The ‘Star Wars’ species directly inspired by the Beastie Boys
In 1998, the Beastie Boys released one of the weirdest and most wonderful entries into hip-hop with Hello Nasty. Their first release with Mix Master Mike, the record flip-flopped between genres and styles with ease, from the equally chaotic and iconic ‘Intergalactic’, to the soft singing and acoustic finger-picking on ‘I Don’t Know’.
The record spawned the band’s biggest hit, Ad-Rock’s favourite Beastie Boys record, and even earned them a Grammy, but the legacy of Hello Nasty stretches far beyond charts and musical accolades. 17 years later, the record would inspire a character in J.J. Abrams’ contribution to the Star Wars series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making it well and truly intergalactic.
Abrams’ entry into the saga saw Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher return to their iconic roles alongside a new generation of stars, including Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac.
Hidden amongst the star-studded cast was a character called Ello Asty, a pilot from the planet Abednedo with a name suspiciously similar to the Beastie Boys’ 1998 album. This similarity was no coincidence. Although the name idea was initially pitched to Abrams by the creature department, Abrams took joy in its subtle reference to the Beastie Boys.
When Yahoo asked him about the name, he shared, “It was suggested to me from the creature department. And I loved it for that reason, because it referenced the album, and also because it spells out Lost’ And so both of those felt like, they were funny reasons to approve that name.”
“Some names came from the creature department, some came from us, from me, from other people I’m working with. But it was one of the things that just felt like something funny that people might smile at,” he concluded.
Though Ello Asty’s name may have initially come from the creature department, half inspired by Abrams’ involvement in the TV series Lost, the Beastie Boys references seemed to become a trend when naming the rest of the Abednedo species.
Alongside Ello Asty, several other members of the Abednedo species seem to reference the alternative hip-hoppers. Slowen Lo seems to reference the 1986 song ‘Slow and Low’ from Licensed to III, while Ilco Munica references the Beastie Boys’ fourth record, Ill Communication.
The director’s preoccupation with the Beastie Boys is not limited to the world of Star Wars. In fact, Abrams seems to litter Beastie Boys in projects wherever he goes. In his reboot of Star Trek, released in 2009, an intense sky battle scene is preceded by James Kirk’s declaration: “Let’s make some noise.” The Beastie Boys’ 1994 hit ‘Sabotage’ begins to play, to which he responds, “That’s a good choice.”
More than just the Abednedos, it seems that Abrams sneaks references to his love for the Beastie Boys into projects wherever he can.
