On this day, the Beastie Boys released their groundbreaking debut album Licensed To Ill in 1986, making this day in Hip-hop its 30th year anniversary.
Born out of hip hop's Golden Age in New York City, the iconic punk-turned-rap group erupted onto the scene with their high-voltage songs topped off with their energy-overdosed antics, making their debut a tremendously memorable event, both in hip hop and music in its entirety.
Symbolic to their mischievous persona, the artwork featured a Boeing 727 crashed onto a mountainside, portraying the illusion of an extinguished joint. Brandished on the plane's tail read the group's insignia, along with the Def Jam logo and tail number “3MTA3”, backwards for “EATME.”
Needless to say, the album's content personified what the visuals implied. From hits like “Paul Revere” to “Hold It Now, Hit It”, “Brass Monkey” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”, the record perfectly captures an ironic yet brilliant concept of naive innocence authored by three juvenile hooligans—but perhaps “unfiltered, unrestrained innovators” is a more appropriate term.
In music as a whole, the album marked an iconic debut for the Beastie Boys; In the hip hop scene, however, Licensed To Illsignified the first rap collective to top the Billboard, not to mention a cornerstone figure among Hip-hop's fastest-selling debut album to date, boasting over ten million copies sold just in the US.
Following its debut, the album catalogues a laundry list of charts and accolades, such as The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums and Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with its 2013 edition branding it "The best debut album of all time".
In celebration of its 30th year, Licensed To Ill deluxe vinyls have been reissued and recently made available for purchase.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
