#ThrowbackThursday: License To Ill by the Beastie Boys

by Sean Smith

The Beastie Boys have long been heralded as one of the top hip hop acts of the genre’s early years. The New York City based trio  of Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, and the late Adam “MCA” Yauch first made their name in the hip hop industry with their critically-acclaimed debut studio album Licensed to Ill. That album, which was released almost 29 years ago, has just been designated by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) as a Diamond record. Meaning that Licensed to Ill has now sold more than 10 million albums in the U.S. since its release.

Selling that many records in any amount of time is no easy feat, especially for a rap album. License to Ill is joined by only a handful of other rap albums to ever reach the 10 million records moved plateau. Some of the other hip hop albums to do so include Eminem’s The Marshal Mathers LP, The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life after Death, and 2pac’s All Eyez on Me.

The Beastie Boys 1986 debut was released on Def Jam Records and produced by the label’s founder Rick Rubin. The initial title for the album was originally slated to be Don’t Be A Faggot, but was ultimately changed to Licensed to Ill after Def Jam’s then distributor, Columbia Records, insisted that the title be changed due to its homophobic nature. The album itself proved to be a commercial success as it reached #1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, the first rap album to do so.

While License To Ill had a number of memorable songs on its tracklist, there are a few that stand above the rest. The first being the album’s fourth single “Brass Monkey”, which was the Beastie Boys first Billboard Hot 100 charting hit, topping out at the #48 position. Another classic off of that album was the fifth single, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!), which has since its release has been a party classic.

The interesting thing about that song is that it was never meant to be received as such. It was originally intended to be a parody of popular party rock songs of the time like Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock”, although that intent was seemingly lost on the audience. Regardless, “Fight for Your Right” is to this day the Beastie Boys best charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, breaking into the top 10 and peaking at the number seven spot shortly after the song’s release. The final song off of the License To Ill album that I want to highlight is the popular “No Sleep till Brooklyn”. Despite the relative popularity this song now has in popular culture, you may be surprised to learn that this song failed to chart on the Billboard charts in the U.S. upon its initial release. Another interesting fact about the song is that the guitar riff in the track is played by the guitarist from the heavy metal band Slayer, Kerry King. The reason being is that Rick Rubin, who produced the track, had recently worked with Slayer on their 1986 album Reign in Blood.

So in honor of the Beastie Boys 1986 debut-album recently earning Diamond status, this week we remember their classic album License To Ill. Enjoy!

Related Media:

Beastie Boys

“Hold it Now, Hit It”

From: LicenseTo Ill

Def Jam/Columbia Records

From License To Ill 

Def Jam/Columbia Records

Def Jam/Columbia Records