Beastie Boys - Hold It Now

(Explicit Lyrics)

Mixed by DJ Green Lantern

The Beastie Boys are an US-american hip-hop music group from New York City ( Brooklyn and Manhattan ). The main members are Mike D (real name Michael Diamond ), MCA ( Adam Yauch ) and Ad-rock ( Adam Horovitz ).

Beastie Boys were the first successful white rap band, and one of the few acts from the early days of hip-hop that still enjoy major success. Their rock and punk-influenced rap has had significant impact on artists both in and outside the hip-hop scene.

Beastie Boys were formed in 1979 as a punk band called The Young Aborigines. In 1981 Adam Yauch (MCA) joined them and changed the name to the Beastie Boys. The name "Beastie" originally stood for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence", and the initials B.B. intended to mimic Washington DC punk band Bad Brains . The band's original line-up consisted of Adam Yauch on bass , Kate Schellenbach on drums , John Berry on guitar and Michael Diamond on vocals. Their first gig was at Berry's house on Yauch's 17th birthday. The band quickly earned support slots for Bad Brains and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB and Max's Kansas City , playing at the latter venue on its closing night. That same year, the Beastie Boys recorded the 7" EP Pollywog Stew at 171A studios .

John Berry left the group (later forming Thwig ) and was replaced by Horovitz, who had previously played in the punk band The Young and the Useless in 1983. The band also performed its first rap track Cooky Puss , based on a prank call by the group to Carvel Ice Cream . The song became a hit in New York underground dance clubs upon its release.

It was during this period that Def Jam record producer Rick Rubin entered the picture and the Beastie Boys changed from a punk rock outfit to a three-man hip hop crew. The band released the 12" single Rock Hard in 1984 , the second record released by Def Jam that credited Rubin as producer. Kate Schellenbach soon developed creative differences concerning the band's new musical direction. After Rubin purchased matching track suits for each of the boys but failed to buy one for Schellenbach, she left the band. She would go on to join Luscious Jackson in 1991.

In 1985, the band supported Madonna on her North American Virgin tour. Later in the year, the group was on the Raising Hell tour with Run DMC , Whodini , LL Cool J and the Timex Social Club . With their exposure on this tour, the track "Hold It Now, Hit It" made Billboard's national R&B and Dance charts. The track "She's on It" from the Krush Groove soundtrack continued in a rap/metal vein while a double A-side 12" " Paul Revere /The New Style" was released at the end of the year and became another R&B/dance hit.

The band recorded Licensed to Ill in 1986 and released the album at the end of the year. It was a smash success, becoming the best selling rap album of the 1980s and the first rap album to go #1 on the Billboard album chart, where it stayed for five weeks. It also reached #2 on the Urban album charts. It was Columbia Records ' fastest selling debut record to date and sold over five million copies. The first single from the album, " (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party) " , reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 .

The band took the Licensed to Ill tour around the world the following year. This tour was controversial, featuring female members of the crowd dancing in cages and a giant motorized inflatable penis similar to one used by The Rolling Stones in the 1970s. The tour was troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the band accused of provoking the crowd. In the UK , alleged insults supposedly aimed at leukemia victims almost resulted in the band being kicked out of the country, although the Beastie Boys maintain that the incident was an exaggeration of actual events resulting when the band politely declined to sign an autograph.

This text is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Beastie Boys".