Beastie Boys

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES, GRAMMY-NOMINATED BESTSELLER A SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, ROLLING STONE, AND ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book as unique as the band itself-by band members AD-ROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE 5-TIME EMMY NOMINATED, SPIKE JONZE-DIRECTED BEASTIE BOYS STORY 'One of the greatest music books ever published.' MAX PORTER Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam "AD-ROCK" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the almost impossible-to-fathom overnight success of their debut studio album Licensed to Ill; that album's messy fallout; their break with Def Jam, move to Los Angeles, and rebirth as musicians and social activists, with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul's Boutique. For more than twenty years, this band has had a wide-ranging and lasting influence on popular culture. With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir. Alongside the band narrative you will find rare photos, original illustrations, a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of Beastie Boys' New York, mixtape playlists, pieces by guest contributors, and many more surprises. 'Memoir, graphic novel, cookbook, photo-journal, love letter, elegy: this vast, unwieldy, marvellous book, narrated, like the band's songs, scatter-gun style by the two surviving Beastie Boys, is as original, uncategorisable and attention-grabbing as their music.' SUNDAY TIMES (BOOK OF THE YEAR) 'Wide-ranging and unorthodox . . . [a] treat . . . insightful about the group's shifting music and are expert yarn-spinners, homing in on telling vignettes rather than doling out a straightforward history . . . shot through with yearning and melanchonly.' GUARDIAN (BOOK OF THE YEAR) 'Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the ban With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir . . . Our clear winner for Book of the Year.' ROUGH TRADE (BOOK OF THE YEAR) 'The Beasties didn't play by the rules during their career, and this memoir by surviving members Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz doesn't either . . . hiliarious, at times heartwarming.' ROLLING STONE (BOOK OF THE YEAR)

The first book of photography to be published by the Academy Award-winning film director and photographer Spike Jonze. Will appeal to every fan of Beastie Boys and golden-era hip hop, as well as photography and Spike Jonze's own focused audiences. Spike Jonze and Beastie Boys met for the first time in Los Angeles in 1991, when Jonze went out to photograph the band for the cover of Dirt magazine. A connection formed between the three MCs and the young photographer, which has lasted throughout their careers. Almost thirty years later--published to coincide with the release on Apple+ of a new documentary, Beastie Boys Story--this book collects for the first time more than two hundred of Spike Jonze's personal photographs of his time spent with the group. Edited and with an afterword by Jonze, and including new writing by Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz themselves, this book shows an intimate look at the greatest act of the hip-hop generation in their truest colors as only a close friend could see them--from performing live onstage to writing together at Mike's apartment; getting into character for a video to dressing up as old men to hit the basketball court; recording music in the studio to goofing around on the streets of New York. From the music video for "Sabotage" to the cover of the Sounds of Science album, Spike Jonze is responsible for some of the most iconic images of the band ever made. But here, the emphasis is on the candid, the unexpected, and the real--just pictures of friends who like making stuff together.

A concise musical biography traces the Beastie Boys' story from the New York punk scene through a blockbuster career that spans more than 20 years. Ever since they hit the big time with their 1986 rock/rap debut Licensed to Ill, the first rap album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200, the Beastie Boys have been a cultural bellwether, the likes of which was unseen before or since. Their association with MTV made the Beasties instant poster children for an unprecedented phase of integration, both musical and racial. Their music, a pastiche of sounds that spans decades and genres, influenced the course of popular music and continues to do so today. Beastie Boys: A Musical Biography tells the story of the band, from its beginnings through its ongoing critical and commercial success. Fans can read about the group's origins, the training of its members, its awards and accomplishments, and its influence on pop culture. Authoritative yet concise, this lively overview covers everything from the band's unique sound to their collaborations with leading filmmakers on their award-winning videos.

Derided as one-hit wonders, estranged from their original producer and record label, and in self-imposed exile in Los Angeles, the Beastie Boys were written off by most observers before even beginning to record their second album-an embarrassing commercial flop that should have ruined the group's career. But not only did Paul's Boutique eventually transform the Beasties from a frat-boy novelty to hiphop giants, its sample-happy, retro aesthetic changed popular culture forever.

Documents the rise of rap stars, The Beastie Boys, from their beginnings as a band in Greenwich Village New York. It features interviews with other hip hop stars such as Run DMC and producer Rick Rubin, details their outrageous lifestyle, and provides insights into the recording of their albums.

"This album rescue series book evolved from long debates with friends, family, and colleagues as to the merits of various unloved and mistreated albums. These discussions lead to committing our thoughts to paper and resucing various albums that the press and general public considered to be far from exemplary of a particular artist. This book rights those wrongs. The album rescue series book is a contributive piece of work by music and media scholars, each of whom take a unique approach to rescuing an album they love." -- Taken from back cover.

"The follow-up to LeRoy's acclaimed 33 1/3 series volume about 'Paul's Boutique', this all-new book is crammed with information and deep research that might just startle the Beasties themselves. Learn about the freshly unearthed outtakes from 'Paul's Boutique' - including the album's great lost single. Get a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Capitol Records' fateful decision to sign the Beasties and its aftermath. And dig into the 'Boutique Bouillabaisse, ' a multi-part tribute to the album's famous closing medley, jam-packed with inside information and funky exclusives ..."--Back cover.

A vibrant narrative history of three hallowed Manhattan blocks—the epicenter of American cool. St. Marks Place in New York City has spawned countless artistic and political movements. Here Frank O’Hara caroused, Emma Goldman plotted, and the Velvet Underground wailed. But every generation of miscreant denizens believes that their era, and no other, marked the street’s apex. This idiosyncratic work of reportage tells the many layered history of the street—from its beginnings as Colonial Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant’s pear orchard to today’s hipster playground—organized around those pivotal moments when critics declared “St. Marks is dead.” In a narrative enriched by hundreds of interviews and dozens of rare images, St. Marks native Ada Calhoun profiles iconic characters from W. H. Auden to Abbie Hoffman, from Keith Haring to the Beastie Boys, among many others. She argues that St. Marks has variously been an elite address, an immigrants’ haven, a mafia warzone, a hippie paradise, and a backdrop to the film Kids—but it has always been a place that outsiders call home. This idiosyncratic work offers a bold new perspective on gentrification, urban nostalgia, and the evolution of a community.

Sweeping in its scope, The Legends of Hip Hop is an intimate look at the visionaries, the movers and the shakers, and the pioneers who have helped shape the world of hip hop. Groundbreaking artist Justin Bua profiles and paints fifty key figures, including everyone from Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash to President Obama and Jay-Z, providing a portrait of each legend in a style reminiscent of the great masters. The artwork is accompanied by an engaging autobiographical narrative that contextualizes the impact each icon has had on Bua’s personal life and on the hip-hop culture at large. With a foreword by Chuck D, this landmark volume is more than a celebration of hip hop; it is the definitive word on the subject as told by Bua, one of hip hop’s leading artists and a legend in his own right.

The #1 New York Times Bestseller * Named one of Variety's Best Music Books of 2021 * Included in Audible's Best of The Year list * A Business Insider Best Memoirs of 2021 * One of NME's Best Music Books of 2021 So, I've written a book. Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ("It's a piece of cake! Just do 4 hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!") I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child. This certainly doesn't mean that I'm quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it's like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.