"Whats The Time??? It's Time To Get Ill!!!!!!"

When it comes to early hip hop...the possibilities were'nt necessarilly endless. The rules basically were if you have some flow and a good dj you were in...oh yeah by the way, ya gotta be black. But Rick Rubin thought otherwise by signing these Jewish Manhattan MC's to his Def Jam label and made hip hop a household name in white suburban America. Not only did white kids love the Beastie Boys, but most hip hop lovers in general loved them. And judging by this album...i can see why:

1.Rhymin & Stealin-A+

2.The New Style-A-

3.She's Crafty-A-

4.Posse In Effect-B

5.Slow Ride-B+

6.Girls-B+

7.Fight For Your Right-A+(3rd Best On CD)

8.No Sleep Till Brooklyn-A+(Best On CD)

9.Paul Revere-A+(2nd Best On CD)

10.Hold It Now, Hit It-A

11.Brass Monkey-A+

12.Slow and Low-A

13.Time To Get Ill-A

even white boys can rap

Way before Eminem was catching trouble with Ja Rule, this 3-man white boys from the depth of New York's Lower East Side were making it possible for ol' folks of a lighter shade to grab the mic. Though Licenced to Ill was listed in hip-hop's boom bap peculiar smug sensibility that proved popular with Middle America.

The Beastie Boys showed the world that they could play with hip-hop in new ways. Their deliciously twisted Paul Revere was cleverly narrated by the Beastie Boys and the tunes for Hold It Now, Hit It and Brass Monkey seemed irregular and anarchaic. The album was a masterpiece, birthing classic cuts such as the burly (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party), which remains as one of the ultimate rap party anthems 'til this very day. White men may not be able to jump but this 3-man group destroyed the premise that Caucasians couldn't be slamming on the microphone.



Best moments= (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party), No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Paul Revere, Hold it Now, Hit It, Brass Monkey and Slow and Low

First Beastie Boys CD to Buy

This was the first Beastie Boys CD that I bought. I heard Brass Monkey and Paul Revere at a friends house and I had to buy it. So I went out and bought it the next day. I didn't even know it was an import until I got home and was suprised to find extra tracks. The best extra is the remix of fight for your right. I eventually ended up buying all of their CD's even the non import version of Licensed to Ill. I recomend this as the first beastie Boys CD you buy. It's a great starter, or if you just liked one of their songs and wanted to get a taste of their stuff this is the CD to buy.

This is a must have...

If you really sit down and take in all the music on this CD you'll understand it was really ground breaking when it was released, lot's of people can't get past the dorky, obnoxious presence they had then, but the music is excellent. The rapping blends perfectly with the beats in every song, it's produced by Rick Rubin and there's a guest shot from Kerry King of Slayer! Excellence, period. Everyone should own this CD.