The Beastie Boys - MCA, Adrock and Mike D -- burst onto the music scene in 1986 with "License To Ill," the first album to cross rap color lines. They gained attention from the frat boy antics of their single "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" and the production by Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin.
After the success of "License," many were counting on the Beasties to fail, to come out with a follow-up that sounded just as frat-like and immature. But in between records, the Beasties found themselves estranged from Def Jam and reconsidering what they wanted to stand for.
In between the tour to support "License To Ill" and beginning to work on tracks for a second album, MCA (aka Adam Yauch) was introduced to L.A.-based production team The Dust Brothers. The Dust Brothers, King Gizmo and E.Z. Mike (who is given credit on turntables), told MCA about a revolutionary new idea called "complete sampling," also referred to as "mash-ups." The practice creates hip-hop beats completely out of parts of other songs.
MCA was so impressed that he immediately hired the duo to do all the beat work for the Beasties' upcoming album. What the Dust Brothers created was a kaleidoscope of smoothly melded beats and song fragments.
What was so innovative about the Dust Brothers production was that it didn't simply draw from the usual cannon of hip-hop samples; it delved deep, picking selections from across the map. From their bag of tricks The Dust Brothers pulled samples from artists ranging from Johnny Cash and the Ramones to obscure dub reggae and Professor Longhair.
On "Paul's Boutique" the Dust Brothers sample a total of 105 songs, an unheard of number at the time. The Beasties spent the majority of their massive sophomore CD budget on the rights to samples.
The ones they couldn't afford, they simply used any way. To this day they are still getting sued by angry artists and production companies who discover the unlawful use of their material. But the Beastie's couldn't care less.
Mike D is famously quoted as saying, "What's cooler then getting sued by The Beatles?" in response to an Apple Records complaint of the sampling of large chunks of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" and "When I'm Sixty Four."
On tracks like "High Plains Drifter" and "Hey Ladies," the Beastie Boys managed to mix their jocular sense of humor with serious rhymes and killer beats.
In "Sounds of Science," Adrock yells "Rope-A-Dope!" before a sample from Boogie Down Productions' "My Philosophy" blasts in with "Right up to your face and dis you!" And that's exactly what the song was a dis, a surprise attack on everything almost everyone held holy. The Beasties had the nerve to sample the Beatles while rhyming about their love of Puma tennis shoes and pulling pranks.
It was a level of brilliance that know one had yet achieved, to have both feet so firmly planted in the opposing worlds of punk, classic rock and hip-hop.
Critics always point out the significance of the Beasties introducing white suburban kids to rap, but what is overlooked is their introducing black hip-hop fans to otherwise unknown aspects of white culture. On "Boutique," the Beasties allude to everything from Hunter Thompson and Jack Kerouac to "Taxi Driver's" Travis Bickle and "Up On Cripple Creek" by The Band.
The delivery and speed of the raps on the album is unmatched. The style heard on "Boutique" was unparalleled at the time.
This album is one that transcends all genres and classifications. It's loved by young punks and stereoheads, audiophiles, metal kids and the hip-hop crowd. It's truly a measure of "Boutique's" lasting power that it can overcome all barriers and reach out to some many people.
When it was first released, "Paul's Boutique" was considered a flop because label executives couldn't hear a "hit." But today it is considered one of the highwater marks of hip-hop and has been dubbed "'The Dark Side of the Moon' of rap."