Ex-Prodigy disses Beastie Boys

[Geo_pyromaniack]

Check this out..So Liam Howlett(or whatever) said on Mtv that the Beastie boys "are losers and their new album is junk" Sheesh

[Shazam_21]

Originally Posted by Geo_pyromaniack

Check this out..So Liam Howlett(or whatever) said on Mtv that the Beastie boys "are losers and their new album is junk" Sheesh

He's just bitter his recent album bombed. Check the @Press@ forum, theres a link on there also to an article on this subject

[Dunny]

the beasties should get sasquatch to kick his ass.

[Johanna]

Originally Posted by Dunny

the beasties should get sasquatch to kick his ass.

yeah!!!
btw, geo_pyromaniack (or whatever) this is old news...

[iLL kID]

fuck prodigy they stole there name from mobb deeps p, bunch of fairys

[Parkey]

Round round we go...

Liam Howlett is not ex-Prodigy
The Beastie Boys and Prodigy had a spat a while ago in which Prodigy were clearly in the right
Yes he should stop going on about it but he gets asked in every interview
They got there name from the make of keyboard that everyone used back in the Acid House movement in the UK during the 1980s

etc. etc. etc.

[J-Syxx]

What spat? How were the Beasties in the wrong? WTF are you talking about?

[chrisd]

Segui il tuo corso e lascia dir la gente!

[dave790]

Originally Posted by J-Syxx

What spat? How were the Beasties in the wrong? WTF are you talking about?

The Beasties were in the wrong. don't talk as if this Parkey guys talkin shit. Reading Festival 98, Beasties asked Prodigy to drop Smack My Bitch Up from their set, and it developed from that (Prodigy said no)

The Beastie have apologised in print since then i believe, but they were in the wrong. as mr Howlett said 'i dont care who you are, no one tells me what i can and can't play'.

Beasties were one of his idols so he didn't take it too well. he's entitled to his opinion on the new album, but it means shit to me and is a shit opinion in my mind.

[Parkey]

Originally Posted by J-Syxx

What spat? How were the Beasties in the wrong? WTF are you talking about?

At Reading Festival in 1998 the Beasties kicked up a stink about Prodigy playing Smack My Bitch Up. There's loads about it in the Press bit about this mind...

[Bgurl_54]

.....Grrrr.......*Growls in a scary undertone at all the beastie h8ters*

[iLL kID]

fuck prodigy and fuck parkey, biatchs

[Parkey]

Originally Posted by iLL kID

fuck prodigy and fuck parkey, biatchs

Knobhead

[J-Syxx]

The Beasties were in the wrong. don't talk as if this Parkey guys talkin shit. Reading Festival 98, Beasties asked Prodigy to drop Smack My Bitch Up from their set, and it developed from that (Prodigy said no)

The Beastie have apologised in print since then i believe, but they were in the wrong. as mr Howlett said 'i dont care who you are, no one tells me what i can and can't play'.

Beasties were one of his idols so he didn't take it too well. he's entitled to his opinion on the new album, but it means shit to me and is a shit opinion in my mind.

So thats why he has beef? What a fucking pussy. He isn't entitled to shit, hes just dissing the record because he has beef.

[Yauch]

we did go to him in private and ask him if he wouldn't mind skipping that track in their set because it promoted violence against women.

basically he said that he felt that they were somehow subverting or changing the meaning of the words "smack my bitch up" in their song.

it doesn't sound like that to me.

anyway, they decided to take it to the stage, make it public. so during their set that night they said something like "the beastie boys told us not to play this song, but nobody tells us what to do..." and then played the song.

shortly after that a girl told me that she had been abused by her boyfriend and that song had always made her cringe. she thanked us for asking them not to play it.

so i have no regrets about it, and have never apologized to them. i think what we did was right. how is anyone going to know that their words are destructive if no one tells them?

[Documad]

I think I'm really good at reading between the lines and I don't see that song as anything but literal. Maybe they think they turned it on its head by making the video feature girl-on-girl violence, but I don't see that at all. I can take a joke but I draw the line at violence against women and children. Anyways, thanks for taking a stand and they only made you look good by telling the public about your private request.

[Love And Theft]

As easy it was to tell black from white,
It was all that easy to tell wrong from right.

-"Bob Dylan's Dream", 1963

[stillill]

Right on Yauch! I got really mad when I started reading this thread and was about to school Dave790. But I think that Yauch's post cleared things up (they were not in the wrong)!

