Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
I’m a purist. I love the idea of tradition, assuming it’s productive, safe and does not hurt anybody. When it comes to music, I cringe when I think of “sampling”. Sampling is something that is widely accepted throughout music today. But in the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s, disco, breakdance music and rap were genres that were breaking onto the scene.
Different painters during the Renaissance period painted trees. We look at those paintings today and observe “how” they painted the tree. What colors did they use? What type of brush stroke? All these characteristics play into the specific artist’s representation of what they think a tree looks like. At the end of the day, it’s still a tree, but why can’t we look at different versions of trees? Art encourages us to look at trees in many abstract ways.
The same argument can be applied to music. Until I heard the Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill, I was not an advocate of sampling.
I included this album on my list of reviews simply because I feel it was a ground-breaking album, not just for rap (or Hip Hop as some may call it) but for music in general. To be fair, the Beastie Boys also played their own instruments on many of their earlier EPs and later albums.
Produced by Rick Rubin, 1986’s Licensed to Ill was the Beastie Boys’ debut album. During a time when artists such as Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston, Robert Palmer, Billy Ocean and Madonna ruled the pop music charts, the Beastie Boys were a unique group of young guys from New York City that originally formed in 1978. By the time they released their debut album, there were very few bands in popular music that were considered part of the Rap-Rock/Alternative Hip Hop/Jazz Funk multi-genre. Originally a hard-core punk band, the Beasties made their change to more of a rap rock focus in 1985. They did not experience commercial success until the release of “Ill”.
The first song, Rhymin & Stealing begins with the famous opening drum track sampled from Led Zeppelin’s, When the Levee Breaks, which any drummer (or hard rock music fan) recognizes immediately. As the band adds multiple samples on top of their rhyming rap lyrics, you’re forced to tap your foot. Much of the band’s message on this album speaks to youth rebellion. In songs like, You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party, Girls, No Sleep till Brooklyn and Time to Get Ill, you can feel their message directly targeted to kids. Members Michael Diamond (“Mike D”), Adam Yauch (“MCA”) and Adam Horovitz (“Ad-Rock”) were kids at the time, or close to it, all in their early twenties. Along with their loud, rude and aggressive lyrics, their mixture of drum and electronic beats mold perfectly with their choice of samples and original music.
In The New Style, despite all the sampling, record scratching and change of direction in the beat, the song still holds the beat/rhythm of a click track. Zeppelin is once again sampled in She’s Crafty, where the boys yell rhyming rap lyrics about a woman they love and hate at the very same time. This time, they use Zeppelin’s The Ocean opening riff, which plays well with their aggression. As a listener, you want to hear what else they can accomplish.
If you are a fan of present-day Hip Hop, Licensed to Ill may sound very dated to you. Despite their continuous success with later albums, “Licensed” is definitely raw. That’s what makes it so great. The rapping style is aggressive, loud, rude and somewhat unstructured. Perhaps you could relate this album to a Jackson Pollock painting. When you look at a Pollock painting, to the untrained eye it appears to be random drips and smudges of paint. Like Pollock, the Beastie Boys were at the forefront of the abstract expressionist movement, but for rap and hip hop.
Perhaps my favorite track on this album is Paul Revere. This song was the very first rap song I memorized. I was enthralled by the lyrics and the beat, especially it’s zipping bass backbeat. I still “air scratch” to this day when I hear this. You’re forced to move. I would not anoint the lyrics in this song as “moving” or romantic. It’s a song about an outlaw who rides around with a shotgun and a beer terrorizing, womanizing and demanding respect. It is certainly creative in some ways I would suggest.
Despite their early lack of intellectual lyrics, I would define the way they are structured and placed over sampled and original beats as intellectual. Just no one knew it yet. Perhaps maybe Rick Rubin did. That is why he is so accredited today.
Licensed to Ill became the first rap album to land at #1 on the Billboard Top album chart in America. In 2012, the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. Mike D and Ad-Rock attended that evening to accept their award. Adam Yauch (“MCA”) did not attend, as he was still dealing with cancer treatments. Yauch died less than a month later from the illness.
The surviving members of the Beastie Boys will forever pay tribute to MCA. The three were responsible for blazing the trail for other rappers, African American and Caucasian. I recommend adding this album to your collection. The Beasties music has always spread across multiple genres, pulling fans in from every demographic. Licensed to Ill started it all.
If you already own Licensed to Ill, check out their follow up to this album titled, Paul’s Boutique.
And don’t forget to grab some Beastie’s merch while you’re at it!