When Licensed to Ill shocked everyone by becoming the biggest-selling rap album of all time (until MC Hammer snatched the title a couple years later), no one expected the Beastie Boys to have a second act. Their juvenile frat-boy schtick didn‘t exactly scream “staying power,“ nor did the novelty of white dudes rapping.

Twenty years later, the Beasties are legendary pioneers who will probably be inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in a year or two, but ’twas a time when people thought that Paul’s Boutique, the Beasties’ 1989 sophomore effort, ended the band’s career. After all, Licensed to Ill spent weeks at #1, while Paul’s Boutique didn’t even crack the Top 10. The album was deliberately non-commercial — way too dense to get anywhere near pop radio. However, in the two decades since its release, Paul’s Boutique has been acknowledged as a modern classic, not to mention the best album in what has become a legendary career. Its use of samples was nothing short of revolutionary, raising the eyebrows of more “traditional” hip-hoppers, who suddenly found themselves intensifying their crate-digging for the perfect beats to slice and dice. The album also can be credited with paving the way for modern-day cut and paste heroes like Girl Talk.

So, let’s backtrack a bit. After the phenomenal success of Licensed to Ill, the Beasties — King Ad-Rock/Adam Horovitz, MCA/Adam Yauch and Mike D(iamond) — found out they were being royally fucked by their label, Def Jam, and after some litigation, were freed from their contract and wound up signed to Capitol Records. Parting ways acrimoniously with their original producer, Rick Rubin (who catches a sideways diss on the track “Car Thief“), they split from their NYC homebase and headed west to L.A., hooking up with newbie production team the Dust Brothers. That California sunshine (and more than likely, that California bud) obviously paid dividends, because Paul’s Boutique is one of the biggest artistic steps forward a band has ever taken between first and second albums. Despite the fact that the album was recorded on the Left Coast, Paul’s Boutique practically reads as a love letter to the Big Apple. From the 808 thump of “Hello Brooklyn” (later resurrected as one of Jay-Z’s many odes to the borough) to the various local references on “Stop That Train” (both part of the astonishing 15-minute medley “B-Boy Bouillabaisse“), this album is so New York you can almost smell the piss on the sidewalk on the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Streets, where the cover photograph was taken. (more…)