Having violent misogynist lyrics in a song, even if it is meant to be "tongue in cheek," is always going to be taken at face value by the majority of the public. This DOES promote violence in society!

[Intense]

this is a joke, innit? takin out a track because u think it's sooo bad...the title is smack my bitch up, and u wanted a different version of it..smack my ketchup..(something like that)..sorry, how ridiculous is that?? yauch, the way u think is pussy like.."because it promoted violence against women"..so what about all the nwa, ice cube, wc, mack 10, mc eiht (etc) tracks?? would u like to ban all these songs just because u think its meaning is too rude mr.yauch?


and sorry, the 2nd story about the girl is very naive. this song has nothing to do with her bad experiences. prodigy were fuckin right, i'd never let anybody to change my songs...and liam is right, your new album is garbage. i was a beastie boys fan for many years but u guys disappointed so much with the new album i couldn't believe how bad it is. very bad production, boring, cheap mastering, way too short, lame ideas. each former album was 100 times better. and u know it. but that's how it sounds without mario c. he's a genius. u guys were untouchable till and including the marvellous hello nasty album, but after that one..no more..

[Egg Man]

I like both Beastie Boys and Prodigy (of course the Beasties more) but I do believe the beasties were in the wrong back in 98. The Beasties new album isn't crap though, it's brilliant just like the rest of their work but the prodigys new album is good as well. Theres no reason to say prodigy suck just because of one thing Liam Howlett said.

[j-dog]

hey intense, fair enough, you've got your (fairly angry, ever tried masturbation?) opinion. see what you mean about n.w.a. et al. but i grew out of that stuff when i was a teenager. also, no guy has the right to rubbish a woman's feelings that have been stirred up from hearing a song/watching a movie etc. even if you've experienced this kind of violence in your family/peers you can have no idea of how it feels for it to happen to yourself. as i can't. unfortunately this kind of shit still happens, maybe more so than before, but is rarely reported. i'm not saying that adam had the right to ask liam to scrap the song from their set but i do understand why. apart from it being shit, it would bring back memories of violence. i'm not just saying this coz i don't like the prodigy. in fact i've seen them live about 6 times. but their music has become electronic garbage for nu-metallers. oh, and aren't they just soooo scary. c'mon essex boys, leave off on the "we're just so shocking" shit. tattoos, dyed hair and eye-liner aren't the way. actually, marilyn manson and the prodigy, biggest "alternative" pop acts today. yes, i know i've detracted somewhat from the original post but what the hey! intense, go smoke a fatty and grow up a bit. i'll expect a reply.

[Parkey]

Originally Posted by Egg Man

I like both Beastie Boys and Prodigy (of course the Beasties more) but I do believe the beasties were in the wrong back in 98. The Beasties new album isn't crap though, it's brilliant just like the rest of their work but the prodigys new album is good as well. Theres no reason to say prodigy suck just because of one thing Liam Howlett said.

Well put

[Parkey]

Originally Posted by Yauch

we did go to him in private and ask him if he wouldn't mind skipping that track in their set because it promoted violence against women.

basically he said that he felt that they were somehow subverting or changing the meaning of the words "smack my bitch up" in their song.

it doesn't sound like that to me.

anyway, they decided to take it to the stage, make it public. so during their set that night they said something like "the beastie boys told us not to play this song, but nobody tells us what to do..." and then played the song.

shortly after that a girl told me that she had been abused by her boyfriend and that song had always made her cringe. she thanked us for asking them not to play it.

so i have no regrets about it, and have never apologized to them. i think what we did was right. how is anyone going to know that their words are destructive if no one tells them?

So is it the song itself or their justification of it that caused the problem?

Also, out of interest, if they hadn't mentioned it on stage would you have brought it?

[MaestroDenis]

I started a thread on this topic not a long ago and it provoked the same kind of responses. For me it's a hard one to decide, as I like both bands, I'd say more so the Beasties (largely thanks to Paul's Boutique, no other group can EVER reproduce this). BUT I think Liam H initially never intended to suggest people should go out and bash women. Artists sometimes come out with provokative stuff to incite publicity eg. shock value etc but can overlook potential negative outcomes of such pieces. Surely, Liam would have considered that, and as he explained straight after the release of that single, the song is somewhat of an ode to Kool Keith, whom he sampled (and continues to sample) and Kool Keith said it meant to "..sort shit out, take care of business". It is understood the word "bitch" is also associated with material things, not only a derogatory term for females. It doesn't help however to listen to the original "...change my pitch up, smack my bitch like a pimp" is it just an analogy?

