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Story: Jack Foley
THE Beastie Boys is the latest rap outfit to take a musical pop
at George W Bush, even going so far as to call for him to be voted
out on their forthcoming album, To The Five Boroughs.
According to a report on Billboard, the Summer album contains
a number of political comments on the state of America, including
the election rallying call and various jibes at the expense of
the country’s much-maligned foreign policy.
One track, entitled An Open Letter to NYC, even takes
a look at their home city, in light of the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, and is said to be very emotionally charged.
News of the album’s content could not come at a worse time
for the Bush administration, which is set to enter into the forthcoming
election process off the back of mounting negativity.
The situation in Iraq continues to depress Americans, as the
death toll of the nation’s forces mounts, while the administration,
itself, is continually having to fend off critics from all quarters,
especially internally.
The Beastie Boys are not the first act to criticise the administration,
either, but they will be among the most influential, given the
outfits’ huge following on both sides of the Atlantic. They
are not likely to hold back, either.
Last year’s DM
& Jemini album also contained tracks attacking foreign
policy (most notably, Bush Boys), but with high-profile
musicians and actors seemingly lining up to pass comment, Bush
and co will want to avoid such high-profile negative publicity
where possible.
To The Five Boroughs is the first Beastie Boys album since
Hello Nasty, six years ago, and is among the most keenly
anticipated releases of the year.
The most likely single to emerge from it seems to be Ch-Check
It Out, which is one of 15 tracks that are said to be included.
The track-listing, according to Billboard, is as follows:
Ch-Check It Out
Right Right Now Now
The Hard Way
Time To Build
Rhyme the Rhyme Well
Triple Trouble
Hey F*** You
Oh Word?
That It's That All
All Life Styles
Shazam!
An Open Letter to NYC
Crawl Space
The Brouhaha
We Got The
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POSTED EARLIER: LEGENDARY hip-hop bad boys, The Beastie Boys,
have confirmed they are to release their first studio album in
five years, later this year.
The eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 1998's Hello Nasty is said
to be 'all hip-hop', and 'almost complete' to boot.
Speaking in a rare interview with the BBC, during their recent
New York broadcasts, both Mike D and Adam Yauch revealed that
they had gone back to basics for their latest effort, having completed
it in a secret location.
"There's light at the end of the tunnel and we're mixing
now, so its almost complete," admitted Mike D.
The innovative artist went on to hint that the album could be
ready in time for a release around June, and admitted that the
creative process had finally been more evenly divided between
the trio.
Advances in technology, such as the creation of i-Pods, have
helped in this process.
The album has also been put together in New York, which is currently
the location for some of the most exciting and influential music
of the moment.
And the duo maintained that the Big Apple is, in their opinion,
'a great place to make a record', while the city, itself, contains
people who are easier to deal with.
While the interview failed to divulge too much about what to
expect, in terms of style, from the album, the duo did also take
in some UK influences, especially for one track.
"We actually have a British song on our album," Mike
D admitted. "But you're gonna have to wait and see - just
leave it at that."
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