It takes a lot to create a distinctive sound in hip hop. For the Beastie Boys, this meant changing their direction, coping with run-ins with the law, selling 62 million albums worldwide, and finding the time to solidify their voice in hip hop’s consciousness.
Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 represents the Boys' eighth studio album, to be added to their impressive portfolio. The album opens with “Make Some Noise,” which has already created buzz for fans everywhere.
The Beastie Boys open the song by reasserting their dominance:
Yes, here we go again, give you more, nothing lesser
Back on the mic is the anti-depressor
Ad-Rock, no pressure, yes, we need this
The best is yet to come, and yes, believe this
And like fine wine, age has not dulled their rhymes. The addictive beat only enhances the Beastie Boys' impeccable flow on later verses. Listeners get that old school feeling when listening to the track — mind you, a sense of playfulness can still be detected in subsequent verses.
Pass me the scalpel, I’ll make an incision
I’ll cut off the part of your brain that does the bitching
Put it in formaldehyde and put it in the shelf
And you can show it to your friends and say “that’s my old self”
And like The Game, the Beasties have found new life through hip hop’s continued evolution. Their collabo with Nas (“Too Many Rappers(New Reactionaries Version)”) was indicative of this maturity. True, the Beasties have done other collaborations in the past (Aerosmith and Run DMC), but Nas represents part of the New School of MC’s — harder and at times more arrogant.
The track in itself questions why there aren’t enough true MC’s that can represent the way they do.
I'm supersonic like J.J. Fad
Crazy-a@s s%!t pullin' out the bag
Don't forget the tartar sauce, yo! 'cause it's sad
All these crab rappers, they're rapping like crabs
In “Lee Majors Rides Again,” we get a taste of the Beasties heading back to their punk roots. The beat is synonymous of pre-License to Ill material and demonstrates the range that the group possesses.
Later tracks like “Crazy Ass Shit” reminds us that the Golden Age of hip hop does not have to be relegated back to the early '80s. Rather, one only needs to listen to this album to remember the art of MC’ing and that the Beastie Boys will not hesitate to educate those unfamiliar to that time.
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