Preview: Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs + Video

Vibe.com, May 20th, 2004

That was then and this is almost 20 years later. And boy do the lines on their faces and the salt and pepper in their hair show it. No matter, with age comes much wisdom and if the Beastie Boys are as wise as they appear, they should have plenty more music-making years ahead of them. As for now, To The 5 Boroughs, which drops June 15, is the LP of choice and they've got a little bit of old and a little bit of new. The themes, however, are as "right now" as ever, and has enough bass to raze an entire block. One thing's for sure, after disappearing for almost six years, the Beastie Boys, comprised of Adam "MCA" Yauch, Mike "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horowitz, do not disappoint.

With a total of 15 tracks, the Beasties rap about everything from OPEC and gun control to the legitamacy of Bush's presidency and the legitamacy of the Iraqi War. But it's all love for New York on this one, as the title indicates, though only one track specifically addresses the state, which is "An Open Letter To NYC." Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island are definitely shown a lot of love when the Boys spit over a frenetic and urgent beat "Dear New York I hope you're doing well/ I know a lot's happen and you've been through hell/ So, we give thanks for providing a home..." However, it wouldn't be a Beastie Boys record if the tone was completely somber.

In comes tracks like "3 The Hard Way," "Rhyme The Rhyme Well," to name a few, where they diss weak "sucka MCs", speak on the wack state of rap and just have fun. It's on tracks like these that you know the Beastie Boys are still the Beastie Boys, even though they look like a bunch of old-ass men. Who else could spit lines like "Treat mc's like leaves go out and rake 'em/ If you sell our CDs on Canal before we make 'em/ Then we will have no other alternative but to serve you on a platter like Steak'umm" with such earnestness as these guys?

Though the overall lyrical content is as tight as ever, the solo-producing Beasties and their mixer "DURO" keep things kind of uniform when it comes to the music, though their usual live instrumentation seems to be missing. There are a few tracks, though, that really sock it to the eardrums. "Time To Build" is definitely hot with jungle elements and almost a calypso-type feel. On a close listen, the beat and rhythm is very reminiscent of J-Kwon's "Tipsy," which is kind of startling since the young rapper isn't anywhere nearly as talented as these the dudes. Another hot cut is "Triple Trouble," which samples the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." In the end, the great outweighs the good, but really, it's nice to have the Beasties back on the scene and maybe their presence will help spice things up a bit in the nearly-stagnant world of hip hop.

Peep the Beastie Boys new video "Ch-Check It Out"