Beastie Boys
“Ill Communication” Deluxe Edition
Capitol

I spent most of this past weekend blasting my favorite Beastie Boys record “Ill Communication” and I’m happy to report that it sounds as good today as it did when it first came out in

The Beastie’s fourth proper release has been re-issued as a double CD deluxe edition with all the trimmings. But it’s the original green-colored tape that purchased at Crazy Rhythms in Montclair way back when that really gets the emotions running. I remember going through a mild hardcore rap phase, back when hardcore was considered a melding or rock and hip hop. Keep in mind, this was pre Limp Bizkit 1994, and I was grooving to Kid Rock’s “Polyfuse Method,” anything by Rage Against the Machine, and the “Judgment Night Soundtrack.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been seven years since Sir Mix-A-Lot has graced the hip-hop world with his genre of comedy rap that spoofs as much as it attacks. But the original pimp of the nation has returned with a new album and a message to the ever-angry hip-hop community. “I don’t know where we got this thing that Black people don’t smile,” Mix says. “I don’t know where that came from, but I have always smiled.” Read the rest of this entry »