Skip to content
News

Beastie Boys: 25 Years of Mad Genius

In 1986, the Beastie Boys released their debut Licensed to Ill, an album that proved three white kids from New Yawk could deliver hip-hop as hot and groundbreaking as Run-D.M.C. or Public Enemy. It was also the first hip-hop album to hit No. 1 on the charts. In the years that followed, Mike D, Ad-Rock, and MCA have became one of the genre’s most consistent acts — even when they were experimenting with organ-driven funk on Ill Communication (1994) or opting not to rhyme at all on The Mix-Up (2007).