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Licensed to Ill
Studio album by The Beastie Boys
Released	November 1986
Recorded	Spring 1986
Genre	Rap
Length	44:33
Label	Def Jam/Columbia Records CK-40238
Producer(s)	Rick Rubin
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A+) link Pitchfork (7.8/10) link Rolling Stone link
The Beastie Boys chronology
Rock Hard EP (1984)	Licensed to Ill (1986)	Paul's Boutique (1989)

Licensed to Ill is the debut rap album by the Beastie Boys, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music). It was the first rap album to become popular among mainstream audiences, as well as the first major full-length by a white hip hop group.

Licensed to Ill was the first rap LP to top Billboard's Pop Albums chart. It also peaked at #2 on the Top Hip Hop/R&B Albums chart. It was Columbia Records' fastest selling debut record to date and sold over five million copies. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums.^[1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[2]

Kerry King of Slayer made an appearance on the album playing lead guitar on "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", and appeared in the video, which is a spoof of heavy metal music. The name of the song itself is a spoof on Motörhead's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith album. King's appearance on the track came about because Rick Rubin was producing both bands simultaneously (Slayer's Reign In Blood was originally released on Def Jam).

The full album cover, front to back, features a Boeing 727 — with "Beastie Boys" emblazoned on the tail — crashing head-on into the side of a mountain. The tail of the plane has the Def Jam logo and the legend '3MTA3' which spells 'Eat Me' when viewed in a mirror. Also, when the gatefold sleeve is viewed in its entirety, the 'plane' crashing into the 'mountain' is actually a thinly veiled rendering of a penis plunged into a vagina.^{[citation needed]}

The original title for this album was Don't Be A Faggot but Columbia Records flatly refused to release the album with this title and pressured Russell Simmons (their manager and label -Def Jam- head) into having the Beasties come up with another name. Adam Horovitz has since apologised for the band's earlier title.[1]

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Credits 3 Music sample 4 Charting positions 5 References

1. "Rhymin' & Stealin'" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 4:08
   • Contains samples from "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath, "When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin, & "I Fought the Law" by The Clash
2. "The New Style" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 4:36
   • Contains samples from "2-3 Break" by The B-Boys
3. "She's Crafty" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 3:35
   • Contains samples from "The Ocean" by Led Zeppelin
4. "Posse in Effect" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 2:27
   • Contains samples from "Change le Beat" by B-Side & Fab Five Freddy
5. "Slow Ride" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 2:56
   • Contains samples from "Low Rider" by War
6. "Girls" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 2:14
7. "Fight for Your Right" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 3:28
8. "No Sleep till Brooklyn" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 4:07
   • Contains samples from "T.N.T." by AC/DC
9. "Paul Revere (King/Ad Rock/McDaniels/Rubin/Simmons) – 3:41
   • Contains samples from "I Like Funky Music" by Uncle Louie
   • Rhythm is based on reversed drum line of "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith
10. "Hold It Now, Hit It" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 3:26
    • Contains samples from "The Return of Leroy" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch, "Funky Stuff" by Kool & The Gang, "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" by Bob James & "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow
11. "Brass Monkey" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 2:37
    • Contains samples from "Bring it Here" by Wild Sugar
12. "Slow and Low" (McDaniels/Rubin/Simmons) – 3:38
    • In the booklet included with the Beastie Boys' anthology set The Sounds of Science Adam Yauch (MCA) noted that "Slow and Low" was first recorded by Run-D.M.C. in the sessions for their second album, King of Rock, but was ultimately left off the original release (though the demo version later appeared on the album's 2005 Deluxe Edition re-release). Being one of the Beasties' favorite songs from the sessions, they got Run-D.M.C.'s permission to record a cover version. Yauch states that only two lines were changed for the Beastie Boys' version: "D sees real well 'cause he has four eyes" was replaced with "White Castle fries only come in one size", and a line stating Run-D.M.C.'s name was changed to "We're the Beastie Boys, not Cheech and Chong". The notes for The Sounds of Science expand the writing credits to "Beastie Boys/J. Simmons/D. McDaniels/R. Rubin/D. Hayden".
13. "Time to Get Ill" (Beastie Boys/Rubin) – 3:37
    • Contains samples from "Boogie on Reggae Women" by Stevie Wonder, "Take the Money and Run" by the Steve Miller Band, "Down on the Corner" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Custard Pie" by Led Zeppelin, "Gucci Time" by Schoolly D, and excerpts from the theme music from Green Acres and Mister Ed

• Beastie Boys - Group, Producer
• Joe Blaney - Mixing
• Steven Ett - Engineer
• Kerry King - Guitar
• Rick Rubin - Producer
• Howie Weinberg - Mastering
• Steve Byram - Art Direction
• Sunny Bak - Photography
• World B. Omes - Cover Art

Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album

1986

The Billboard 200

No. 1

Billboard (North America) - singles

1986	Hold It, Now Hit It	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	No. 55
1986	The New Style	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	No. 22
1986	Hold It, Now Hit It	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	No. 41
1986	The New Style/Paul Revere	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	No. 20
1987	Fight For Your Right	The Billboard Hot 100	No. 7
1987	Brass Monkey	The Billboard Hot 100	No. 48
1987	Brass Monkey	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	No. 83
1987	Paul Revere	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	No. 34
1987	The New Style/Paul Revere	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	No. 41

1. ^ The top 100 Best Rap Albums list on Rocklist.net
2. ^ The top 500 albums list on Rollingstone.com-the official website of the magazine Rolling Stone

Beastie Boys

Mike D - Adrock - MCA

Discography

Albums: Licensed to Ill - Paul's Boutique - Check Your Head - Ill Communication - Hello Nasty - To the 5 Boroughs

EPs and compilations: Pollywog Stew - Cooky Puss - Rock Hard - Some Old Bullshit - Aglio e Olio - The In Sound from Way Out! - The Sounds of Science - Solid Gold Hits

Singles: Brass Monkey - Fight for Your Right - Hey Ladies - Sabotage - Intergalactic - Ch-Check It Out - Triple Trouble - Right Right Now Now

Related articles

Old school rap - Capitol Records - Mix Master Mike - Money Mark - DJ Hurricane - Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! - Grand Royal

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