangster classic ''Film/{{Scarface|1983}}'': |
| 134 | -->''In May 1980, Fidel Castro opened the harbor at Mariel, Cuba with the apparent intention of letting some of his people join their relatives in the United States. Within seventy-two hours, 3,000 U.S. boats were headed for Cuba. It soon became evident that Castro was forcing the boat owners to carry back with them not only their relatives, but the dregs of his jails. Of the 125,000 refugees that landed in Florida an estimated 25,000 had criminal records.'' |
| 135 | -->''Regardless, on October 9, 2004, the Beastie Boys handed out 50 Hi8 cameras to gung-ho audience members. Although none of these camera operators were trained, they captured the show with love and passion.'' |
| 136 | * FightFurYourRightToParty: TropeNamer; the trope name is a {{pun}} on "Fight for Your Right". |
| 137 | * FreezeFrameIntroduction: The badass cops in the music video for [[https://youtu.be/z5rRZdiu1UE?t=78 Sabotage]] are introduced with a still frame and their character names. |
| 138 | * FunWithAcronyms: They claimed in an interview that "Beastie" actually stood for '''B'''oys '''E'''ntering '''A'''narchic '''S'''tates '''T'''owards '''I'''nternal '''E'''xcellence. |
| 139 | * GenreBusting + GenreRoulette: Hell, they became famous through a GenreShift in the first place. |
| 140 | * GriefSong: "Instant Death" about Adrock's mother's passing away. |
| 141 | ** Arguably "An Open Letter to NYC" as well, as the lyrics involve New York City recovering and staying strong after the 9/11 attacks. |
| 142 | * HardcorePunk: Their early work before signing to Def Jam records and producing ''Licensed To Ill''. Occasionally return to this sound in some of their songs, particularly on ''Check Your Head'' and ''Ill Communication.'' |
| 143 | * HipHop |
| 144 | * ImageSong: "Rhymin' and Stealin" could qualify, being a sarcastic commentary of their embrace of hip-hop. |
| 145 | * {{Infomercial}}: They created a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gDSwZhvu_c faux infomercial]] to promote ''Hello Nasty''. |
| 146 | * IndecipherableLyrics: The "Bouillabaisse" vignette "A Year And A Day". The only lyrics that are on the ''Paul's Boutique'' liner notes are "He goes by the name of Disco Dave" ...and that's at the end. |
| 147 | ** Many of the vocals on ''Check Your Head'' and ''Ill Communication'' are distorted beyond all recognition. [[note]]They were recorded on Radio Shack karaoke mics that Mario C. found. The Beasties say that this gave them the freedom to experiment without being self-conscious.[[/note]] |
| 148 | * LampshadedDoubleEntendre: From "Paul Revere": |
| 149 | -->'''Ad-Rock''': I said "I'll ride with you if you can get me to the border / The sheriff's after me for what I did to his daughter / I did it like this, I did it like that / [[NoodleImplements I did it with a Wiffleball bat]]." |
| 150 | * LongestSongGoesLast: |
| 151 | ** ''Paul's Boutique'' closes with "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" (12:33). |
| 152 | * LongRunnerLineUp: |
| 153 | ** MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D from 1982 to 2012--''three decades'', making this one of the longest-running lineups ''in all of rap.'' |
| 154 | ** Mix Master Mike was their DJ from 1998 to 2014 (16 years). |
| 155 | * LyricalDissonance: "Car Thief", from ''Paul's Boutique'' is based chiefly on a mellow, slightly psychedelic sample from the funk song "Rien Ne Va Plus" by Funk Factory. The first verse begins by describing smashing somebody's face with a cue ball, moving on to general destruction, and then extensive discussions on what substances the Beasties enjoy smoking. |
| 156 | ** Despite its upbeat melody and admittedly silly lyrical content, "Girls" is for the most part a song about Ad-Rock's lack of success with a girl he may not really be over ("that was two years ago this May"). |
| 157 | * MetalScream: "[[BigWhy WWWHHHHHHYYYYYYY!!!]]" from "Sabotage". In fact, most of that song is screamed, yelled or shouted. |
| 158 | * MidVidSkit: "Triple Trouble" opens with a TalkyBookend where the group insults Sasquatch, whom had held them captive for a year. Sasquatch, enraged, looks up their location on Google Maps and runs to their location. After the first two verses, there's a skit wherein Sasquatch attacks and reabducts the band. |
| 159 | * MonkeyMoralityPose: Sneakily referenced on [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B8hyz_nsYAw/T6XTTMb1a3I/AAAAAAAACqs/XMFSTZG8t3g/s1600/beastie_boys_check_your_head.jpg the cover]] of ''Check Your Head''. Ad-Rock is wearing sunglasses, MCA is covering his mouth, and Mike D is wearing a woolen cap. |
