Imagine you’re peacefully lounging in the Summer sun. Picnic blanket underneath you, your favorite La Croix next to you and sunglasses that make you just cool enough to properly blend into the scene of the Park Blocks. All of a sudden, three shadows loom over you with an energy one can only describe as, ill.
These three figures present themselves as a Holy Trinity of Hip-Hop: Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz, Adam “MCA” Yauch and Michael “Mike D” Diamond. Before you know it, they shove headphones on you that throw what could only be called a sick guitar riff into your eardrums.
“I can’t stand it, I know you planned it / I’ma set it straight this Watergate!”
Your peaceful picnic has been sabotaged.
The Beastie Boys fourth studio album Ill Communication is a cacophony of hip-hop, rap rock, jazz, funk and punk sounds barrelling witty, youth fueled lyrics at the listener.
The most popular single on the album, “Sabotage,” is something that must not only be listened to but watched. Filmmaker Spike Jonze directed the music video for the track which can only be described as a classic SNL skit that you wish would’ve had a followup movie.
“Root Down” displays the strength of the Beastie Boys’ instrumental prowess mixing with lyrics such as “Sometimes I feel as though I’ve been blessed / Because I’m doing what I want so I never rest.”
The New York City trio demands to be listened to. The playfulness oozing from tracks with serious musical complexity is akin to seeing a child piano prodigy put Mozart on ice and begin playing Miles Davis’ “So What” to a crowd of classical enthusiasts. They disrupt, and they’re so damn good at it that you can do nothing but revel in it.
This album doesn’t let you rest as a listener. In fact, by the end of its 20 tracks you feel ill — and you hope you never recover.
