Maps of Music

Paul's Boutique (1989)

Where the lyrics of Paul's Boutique take you, and where it was really made.

The album is named after a store the group made up, and its cover shows a real clothing shop with a sign the group hung on it.

Key places

Ludlow Street, the cover view (1989)

Album cover Ludlow Street — The cover photo shows Ludlow Street, shot from 99 Rivington Street. The group hung its Paul's Boutique sign on a clothing store at the corner of Rivington and Ludlow streets. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Paul's Boutique: second album by the American hip-hop group Beastie Boys
• Released July 25, 1989 by Capitol Records
• Produced by the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers
• Makes extensive use of samples drawn from funk, soul, rock and jazz
• Sales did not match the 1986 debut Licensed to Ill; Capitol promoted it minimally
• Later recognized as the group's breakthrough achievement

Background

• Licensed to Ill (1986) was a commercial success, but its simple, heavy beats drew criticism as frat hip-hop
• The Beastie Boys were in self-imposed exile in Los Angeles during early 1988
• The group was estranged from former producer Rick Rubin and from its label, Def Jam
• For the second album, the Beastie Boys signed with Capitol Records and EMI Records
• The goal was more creative depth and less commercial material

Recording

• Recorded over two years in Los Angeles at Matt Dike's apartment and the Record Plant studio
• The Dust Brothers had put together backing tracks intended for an instrumental album, but the group chose to rhyme over them
• In total, 105 songs are sampled, including 24 individual samples on the last track alone
• Nearly all tracks were recorded in Matt Dike's living room
• 'A Year and a Day' was recorded in Adam Yauch's apartment building in Koreatown, credited in the liner notes as the Opium Den
• The recordings were later mixed by the Dust Brothers at Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles

Cover

• Cover photo of Ludlow Street, shot from 99 Rivington Street
• Credited to Nathanial Hörnblowér but shot by Jeremy Shatan, who was the original bassist when the group was known as the Young Aborigines
• A 'Paul's Boutique' sign was hung on Lee's Sportswear at the corner of Rivington and Ludlow streets in Manhattan's Lower East Side

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• The Beastie Boys were an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1981.
• They began as a hardcore punk band, having previously been members of the Young Aborigines.
• Adam Yauch replaced the departing bassist Jeremy Shatan, and the band took the name Beastie Boys.
• The 1983 single "Cooky Puss" won local success and marked their full move into hip-hop.

Members

• The main line-up was Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass) and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums).
• Yauch also directed many of the group's music videos under the alias Nathanial Hörnblowér.

Career

• Their debut album Licensed to Ill (1986) was the first rap album to top the Billboard 200.
• Paul's Boutique (1989) was made with the Dust Brothers and was a commercial failure but gained critical acclaim.
• Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994) found mainstream success.
• Hello Nasty (1998) and To the 5 Boroughs (2004) followed, and the instrumental album The Mix-Up came in 2007.
• Their final album was Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011).
• The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, becoming the third rap group so honored.
• Yauch died of parotid cancer in 2012, and the group disbanded.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Contemporary reviews were uniformly positive, with the production singled out for praise
• David Handelman of Rolling Stone praised the deft interplay of the three voices and the imagery of the songs
• Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune commended the Dust Brothers' production and the group's rhymes
• David Stubbs of Melody Maker called the record an outrageously funky triumph
• Charles Shaar Murray in Q was less positive, arguing the group had failed to evolve from its debut

Reappraisal

• NME critic Paul Moody called it still an electrifying blast of cool in a 1994 review
• Rob Chapman in Mojo called it one of the most inventive rap albums ever made
• Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone (2003) described it as a celebration of American junk culture
• Mark Kemp in Rolling Stone (2009) called it a hip-hop masterpiece
• Nate Patrin of Pitchfork described it as a landmark in the art of sampling

Records

• Peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200
• Peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart
• Certified gold in the US on September 22, 1989
• Certified double platinum in the US in 1999
• Ranked number 125 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
• Included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• In total, 105 songs were sampled, including 24 individual samples on the last track alone.
• The album is named after a store the group made up, and the cover shows a sign hung on an existing clothing store.
• Engineer Mario Caldato Jr. said the group had spent about a quarter million dollars on sample rights and licensing.
• In a Vibe interview, Chuck D of Public Enemy said the 'dirty secret' among the black hip-hop community at the time was that the album had the best beats.
• The track 'The Jerry Lewis' was left off the album and has become a highly sought-after lost track among fans.
• The square at the Ludlow and Rivington intersection was officially renamed Beastie Boys Square on September 9, 2023, during the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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