While Licensed to Ill made the Beasties household hoodlums, it also pigeonholed them as the same frat-boy types they used to mock. As for MCA and Ad-Rock, their looks scream more Arthur Fonzarelli and pizza delivery boy in a B-porno production, respectively. As for the wardrobe, Mike D clearly did his homework and gets an A if the goal is b-boy wannabe. To the Mustaches!: Hell, other than MCA’s five-o’clock shadow, there’s barely a chin pube to be found on these baby-faced Beasties. No, the look hasn’t aged well (though it’s leap years ahead of “She’s on It”), but there’s also a juvenile charm here that would stick with the Boys, even as they began a string of releases that would both prove their sophistication as musicians and change hip-hop forever.
#BEASTIE BOYS KICK IT TV#
Rock, D, and MCA would perpetuate these characters onstage, in late-night TV spots, and even in future promotions like the “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” video (also directed by Dubin and Menello), where the three would crash not a party but a rock show. They further propped up a still burgeoning MTV network, set the stage for their diamond-selling debut, Licensed to Ill, and hammered home the punk-next-door personas that would haunt them in the years to come. “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” from Licensed to Ill (1986)īeastie Boys did a lot more than crash a friendly, little get-together in this ode to pranks, pies, and partying. Beastie Boys music videos have always acted as a time capsule not only for a generation’s scenes, fashions, and fads but for the growth and evolution of a unique friendship between three one-time wannabe MCs. As a young Rick Rubin once boasted, “The only reason we haven’t done a video yet is because as soon as we do, they’re going to have to change it from MTV to Beastie TV.” When those videos did begin rolling in, the result was always more than just a commercial for the latest single or album. Like Michael Jackson, Madonna, or Kurt Cobain, the Beastie Boys trio of Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA demanded to be seen from the beginning. We can debate the precise reason behind that demise - MTV’s decline into reality television, the democratization of technology, or TikTok dance crazes - but I think we can all agree that some artists have always been just too original, compelling, and visually interesting to be only heard and not seen. Unless you’re talking about pop music, the music video as we knew it is all but dead as an art form.
0 kommentar(er)
