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 the summer of 1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the resulting band was named Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
Paul's Boutique is the second studio album by 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.
Check Your Head is the third studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released by Grand Royal and Capitol Records on April 21, 1992. Three years elapsed between the releases of the band's second studio album Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head, which was recorded at the G-Son Studios in Atwater Village in 1991 under the guidance of producer Mario Caldato Jr., the group's third producer in as many albums. Less sample-heavy than their previous records, the album features instrumental contributions from all three members: Adam Horovitz on guitar, Adam Yauch on bass guitar, and Mike Diamond on drums.
Michael Louis Diamond, better known as Mike D, is an American rapper, musician, and music producer. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys.
Adam Nathaniel Yauch, also known by the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed many of the band's music videos and did much of their promotional photography, often using the pseudonym Nathaniel Hörnblowér for such work.
Adam Keefe Horovitz, popularly known as Ad-Rock, is an American rapper, guitarist, and actor. He was a member of the hip-hop group Beastie Boys. While Beastie Boys were active, Horovitz performed with a side project, BS 2000. After the group disbanded in 2012 following the death of member Adam Yauch, Horovitz has participated in a number of Beastie Boys-related projects, worked as a remixer, producer, and guest musician for other artists, and has acted in a number of films.
"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right " is a song by American hip hop group the 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.
"Sabotage" is a song by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, released in January 1994 as the first single from their fourth studio album, Ill Communication (1994). The song features traditional rock instrumentation, turntable scratches, heavily distorted bass guitar riffs and lead vocals by Ad-Rock. A moderate commercial success, the song was notable for its video, directed by Spike Jonze; it was also nominated in five categories at the 1994 MTV Music Video Awards.
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! is a 2006 concert film by American hip-hop group Beastie Boys, directed by Adam Yauch under the name Nathaniel Hörnblowér. It was created by giving camcorders to 50 audience members of a sold out concert at Madison Square Garden on October 9, 2004. The audience members were instructed to keep the cameras rolling at all times. For a low budget operation, all cameras were returned to the place of purchase for a refund.
"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.
"Jimmy James" is the third single from American rap rock band the Beastie Boys' third album Check Your Head. The song has been described as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix by Beastie Boys member MCA, and contains samples from several Hendrix songs including "Foxy Lady", "Happy Birthday", and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming".
"Rock Box" is a song by the American hip hop group Run-DMC. The song was produced by Larry Smith and Russell Simmons and released by Profile Records in March 1984. Following the popularity of their previous two singles "Hard Times" (1983) and "It's Like That" (1983), Profile Records head suggested to the producers and group that they should attempt to record an album as they already had four songs ready, and releasing a few more would not hurt them. Despite speculating low sales from the label and the group not feeling that hip hop was a genre appropriate for a full-length album, they were given an advance to start recording. This led to Run-DMC members Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels going through their rhyme book to develop new songs, one of which would become "Rock Box".
"Girls" is a song by American rap rock group the Beastie Boys, released in 1987 with a music video as the seventh and final single from their debut album Licensed to Ill. This song was never performed live and it is one of the few songs on the album that are not in the vein of their standard rap songs.
Tougher Than Leather is an American film released in 1988 and distributed by New Line Cinema. The film was directed by Rick Rubin and stars the hip-hop group Run–D.M.C. They created the film to coincide with the release of their fourth studio album also titled Tougher Than Leather.
Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is the eighth and final studio album by American hip hop band 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.
"Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" is a song by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, from their eighth studio album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Featuring American singer Santigold, the song was released as the fourth and final single from the album on July 26, 2011. "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" was written and produced by group members Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, with additional writing by Santigold.
"Sucker M.C.'s" is a song by American hip hop group Run-D.M.C. It was first released in 1983 as B-side to "It's Like That". The two-sided release marked the start of Run-D.M.C.'s career as their first single, and it is widely regarded as ushering in a new school of hip hop artists with a street image and an abrasive, minimalist sound that marked them out from their predecessors. Both tracks were collected on the trio's self-titled debut album in 1984. WBAU was the first station to play the two songs.
Run-DMC was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, formed in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and especially one of the most famous hip hop acts of the 1980s. Along with Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, and Public Enemy, the group pioneered new-school hip hop music and helped usher in the golden age of hip hop. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC and DJ relationship.
Beastie Boys Story is a 2020 American live documentary film, directed, produced, and written by Spike Jonze, alongside Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz. It was filmed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York and adapted from Beastie Boys Book, a memoir of the Beastie Boys. Jonze reunited with Diamond and Horovitz for the project after directing several music videos including "Sabotage" in 1994.
