The Witzard

BB PB EP O | Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique Extended Play Outtakes by Beastie Boys Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique was released in Summer 1989 as the follow-up to their massively successful debut, Licensed to Ill , and although, it was essentially, a commercial failure upon its release, has gained a cult status in the years since. Paul's Boutique , to me, personally, has always been one of my favorite albums, since I first discovered it around the age of 15-16; it completely shattered my concept of what Hip-Hop "could" or "should" be and even broke the barriers of what a Hip-Hop group "could" do. "Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun" was reminiscent of The Beasties' earliest aughts as a New York City -based Punk/Hardcore band, initially, called B.E.A.S.T.I.E. Boys: Boys Entering Anarchic States Towards Internal Excellence . Unfortunately, Adam "MCA" Yauch passed away in 2012 following a years-long bout with cance...

"Paul's Boutique was and continues to be a mysterious object, definitely, more than a just record. By now, everyone knows that when it came out in 1989, it wasn't the follow-up people expected, after Licensed to Ill; an opportunity for the Beastie Boys to weed out the real fans from the rest. To this day, Paul's Boutique is the Beasties' album we know [the least] about. At the time, they did only a handful of interviews, between television and magazines. Even the photographs from that period—mostly, shot by Ricky Powell—are not that many. Still, the record was light-years ahead of it's time and even if the whole sampling approach is similar to De La Soul's contemporary 3 Feet High & Rising. , it's success and reputation has only gown over time. Now, it is (rightly so) considered a unique masterpiece that could not be made today or probably, ever again. Maybe, it's because of the whole concept the Beasties put into the record—the cover, the ton...