The Beastie Boys

The Beastie boys formed in 1981 during a time when rap music was used as a vehicle for social comment.  Later on in their careers the boys would lend support to the fight for freedom in Tibet and play at the second largest benefit concert in the world after Live Aid.  In 2003 they released an Anti War on Iraq track ‘In a world gone mad.’

They were the first white rap act to command respect from black audiences.  Originally they began as a punk outfit and in the early days they were accused of cultural piracy.  The fact that they were white seemed to work for them rather than against them in a rap industry under represented by white artists.

In 1985 after supporting Madonna on her North American tour the boys from New York began to get recognition from rap music fans and got airplay on a number of urban music radio stations.  Street Credibility increased after a stint supporting the legendary Run DMC and LL Cool J.  The following year they released ‘Licensed to ill’ the first ever rap album to reach number one containing huge hits such as ‘fight for your right.’  The album remained at number one for seven consecutive weeks as well as simultaneously reaching number two in the urban music chart.  This was Columbia records fastest selling record and was the first ever hip hop album to sell more than five million records in the 1980’s.

The third effort from the group went double platinum and then in July 1998 ‘Hello Nasty’ sold 700 thousand copies in the U.S in its first week of release and went straight to number one in England, Germany, Australia, Holland, New Zealand and Sweden.  This quadruple platinum selling album won two Grammies’ for ‘Best alternative music performance’ and ‘Best rap performance by a duo or group’

After selling out several of the worlds largest venues within minutes the Beastie Boys made live tracks available for free on their website, for fans unable to get tickets.  The offer was promptly removed by the record label.   

2004 To the 5 Boroughs (Capitol)
1998 Hello Nasty (Capitol)
1992 Check your head (Capitol)
1989 Pauls Boutique (Capitol)
1986 Licensed to ill (Def Jam)