The Beastie Boys: arguably the greatest rap group in history

It is.

Wu Tang Clan is definitely a rap group, “crew” or not.

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No arguments here. Paul’s Boutique is among the greatest hip hop albums ever. It’s worth noting that nearly every single sample was cleared and paid for, which I find fascinating given how sample-heavy it was. This was back when samples could be cleared at a reasonable cost - before the court decision against Biz Markie in 1991 essentially became the death knell for the viability of sample-based music from that point onward.

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Debbie Harry?

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Kassia & Theophilus?

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Does Fred Schneider count?

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Blondie’s rap verse is great, but the band didn’t make a home in the genre. I’m talking about white person that made rapping a successful career, not a successful white person that made raps. Big difference.

However, I’ll give you points for being accurate. Hell, toss Mel Brooks in there too.

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a case can made that pigmeat markham’s 1968 novelty number *here comes the judge" has many of the characteristics of rap–

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If we’re going to post Simz-y, why not one with a Beasty Boys reference (“I need a licence to fill”)?

Also, it’s a fucking good tune.

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I should check out that album. I got a couple of theirs and enjoyed it.

I LOVE this uptempo Big Beat remix by Fatboy Slim from the late 90s, IIRC. The only issue with remixing older rap songs is the voices shift up due to being sped up. But, IMO, still works.

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3jtPn2GIDpja

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How popular was it with the general public at the time? When I originally read your post, I remember thinking that it seemed to me back in the day, that Licensed to ILL got more radio and video play, but then again that may have had to do with my market and/or where my interests were at the time.

But I just recalled a feature from the mid ‘90s in Spin magazine that highlighted albums underrated (by the mass audience I think) and I’m quite certain that PB was on it. (Others were Lodger, Sandinista and Tusk.)

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the only song that got airplay from mainstream stations was one of my least favorite from the album, “hey ladies!”, not a terrible song just not among the better ones. paul’s boutique was so dense with correlated samples and lyrics it really wasn’t a mainstream album.

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you remember right, it was a commercial flop. kinda like Never Mind the Bollocks, it eventually went gold and platinum, but it took the potential listenership time to catch up to how dope it was

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in re-reading your excellent post, I had the thought that Straight Outta Compton is a fourth rap record that meets your criteria.
•came out around 87
•disseminated like crazy
•cemented rap into the American consciousness

I know someone who went to an all-white school who said they learned of it because all the kids on the school bus would recite the rhymes. dissemination with a vengeance.

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you make a good point i think the reason i didn’t include that in my list was that whereas i heard about and purchased the three i listed within weeks of their release, i didn’t get exposed to n.w.a. until the mid-90s so they weren’t part of my memories of the late 80s.

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Indeed. Serious hip hop fans knew immediately how special this album was but it wasn’t marketed that well and it was so different from License to Ill that it didn’t really attract the same kind of dudebro audience. Then they changed directions completely in Check Your Head with its weird mix of rap, experimental rock, punk, and general DIY aesthetic.

If you have to give them credit for one thing, it’s that they had no problem just doing whatever the fuck they wanted without caring what anybody thought. They did an intentionally terrible country album, FFS.

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yes.
although Murs takes pains to fully explain how they always did other music, going by his title: “… the greatest rap group…” is really reductive since they started in punk, their first rap single was a prank call, “Girls”, the section of Paul’s where they let bluegrass anthem “foggy bottom breakdown” just play for a while, playing instrumentals as a band, the bossa nova track on Hello Nasty, and etcetera; they’ve always been known for much more than rap.

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