The mutual dislike at the centre of a classic Beastie Boys song
The great Rick Rubin has brought the work of many essential acts to life, with one of the most important names attached to his story being hip-hop pioneers Beastie Boys. The bearded super-producer helmed their 1986 debut album Licensed to Ill and facilitated the movement that would culminate in their groundbreaking follow-up, Paul’s Boutique.
Being so central to such a classic record in the form of Licensed to Ill has left Rubin and the surviving Beastie Boys members with many tales to tell from that exciting time. One of the most comical anecdotes involves recording one of their best-loved hits, ‘No Sleep till Brooklyn’, an early effort pointing to how effective their mesh of hip-hop and heavy music would be in the not-so-distant future.
One of the earliest rap-rock tracks, the song fuses the band’s distinctive form of hip-hop with the bombastic sound of the decade’s metal, an area from which Rick Rubin is so inextricable. This connection is thanks to his work on cornerstones such as thrash legends Slayer’s widely influential third album, 1986’s Reign in Blood, which arrived the month before Licensed to Ill.
When listing his life in 21 songs for Rolling Stone in 2016, Rubin recalled the making of ‘No Sleep till Brooklyn’. He revealed that the title came from the late Adam Yauch – ‘MCA’ – who died in 2012. According to the producer, Yauch had a punk rock band outside of the Beastie Boys, and the song’s title emerged from that band. Rubin explained how he thought it was a great song title and suggested that they use it for a Beastie Boys composition.
Rubin recalled: “All four of us always wrote lyrics and then kind of pooled ideas, and we hung out a lot. We would go out to Danceteria pretty much every night and hang out and come up with lines to make each other laugh. Usually we’d only be working on one song at a time, so let’s say that song was the song of that month. So for that month, every time we’d go out, we write rhymes and collect them all. Then eventually, we’d put them all together and try to figure out the best order for it to happen in. I remember there were a lot of really funny lines in that one. It definitely entertained us at the time. Usually, the way it worked was I would make the tracks first, then the guys would come in and do vocals. So I played the guitar on it in the room by myself.”
It wasn’t just the band and Rubin who featured on the track, however. Slayer guitarist Kerry King recorded the guitar solo. According to the producer, the thrash musician did not enjoy the song or the group’s aesthetic at all. However, the feeling was “mutual”, with the Beasties not fans of the tattooed axeman.
Rubin concluded: “Kerry King from Slayer did the guitar solo. I don’t think he liked the song. I think he just thought it was bizarre. He’s a real, serious metalhead. He really loves metal, and I don’t think he listens to much music outside of metal. At least then he didn’t. I don’t think it spoke to his aesthetic. And honestly, in retrospect, I don’t think he really spoke to the Beasties’ aesthetic. They didn’t really like him either [laughs]. It was kind of mutual.”
Listen to ‘No Sleep till Brooklyn’ below.
