seurat
06-14-2004, 04:20 AM
Beastie Boys : To The 5 Boroughs
by Tim Cashmere
The Beastie Boys have come an incredibly long way since their 1986 debut, License To Ill. Despite just six albums in eighteen years, they have leapt from New York's punk underground to worldwide genre-crossing heroes.
Their sixth album 'To The Five Boroughs' is straight out hip hop with DJ Mix Master Mike truly launching his skills into another stratosphere. Thanks to tunes like 'Oh Word?' and the simpler 'Crawl Space' audiences can clearly hear why he was booted out of world DJ competitions (as a result of winning several years running.)
The boys add a strong political flavour to this album, 'Time To Build' states in the verse "We've got a president we didn't elect/the Kyoto treaty he decided to reject/and still the US just wants to flex/Keep doin' that wop we gonna break out necks" leading up to a plain and simple chorus; "It takes a second to wreck it, it takes time to build." Later in 'That's It That's All' they rap "George W. got nothing on me/we got to take the power from he."
Apart from just dedicating the album to their hometown of New York through the title, they also show their love of the city through 'An Open Letter To New York' where they make reference to September 11 and make sure they're welcoming to people of all cultures.
The Beastie Boys have done well for themselves. While on the odd occasion you hit something that perhaps could've been left out, their skills are still there. Even though it took five years, 'To The Five Boroughs' is well worth your time. Besides, they won't be selling out anytime soon if 'Triple Trouble' is right; "I'm a spacializer, rhyme reviser/ain't selling out to advertisers/what you get is what you see/and you won't see me out there advertising!"
by Tim Cashmere
The Beastie Boys have come an incredibly long way since their 1986 debut, License To Ill. Despite just six albums in eighteen years, they have leapt from New York's punk underground to worldwide genre-crossing heroes.
Their sixth album 'To The Five Boroughs' is straight out hip hop with DJ Mix Master Mike truly launching his skills into another stratosphere. Thanks to tunes like 'Oh Word?' and the simpler 'Crawl Space' audiences can clearly hear why he was booted out of world DJ competitions (as a result of winning several years running.)
The boys add a strong political flavour to this album, 'Time To Build' states in the verse "We've got a president we didn't elect/the Kyoto treaty he decided to reject/and still the US just wants to flex/Keep doin' that wop we gonna break out necks" leading up to a plain and simple chorus; "It takes a second to wreck it, it takes time to build." Later in 'That's It That's All' they rap "George W. got nothing on me/we got to take the power from he."
Apart from just dedicating the album to their hometown of New York through the title, they also show their love of the city through 'An Open Letter To New York' where they make reference to September 11 and make sure they're welcoming to people of all cultures.
The Beastie Boys have done well for themselves. While on the odd occasion you hit something that perhaps could've been left out, their skills are still there. Even though it took five years, 'To The Five Boroughs' is well worth your time. Besides, they won't be selling out anytime soon if 'Triple Trouble' is right; "I'm a spacializer, rhyme reviser/ain't selling out to advertisers/what you get is what you see/and you won't see me out there advertising!"