#rap-rock

Okay, I know this doesn’t quite count as a 90s album, but it’s close, right? Let’s about the Beastie Boys today, and I have some mixed feelings on them. For the longest time, the only experience I’ve ever had with them is debut LP, 1986’s License To Ill, and it’s an album I really like. It’s a ton of fun, and it’s one of the first hip-hop albums that I listened to that made me realize that hip-hop can silly, fun, and easygoing, versus deep, menacing, and methodical. It doesn’t need to have some grand message. For every Kendrick Lamar, there’s a Fat Boys, and for every J. Cole, you have a Beastie Boys. I absolutely cannot stand people that think hip-hop only needs to be deep. I mean, some reviewer on YouTube was raving about the new Joey BADA$$ album (that isn’t all that great, from what I’ve heard, which isn’t shocking, because I’m not a big fan of his, anyway), and he was making it seem like the only kind of hip-hop that matters is stuff like that. That’s not true at all. Part of me understands where these people are coming from, because these are the same people that think deep lyrics are all that matters in music, but I also can’t help but think these kinds of people are very insulting to hip-hop (as well as pop music), because why is that the only genre that needs to have deep and meaningful lyrics? These are the same people that will talk about bands / artists with awful lyrics, but give them a pass, only because they have “guitars and stuff.” Why does hip-hop have more to prove than rock or metal? That’s a discussion for another day, but I just find that interesting, because people can’t accept that hip-hop can be lighthearted. There’s a place for that kind of thing, and the Beastie Boys were one of the first groups to show me that.

License To Ill is a pretty fun album, despite the group’s very “frat boy,” party-centric, and rather shallow lyricism, even though it’s meant to be that way. I can’t say that I’ve come back to that album quite a lot, and if I’m being honest, I respect the band more than I really like them. I can’t say that I’ve really wanted to listen to more of their work, but when I saw a copy of 1989’s Paul’s Boutique at FYE, I thought I’d take a look at it. It was a used copy, no less, and because it was cheap, that wouldn’t have been a bad time to give it a listen. It was the band’s next album, and while it wasn’t exactly a 90s album (they did release a lot in the 90s, just not that album), I wanted to check it out, regardless. Unlike a lot of other groups, I had an idea of what I was getting myself into, because let’s face it – the Beastie Boys aren’t known for being progressive. This album isn’t all that different from their debut, minus one key aspect. The sound is a bit different, and I mean that in a very good way. Their debut was more rap-rock, but this LP is definitely more on the hip-hop side of things. The beats and instrumentation is more in the vein of hip-hop, and the rock elements aren’t quite there, but they show up again once in awhile. If there’s one thing I like about this album more than anything else, it’s the sound. The instrumentation on this thing is very nice, even though they don’t do anything all that unique, mindblowing, or insane, but they keep the fun, lighthearted, and energetic vibes that they’ve always had. For better or worse, the lyrics and vocals are the same way, but that’s something I’ve always been mixed on. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of any member of this group. They all sound different, but I’ve never thought any member of this group was a prolific or interesting MC. Nothing amazing, anyway, but they’re all good. They have great chemistry, either way, which is the most important thing.