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The Beastie Boys are an American hip hop music group originating from New York City. Its main members are Mike D (real name Michael Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch) and Adrock (Adam Horovitz), but several other musicians have played with the group for a long time.
The band originally started out playing hardcore punk and included Kate Schellenbach as a member. However Rick Rubin entered the picture and encouraged the guys to adopt a macho persona and switch to rap. He purchased matching track suits for the guys but not one for Kate. When she saw a giant inflatable penis on stage at one of their shows, she knew she was done for and left the group. Later she would join the band Luscious Jackson.
So the boys switched to hip-hop in 1984. Their first album in that style, Licensed To Ill, reached number one in the US album charts, the first rap record to do so. The record gave the Beastie Boys a name as a party band, which was reinforced by their ridiculous behaviour and controversial live shows. After turning more serious in their second album, they started playing the instruments themselves, and established their own record company Grand Royal in the early 1990s. All of their three albums released since 1994 (Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs) were best-sellers, each reaching #1 in the American album charts.
The Beastie Boys were the first successful white rap band, and are the one of the few acts from the early days of hip-hop that still enjoy major successes. Their rock and punk influenced rap has influenced artists both in and outside of the hip-hop scene, as illustrated by music channel VH1's list of greatest hip hop artists, where the Beastie Boys are ranked in eleventh place.
The Beastie Boys Discography
Album
2005 To the 5 Boroughs [Bonus CD]
2004 To the 5 Boroughs [Clean]
2004 To the 5 Boroughs
2004 To the 5 Boroughs [Enhanced]
2003 Hello Nasty [Instrumentals]
2000 Audio Biography CD
2000 Maximum Beastie Boys Interview
1999 Hello Nasty [UK]
1999 Hello Nasty [Australia]
1998 Check Your Head [Japan]
1998 Hello Nasty
1998 Paul's Boutique [Japan]
1998 Hello Nasty [Japan]
1997 Interview Disc
1996 Def & Dumb
1994 Ill Communication [Japan]
1994 Check Your Head [UK]
1994 Ill Communication
1994 Ill Communication [Clean]
1992 Check Your Head
1989 Paul's Boutique
1986 Licensed to Ill
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