| "Brass Monkey" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Beastie Boys | ||||
| from the album Licensed to Ill | ||||
| Released | January 5, 1987 | |||
| Recorded | 1986 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 2:37 | |||
| Label | Def Jam/Columbia Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin | |||
| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |||
| Beastie Boys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Brass Monkey" is a song by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys. It was a single released from their first album Licensed to Ill . It is also on the Beastie Boys' compilation album Solid Gold Hits .
"Brass Monkey" samples "Bring It Here" by Wild Sugar. The song features the Roland TR-808 drum machine. The song is named after the Heublein Company alcoholic drink of the same name, which is mentioned several times throughout the song. Cash Box called it a "scratchy rap send up." [1] Notably, professional wrestler "Speedball" Mike Bailey uses "Brass Monkey" as his entrance song on the worldwide independent circuit, particularly in Deadlock Pro Wrestling (DPW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and Game Changer Wrestling (GCW). [2] [3]
The Dave Matthews Band covered this song at Jones Beach, New York in 2013. It was strung in with "Too Much" and "Ants Marching".
Richard Cheese covered the song on his studio album Aperitif for Destruction , as well as on his live album Viva la Vodka as a medley, interpolated with lyrics from "Intergalactic", "Ch-Check It Out", "Sabotage" and "Three MC's and One DJ".
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 [4] | 48 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [5] | 83 |
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Rap Digital Songs [6] | 32 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) [7] Mastertone | Gold | 500,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Beastie Boys were an American hip hop/rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1981. The group was composed of Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Michael "Mike D" Diamond. Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band The Young Aborigines, which was formed in 1979, with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, John Berry on guitar, and Kate Schellenbach later joining on percussion. When Shatan left New York City in mid-1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the resulting band was named Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
3rd Bass is an American hip hop group that was most active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Formed by MC Serch, Pete Nice, and DJ Richie Rich, the group was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip hop acts. Along with Beastie Boys and producer Rick Rubin, MC Serch and Pete Nice were two of the very few white hip hop artists who were widely respected in the community. The group dissolved in 1994 and again in 2000 and 2013 after short-lived reunions. The group released two studio albums in their initial career and both of them were certified gold by the RIAA.
Licensed to Ill is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys. It was released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records. The album became the first rap LP to top the Billboard 200 chart, and was the second rap album to be certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is one of Columbia Records' fastest-selling debut records to date and was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2015 for shipping over ten million copies in the United States. The album received critical acclaim for its unique musical style, chemistry between the group members, and their stylized rapping. Since its release, Licensed to Ill has been ranked by critics as one of the greatest hip hop and debut albums of all time.
Paul's Boutique is the second studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers, the album's composition makes extensive use of samples, drawn from a wide range of genres including funk, soul, rock, and jazz. It was recorded over two years at Matt Dike's apartment and the Record Plant in Los Angeles.
Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is considered to be rock music in which lyrics are rapped, rather than sung. The genre achieved its greatest success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Ill Communication is the fourth studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on May 31, 1994, by Grand Royal and Capitol Records. Co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr., it is among the band's most varied releases, drawing from hip hop, punk rock, jazz, and funk, and continues their trend away from sampling and towards live instruments, which began with their previous release, Check Your Head (1992). The album features musical contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery "AWOL" Smith, and vocal contributions from Q-Tip and Biz Markie. Beastie Boys were influenced by Miles Davis's jazz rock albums On the Corner (1972) and Agharta (1975) while recording Ill Communication.
"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right " is a song by American hip hop/rap rock group Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single from their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986). One of their best-known songs, it reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week of March 7, 1987, and was later named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The song was also included on their compilation albums The Sounds of Science in 1999, Solid Gold Hits in 2005 and Beastie Boys Music in 2020.
"Sure Shot" is a song by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released as the third single from their fourth album Ill Communication on June 2, 1994, two days after the album's release.
"Check Yo Self" is the third and final single from American rapper Ice Cube's third solo album, The Predator (1992). It was released on July 13, 1993 by Lench Mob Records and Priority Records, and features New York City rappers Das EFX. It topped both the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts while also reaching number 20 on the Hot 100 chart. The song retains two main versions, the original and a remix which utilizes the same beat as Grandmaster Flash's "The Message", titled "Check Yo Self ". The original mix includes a sample from the intro of the Beastie Boys' track "The New Style", which uses the phrase "check it" throughout the chorus.
"Low Rider" is a song written by American funk band War and producer Jerry Goldstein, which appeared on their album Why Can't We Be Friends?, released in 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart, peaked at number seven on the Hot 100 singles chart, and number six in Canada.
"Hey Ladies" is a song by American hip-hop group Beastie Boys, featured on their album Paul's Boutique. It was the album's only charting single, hitting #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is also the first single in history to chart in the Top 20 of both the Billboard Hot Rap Singles and Modern Rock Tracks charts, hitting #10 on the former and #18 on the latter.
"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a song by the New York hip hop group the Beastie Boys, and the sixth single from their debut studio album, Licensed to Ill. One of their signature songs, it describes an exhaustive tour and all the events that make it tiresome, but also emphasizes their determination not to rest until they reach their home base of Brooklyn. "No Sleep till Brooklyn" was a popular concert favorite for the Beastie Boys and traditionally used as their closing song. Among other references to heavy metal, the title is a play on the Motörhead album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith. The song has been subject to several covers and parodies including "Stutter Rap " by Morris Minor and the Majors.
Root Down is an EP by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released in 1995.
"Paul Revere" is a song by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released as the third single from their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986). It was written by Adam Horovitz, Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Rick Rubin. It was produced by Rick Rubin and the Beastie Boys. The song tells a fictional story of how the Beastie Boys met.
"Get It Together" is a song by American hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Ill Communication. The album version of the song features rapper Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, but not the single version.
"Hold It Now, Hit It" is a song by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released as the first single from their debut album Licensed to Ill. It is also remixed on the album New York State of Mind.
The discography of Beastie Boys, an American hip hop group, consists of eight studio albums, four compilation albums, five video albums, seven extended plays, 40 singles and 44 music videos.
Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is the eighth and final studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on May 3, 2011, through Capitol Records. The project was originally planned to be released in two parts, with Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1 originally planned for release in 2009. The release was delayed after band member Adam "MCA" Yauch's cancer diagnosis. After a two-year delay, only one collection of tracks, Part Two, was released and the plan for a two-part album was eventually abandoned after Yauch's death on May 4, 2012.
"Berzerk" is a song by American rapper Eminem. The song, released on August 27, 2013, is the first single from Eminem's eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The song was produced by Rick Rubin and samples Billy Squier's "The Stroke", as well as the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right", taken from their 1986 debut album Licensed to Ill, which Rubin had also produced, and Naughty by Nature's "Feel Me Flow". The song was heavily downloaded in its first week of release, resulting in the song debuting at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Beastie Boys Music is a compilation album from American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on October 23, 2020.
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