Biography of Beastie Boys

The first prominent white rap group, The Beastie Boys formed at NYU in 1979 originally as a hardcore band. The members were Adam Yauch (MCA), Michael Diamond (Mike D), and Kate Schellenbach. They split almost immediately but re-formed in 1981 with Yauch, Diamond and Adam Horovitz (King Ad-Rock). This time they had a hard-edged sound with hip-hop beats. They hooked up with another NYU-ite, soon-to-be-famous producer Rick Rubin (with his own Def-Jam label) and combined a heavy metal vocabulary, street-wise beats, and white middle-class attitude. Their first album release, Licensed to Ill in 1986, was groundbreaking for its double-barrelled sonic assault of hardcore/hip-hop production that put Rubin's "Def-Jam sound" in demand and the album a platinum number one. As one of rap's first major commercial successes, it proved that rap could cross over to white suburban kids. Rubin applied this combination to other urban rap artists like Run-D.M.C., including hard-edged guitar samples and co-opting heavy metal licks for background grooves. The obnoxiousness of the Beasties' music was surpassed only by their onstage/offstage antics. But controversy just deepened their appeal with a generation of angst-filled suburban kids. They waited three years to release their next album, Paul's Boutique, replacing Rubin with the Dust Brothers (producers of Tone-Loc and Young M.C.) and moving to Capitol Records. The effect was not as stunning as their first, although they were hip enough to take part in the '70s cultural revival beginning at that time. The album did earn awards for its cover art from Rolling Stone. ~ Scott Bultman