Beastie Boys = Hip Hop?

YES.

For the last time, yes.

MTV has, over the past three years, gathered a "brain trust" of employees who say they live and breathe hip hop to put together lists. This year, the list was of the greatest hip hop groups ever. This is how the final tally went down:

10) UGK
9) The Fugees
8) Salt-N-Pepa
7) EPMD
6) A Tribe Called Quest
5) Wu-Tang Clan
4) OutKast
3) Public Enemy
2) N.W.A.
1) Run-DMC

The Beastie Boys were at number 10 initially, but were talked out of the list due to the fact that:

1) Their audience is a mostly "rock" audience/They aren't a straight hip hop group.
2) Nobody from the "hood" has ever bumped the Beasties.
3) They can't out-rhyme anybody in the Top 10.

Let me break this down.

First off, you can't hold their audience against them. Back when they started out, when they opened for Run-DMC and then had their own License to Ill tour, their audience was open from everybody from fans of rap music to those dumb fucks that loved "Fight For Your Right." As they evolved musically, they started experimenting more and more with constant sampling and live instrumentation, and the obvious rap beats were thrown out the window. Their albums between Paul's Boutique and Hello Nasty did have a lot of more of a rock-edge to them (and flat out rock songs, such as "Sabotage" and "Gratitude"), but they never stopped rhyming. Especially over the more hard/punk rock beats, they'd throw in a sample or two and rhyme the rhyme as well as they could. That may have driven away the more "rap" audience, but fans of the music can't hold their diversity against them. Even after dipping into rock and releasing an album full of only instrumentals (The In Sounds from Way Out!), they came back with a tribute to their old school influences and roots (To the 5 Boroughs, which I know was kinda lame, but I'm making a goddamn point!). And if Chuck D (member of #3) and Run (member of #1) say that the Beasties should have been on that list, then damnit that's enough hip hop credibility for me.

Secondly, rap isn't just a "hood" thing. Most of the "hood" rappers today are selling because of their image, not because they're spectacular. And the Beasties get their due from rappers who do get listened to by the target audience. Recently, at a festival in Australia that the Beasties were headlining, Snoop Dogg came out and said he wanted to be on stage with them ("it would be an honor," spoke Tha Doggfather) when they performed their song "Paul Revere." Talib Kweli opened for the Beastie's most recent tour, and he stated that he learned new ways to rock with the crowd from those three white boys. Busta Rhymes, when he won Best Live Performer from the BET Awards, said he learned that giving a live performance has to be engaging and he learned from three acts specifically growing up: Public Enemy, Run-DMC, and the Beastie Boys. Lupe Fiasco stated that Paul's Boutique is a major influence on him. Just Blaze actively sought out the Beastie Boys for a remix of their first single "Ch-Check It Out" from To the 5 Boroughs. DJ Green Lantern made a mixtape (New York State of Mind) of classic Beastie Boys songs put to modern sounds, and the mixtape boasted updated classics by Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star ("Paul Revere"), the Def Squad (the last piece of "The New Style"), and MOP ("No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn"). And back to Chuck D, back in an early VIBE interview, said that it was known as a "dirty secret" amongst the black hip hop community that Paul's Boutique had the best beats (thanks Wikipedia!). And so on, and so forth.

And third… well, maybe the Beastie Boys actually can't out-rhyme anybody on that list. But among the finalists, 2 Live Crew was also mentioned. The brain trust agreed that the Beasties could out-rhyme them, and that we can all agree on.

One thing the MTV brain trust seems to not even covered is the plain and obvious fact that the Beastie Boys have an amazing and long career while maintaining the very essence of what a group is. They all shine individually, but you can always see them as a group. These days, groups are mostly just individual emcees who come together as a clique, but then part ways when it comes for their solo shine. Shit, every group on that top 10 has a solo project. When it comes down to it, the Beastie Boys are the most solid group in hip hop, despite any side projects or guest vocals on another track or production for another artist.

The Beastie Boys got an "honorable mention" from the brain trust (along with De La Soul and The Roots, whose exclusion is another angry tirade), but one of the brain trust members who campaigned for the Beasties put it best: When it came right down to it, it was narrow-mindedness that was the culprit for their exclusion.

At least on VH1, on their third annual Hip Hop Honors, they recognized the Beastie Boys and their legendary status, and put them up there with Rakim, The Notorious B.I.G., KRS-One, Run-DMC, and the list goes on. But is a show honoring rap music that airs on VH1, a station that refused to play "black music" until the late 90's, actual recognition enough by the rap community? I dunno, but at least I saw the red carpet part where Ice Cube and the Beasties said what up to each other. Who would've thought?

- UnFan out