The song Beastie Boys compared to Beethoven
When the Beastie Boys first arrived on the scene, it was incredibly easy not to take anything they said seriously. Coming from the early days of hip-hop, hearing a bunch of Bowery Boys attempt to make beats on the same level as Run-DMC could have been seen as a parody of what the genre was supposed to be. While the trio initially hesitated to adopt the New York wise guy schtick they became known for, they spent the rest of their career moving as far away from their style as possible.
Throughout the rest of the 1980s, the band would spend the rest of their career talking about topics far more complex than tracks like ‘Fight For Your Right to Party’. On their sophomore release, Paul’s Boutique, they took the opportunity to go wild with every single sample they could get their hands on.
As opposed to the traditional hip-hop samples that ride on just one licensed song at a time, the trio created a borderline psychedelic experience across the album, with every track utilising various samples to tell a story through music. While the band created a massive sonic texture on every single song, the actual ingenious moves were saved for the back half of the album.
Taking bits and pieces of songs and chopping them into little fragments, the suite ‘B-Boy Boullaibaise’ was one of the most forward-thinking compositions the genre had ever seen, creating a medley of different sounds together into a musical stew. When discussing putting the track together, though, the band thought what they were doing was closer to classical music than hip-hop.
Discussing the way that every piece was stitched together, MCA riffed that the final product could have been made by Beethoven, remarking, “Just imagine if my man Beethoven had a fuckin’ sampler”. While many classical fans might not see too many correlations between the classical giant and a bunch of punk kids from the Bowery, the results are probably closer to what Beethoven would have done in the modern age.
Since he was always known to push the envelope with his compositions, it’s easy to see how classical musicians like Beethoven could become fascinated with samplers, inviting new ways to reinvent their sound outside of traditional harmony. Even though the Beastie Boys were on the cusp of something big, it wouldn’t be a road that they could forge for very long.
Following the album’s release, many hip-hop artists were getting taken to court for samples that weren’t cleared, with many artists demanding royalties for what they saw as young artists stealing their songs. Working around it, the next handful of Beasties projects would include every band member playing their own instruments to create unique sonic textures, whether that was the punk rock clangour of ‘Tough Guy’ or the ambient-style interludes that permeate the album Check Your Head.
Even though the band may not have gotten the recognition for it at the time, Paul’s Boutique remains a stunning look at what hip-hop is capable of when it goes beyond traditional beat structure. The Beastie Boys may have created something odd for its time, but the massive reinvention of traditional samples like this is something hip-hop will never see again.