I think this was a conflict waiting to happen, sooner or later they would have done a gig together somewhere and the Beasties would have done the same thing and Liam would have reacted in exactly the same manner, because hey "Smack My Bitch Up" is one of their (his) most recognized cuts, he CAN'T not play that song.

PS. The Prodigy's new album really is WEAK, it sounds like one continous (bad) song,... (The Fat, Jilted and Experience shit all over this very forgettable album).

MD

[Runoutgroove]

Originally Posted by stillill

Having violent misogynist lyrics in a song, even if it is meant to be "tongue in cheek," is always going to be taken at face value by the majority of the public. This DOES promote violence in society!

Oh for christ's sake. I like the Beastie's music, but in this instance they are plain wrong on so many levels. The "smack my bitch up" sample doesn't mean hit women on the Prodigy track, nor does it even mean that in the original Ultramagnetic MC's track. What about freedom of expression?

I'll tell it to you straight, the vast majority of fans have never even thought that this song was promoting violence against women - they just hear the word "bitch" and think that sounds slightly controversial. Thats what the Prodigy are about, they are the sort of band that parents hate because they are brash.

Lets see what shall we censor next, I think Raging Bull has some wife beating and how about video games...

[Love And Theft]

Woah, I can't believe what I'm reading. I've listened to the new album everyday since it came out and absolutely could not be happier with a great way to spend $14.99.

[stillill]

Originally Posted by Runoutgroove

Oh for christ's sake. I like the Beastie's music, but in this instance they are plain wrong on so many levels. The "smack my bitch up" sample doesn't mean hit women on the Prodigy track, nor does it even mean that in the original Ultramagnetic MC's track. What about freedom of expression?

I'll tell it to you straight, the vast majority of fans have never even thought that this song was promoting violence against women - they just hear the word "bitch" and think that sounds slightly controversial. Thats what the Prodigy are about, they are the sort of band that parents hate because they are brash.

Lets see what shall we censor next, I think Raging Bull has some wife beating and how about video games...

I'm sorry, where did I say that we should censor things? I'm simply saying that lyrics such as these promote violence. Of course it is the right of people to put out whatever they want, but that doesn't mean that music listeners should support it.

Obviously some people (such as the woman mentioned in Yauch's post) did take it at face value. You have no idea what it is like to have a painful memory brought up because of a stupid song. I'm not sure how the Beasties are in the wrong for trying to prevent that. The Beasties did not demand that the song not be played, they simply requested that it not be played and gave their reasons for it.

This is probably the best thing that ever happened to Liam H. I mean, Jesus, it six years later and we're still discussing this! I'm sure that is why he said something negative about the Beastie Boys in the press, to receive more attention for his own band.

[J-Syxx]

I sure would never want to talk to this guy from Prodigy. He probably considers himself as a god and talks in the third person.

[Runoutgroove]

Originally Posted by stillill

I'm sorry, where did I say that we should censor things? I'm simply saying that lyrics such as these promote violence..

Its kind of implicit when you support someone who thinks that certain songs should not be played in public.

Originally Posted by stillill

Of course it is the right of people to put out whatever they want, but that doesn't mean that music listeners should support it...

Of course not, turn off the radio if you are offended.

Originally Posted by stillill

Obviously some people (such as the woman mentioned in Yauch's post) did take it at face value. You have no idea what it is like to have a painful memory brought up because of a stupid song. ...

I guess you know me, so...

Originally Posted by stillill

I'm not sure how the Beasties are in the wrong for trying to prevent that. The Beasties did not demand that the song not be played, they simply requested that it not be played and gave their reasons for it.

I think it makes yauch look just a bit naive/authoritarian when the song is not even about that.

Originally Posted by stillill

This is probably the best thing that ever happened to Liam H. I mean, Jesus, it six years later and we're still discussing this! I'm sure that is why he said something negative about the Beastie Boys in the press, to receive more attention for his own band.

No I doubt it. We're are discussing it because this is BBoys message board, and thats the only time these two groups have ever been related.

[Runoutgroove]

Originally Posted by Runoutgroove

We're are discussing it because this is BBoys message board, and thats the only time these two groups have ever been related.

Although, Liam did also steal the "oh my god thats the funky shit" sample, which was bloody cheeky.