Beastie Boys
Paul's Boutique

THE REVIEW

"Heeeeyyyyyy Ladieeeees!!" this trio of energetic and crazy white rappers now shout at their concerts. When you have such a precious piece of the international rap scene in your hands, you realize how much this genre is at its end in America. Just think about the music that plays on Mtv now, those fake artists who "pose" as real rappers are nothing but impostors.
But these former rockers, a bit out of their minds, manage to make anyone who truly loves this particular and innovative music fall in love with them. With this shout, they address the large audience conquered with the first classic "Licensed To Ill." Things, however, have changed since those old but not far-off times; the Beatles have left Rick Rubin's Def Jam following some events and mutual accusations, perhaps due to the group's dissatisfaction with the royalties received from the movie "Tougher Than Leather" (a total flop, in my humble opinion) by the same Rick Rubin. Unfortunately, the arm-wrestling between the group and the label ends with a defeat for the group in question, the Beastie Boys, who have to wait until 1989 to release this product under Capital. "Paul's Boutique" sells much less than the previous one but still remains a classic of the genre, a true experimentation of the most varied genres with few hints of black music. An entirely inconsistent album, we find an absurd diversity of sounds from song to song, all produced by the Beastie Boys with Mario Caldato Jr. and the Dust Brothers, who give the album its crossover imprint.

The CD opens with "Hey Ladies," the first single released, which has become almost a generational anthem, "Shake Your Ramp" is a continuous succession of different sounds, then we can recall the hard-hitting and incisive "High Plains Drifter" and "Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun," an explicitly crossover song. Then how can we not mention the ironic "Egg Man" with its menacing sounds in the chorus, the speed changes, and the beautiful final guitar of "The Sound Of Science," the powerful "Shadrach" and especially "B-Boy Bouillabaisse", a track of a good 12 minutes (wow!) composed of 9 mini-tracks, a true experiment and means of elevating towards hip-hop still to be discovered.
The whole album is an incredible burst of energy, the result of incredible sonic experiments accompanied by playful themes (always blasted with that good old "collaborative" rap and with a venomous flow) and an irony that Mike D, King Ad Rock, and MCA know how to express perfectly, even masking more important themes. Maybe 18 years later, this album might seem "old" and less impactful in listening, or it might lose that experimental vein that was breathed in that year and daring, but it still has that particular flavor that distinguishes it even over time, a bit like that college rap, those atmospheres that were breathed at the time in America.

And anyway, I will continue to repeat what I have thought for years, and I'll put it in bold... The Beastie Boys, you either love them or hate them, but they must be admired in any case.