| 160 | * {{Nerdcore}}: Not exactly, but they've referenced ''Franchise/StarTrek'', amongst other Sci-Fi films, in their raps. The reboot films returned the favor, with "Sabotage" featured prominently in ''Film/StarTrek2009'' and ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' briefly featuring the Music/FatboySlim remix of "Body Movin'". And then "Sabotage" returned in ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' as part of a plot point. |
| 161 | * NeverTrustATitle: "Paul Revere" does not concern the historical figure, nor his historic ride. It's the name of Ad-Rock's horse, who [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse disappears after he's introduced.]] |
| 162 | * NewSoundAlbum: Just about all of their albums, really. But ''Paul’s Boutique'', ''Check Your Head'' and ''Hello Nasty'' are the most obvious examples. |
| 163 | * NotHyperbole: "The Sounds Of Science". They start with "Now here we go droppin' science" and then proceed to rap about actual scientists and scientific stuff. |
| 164 | * NoteFromEd: Peppered throughout the lyric sheet in ''To the 5 Boroughs''. |
| 165 | * NWordPrivileges: "Like John Holmes, the X-rated nigga". To be fair, [[Music/ATribeCalledQuest it's rapped by Q-Tip]]. |
| 166 | * OdeToIntoxication: "Car Thief" and numerous other songs elaborate on their love of drugs. |
| 167 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted twice. The post-''Ill Communication'' lineup included two Adams and two Mikes. |
| 168 | * OriginStory: "Paul Revere" tells the (imagined) story of how the trio got together. |
| 169 | * 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." |
| 170 | * ParentalHypocrisy: ""(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" has this line: |
| 171 | -->"Your pop caught you smoking and he says, 'No way!' That hypocrite smokes two packs a day!" |
| 172 | * PercussiveMaintenance: At the end of the "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" video, Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D are trying to [[{{Safecracking}} break into a safe full of money]]. Ad-Rock is turning the combination dial while listening to a stethoscope, MCA is using a jackhammer, and Mike is using a crowbar. Finally MCA just bangs his fist on the top of the safe and the door flies open. |
| 173 | * {{Pirate}}: "Rhymin' and Stealin'" is a rap song about being pirates, and it's awesome. The [[Music/LedZeppelin Zeppelin]] and [[Music/BlackSabbath Sabbath]] samples help a lot. |
| 174 | * 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." |
| 175 | * PornStache: The Beasties as mustachioed cops in the "Sabotage" video. |
| 176 | * PrecisionFStrike: |
| 177 | ** In "So Whatcha Want" and "Sabotage". |
| 178 | ** And of course it's right in the title of "Hey Fuck You". |
| 179 | ** Not to mention the IntentionallyAwkwardTitle of their concert film ''Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!'' |
| 180 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: |
| 181 | ** Best example of this would be "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", which starts out with the trope: "NO! SLEEP! TILL! (riff break) BROOKLYYYYNN!" |
| 182 | ** "YOU GOTTA FIGHT! FOR YOUR RIGHT! TO PAAAAAARTYYYYYYY!" |
| 183 | * RapRock: Once they started playing their own instruments again. |
| 184 | * RatedGForGangsta: Intentionally invoked, as the Beasties began to feel ashamed of their past reputation and did their best to move beyond it. |
| 185 | * RatedMForManly: Their early image. |
| 186 | * RearrangeTheSong: The charity compilation ''No Alternative'' included a very different live take on "The New Style": Most of the lyrics remained the same, but the music was entirely different (based around a sample of Juice's "Catch A Groove"), and the vocals were done more in the style of ''Check Your Head''. |
| 187 | * ReferenceOverdosed: For example, [[http://www.avclub.com/article/electric-like-dick-hyman-170-beastie-boys-referenc-55360 this article]] covers '''170''' {{Shout Out}}s over their discography. |
| 188 | * {{Retraux}}: "Intergalactic". It's a callback to the early days of rap when it was about coming up with the best possible rhymes. |
| 189 | * RepurposedPopSong: {{Averted|Trope}}. They never licensed their music(and the few times any of their songs were used illegally, they quickly shut down the offenders), and MCA was smart enough about this that he explicitly stated in his will that his music may never be used for commercial purposes. Mike D and Ad-Rock both wholeheartedly supported this statement. |
| 190 | ** Before they were widely known, a British Airways ad used a brief clip of "Beastie Revolution". It was done without permission - 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. |
| 191 | * RhymingWithItself: |
| 192 | ** "Pass the Mic". This was an accident, but they liked it enough to [[ThrowItIn keep it in]]. |
| 193 | ** In his guest appearance on "Get It Together", Q-Tip rhymes "Now & Laters" (as in the brand of hard candy) with "later", then immediately does some LampshadeHanging with the line "Fuck it, 'cause I know I didn't make it fuckin' rhyme for real". |
| 194 | * 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. |
| 195 | * RoofHopping: Done in the music video to "Sabotage". |
| 196 | * RoomDisservice: A room service boy in the video to "Sabotage" is an undercover cop. |
| 197 | * {{Sampling}}: [[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." |
| 198 | ** With ''Hot Sauce Committee Part 2'' they set out to create songs that sounded like they were based around obscure samples but weren't- the liner notes even include a list of nonexistent songs that they supposedly sampled. |
| 199 | * 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 [[note]]albeit by "bowing out" of the punk scene and reinventing themselves as rappers[[/note]]. |
| 200 | ** 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. 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". |
| 201 | * TheSeventies: "TV Cop Show" edition. The "Sabotage" video hits a whole bunch of Seventies tropes, including CowboyCop, EverybodyWasKungFuFighting, PoliceBrutality, DonutMessWithACop and PornStache - although, interestingly, [[DoesntLikeGuns no one carries firearms]], so the period's GunsAndGunplayTropes are completely averted. The closest they get is when DaChief goes AxCrazy to breach the door of a criminal hideout. |
| 202 | * SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: |
| 203 | ** ''Music/LicensedToIll'' is loaded with such references. |
| 204 | ** ''Paul's Boutique'' does it more subtly. |
| 205 | * ShapedLikeItself: In "Hold It Now, Hit It", MCA states "I come from Brooklyn 'cause that's where I'm from". |
| 206 | * ShoutOut: Everything from ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' to Dick Butkus to Steak-umm gets namechecked. And it never gets old. |
| 207 | ** Even "fine wine" gets a nod in "Body Movin'": "Like a bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pap/I'm fine like wine when I start to rap." |
| 208 | ** The short film "Fight For Your Right Revisited" (depicting a fictional day after the "Fight For Your Right" video) is practically crammed with shout outs. |
| 209 | ** ''Hello Nasty'''s title refers to their PR firm Nasty Little Man, and how its receptionist would answer the phone with "Hello, Nasty". |
| 210 | ** "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" references {{Music/Motorhead}}'s ''No Sleep 'til Hammersmith''. |
| 211 | * 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 Beastie Boys [[note]](or director Hype Williams)[[/note]]. |
| 212 | * SingerNameDrop: Frequently on ''License to Ill''--and then occasionally after. For instance, one line in "So Whatcha Want" starts with "They call me Mike D...". |
| 213 | * SixthRanger: Money Mark became this in the early nineties, and Mix Master Mike in the late nineties. |
| 214 | * StealthParody: Their early material was a parody of fratboy douchebags, especially the "attitude song" parody "Fight For Your Right". Unfortunately, lots of people missed out that part, thought they were serious and became a MisaimedFandom, and now ''Licensed to Ill'' is an OldShame for them. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Great work, morons]]. |
| 215 | ** It probably didn't help that Music/{{Madonna}} of all people had to fight to keep ''them'' on one of her late 1980's tours. When [[RefugeInAudacity Madonna has to go to bat for you]], that's saying something. |
| 216 | * StepUpToTheMicrophone: Discounting the all-instrumental jams (which arguably count as Step Up To The Instruments), some of Beastie Boys' songs have served more as spotlight for guest stars than themselves: |
| 217 | ** [[Music/ATribeCalledQuest Q-Tip]]'s guest appearance on "Get It Together", Music/{{Santigold}} on "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win", and Music/{{Nas}} on "Too Many Rappers" |
| 218 | ** Money Mark performing the lead vocals on the appropriately named "Mark on the Bus". |
| 219 | ** Eugene Gore's violin solo on "Eugene's Lament". |
| 220 | ** Brooke Williams' lead vocals on "Picture This". |
| 221 | ** Eric Bobo's drumming on "Bobo on the Corner". |
| 222 | ** Music/LeeScratchPerry on "Dr. Lee, [=PhD=]". |
| 223 | ** Biz Markie on tons of tracks, primarily the live cover of "[[Music/EltonJohn Bennie and the Jets]]" |
| 224 | * StrappedToABomb: One of the characters in the music video for "Sabotage" gets taped and tied to a bomb. |
| 225 | * StuffyOldSongsAboutTheButtocks: "Shake Your Rump". |
| 226 | * SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: "3-Minute Rule" spoofs the CurseCutShort variant: |
| 227 | -->''People come up to me and they try to talk shit'' |
| 228 | -->''[[WhileYouWereInDiapers Man, I've been making records since you were sucking on your mother's]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice dick!]]'' |
| 229 | ** "Super Disco Breakin'" samples a line from Music/RunDMC's "Sucker M.C.'s" that actually rhymes with the preceding line and then cuts off the sample right before it gets to the end of the line to insert a non-rhyme: |
| 230 | --->Let me tell you now, that's my favorite shit |
| 231 | --->(And when I got a new rhyme I'll just say) so! |
| 232 | * TakeThat: |
| 233 | ** ''One man's ceiling is another man's floor, so get that money out yer ass, you whore!'' (from "What Comes Around") and ''Got fat bass lines like Russell Simmons steals money'' (from "B-Boys Makin' with the Freak Freak") are shots at Russell Simmons, the head of Def Jam Records who treated the Beasties so poorly they moved to Capitol. |
| 234 | ** Their diss of 3rd Bass in the last verse of "Professor Booty". |
| 235 | ** In "Alive": "[[NuMetal Goatee]] [[RapMetal Metal Rap]] Please Say 'goodnight'" |
| 236 | ** UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush got a bunch during the ''To the 5 Boroughs'' era |
| 237 | * TakeThatAudience: In "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" they brag about taking your money while on tour and having a better time than you. |
| 238 | -->''While you're at the job working nine to five'' |
| 239 | -->''The Beastie Boys at the Garden cold kickin' it live'' |
| 240 | * TeamPowerWalk: Happens at the end of the music video to "Sabotage". |
| 241 | * TokenWhite: Back in TheEighties, they were the first white rap group. Considering that they were a HardcorePunk band beforehand, when ''Licensed to Ill'' came out, people were ''still'' convinced that it was all a {{Piss Take|Rap}}. The HipHop community began to take them more seriously with ''Paul's Boutique'' onward, however... |
| 242 | * TrashLanding: In the music video to Sabotage, one of the detectives jumps on a baddie and both land on a couple of trash bags lying around. |
| 243 | * TrashTheSet: "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" includes the line, "Trashing hotels like it's going out of style." |
| 244 | * TruckDriversGearChange: A rare hip-hop variant... the riff in "Remote Control" changes keys in the last verse. |
| 245 | ** Also “Body Movin’” at around the 30 second mark, when the Beasties start the first verse. |
| 246 | * TrueCompanions: In RealLife the Beasties were as close as their albums would seem to indicate, which was especially apparent in the wake of MCA's death. |
| 247 | * UpdatedRerelease: ''Paul's Boutique'', ''Check Your Head'', ''Ill Communication'' and ''Hello Nasty'' all got this treatment, with an extra disc of [[{{BSide}} B-sides]] added to the latter three and a commentary track added to ''Paul's Boutique.'' |
| 248 | * UseYourHead: In the "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" video, the three guys are trying to break into the safe at the club they're performing at; they fail to open it until MCA hits it with the top of his head. |
| 249 | * VocalTagTeam: Of the "two or more" variety. |
| 250 | ** MCA: The lowest-pitched of the three, with a raspy voice. |
| 251 | ** Mike D: Higher-pitched, with a slightly nasal tone. |
| 252 | ** Ad-Rock: The highest-pitched of the three, with an even more nasal tone(as an example, he sings the lead vocal on "Sabotage"). |
| 253 | * WallOfText: The liner notes to ''Paul's Boutique'' and ''Hello Nasty'' print the lyrics like this, combined with AllLowercaseLetters and NoPunctuationPeriod, and also little indication of where a song starts and begins.(''Paul's'' uses pictures of fish to indicate where certain songs begin, but you're on your own with ''Hello Nasty''.) Also, several of the lyrics are ''intentionally'' printed wrong. |
| 254 | ** ''Beastie Boys Book'' concludes with 2 "mixtape" lists that one would need a magnifying glass to read. |
| 255 | * WhileYouWereInDiapers: MCA's boast in "3-Minute Rule" and the single version of "Too Many Rappers." It's a little more believable in the latter (written in his mid-40s) than the former (early 20s). |
| 256 | * WildTeenParty: The video for "Fight For Your Right". |
| 257 | * WorldOfHam: Their discography. After all they are a band with three LargeHam rappers. |
| 258 | * WordSaladLyrics: Beastie Boys songs that don't fit this are the exception rather than the rule. |
| 259 | |
| 260 | ---- |
| 261 | ->''Okay, that's the end of it for tonight, folks. It's good to hear y'all out there. Come back next week; have some sheets for ya. Remember, on your way home..... if you're drivin', don't drink, and if ya drink, don't drive.'' |
| 262 |
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