Licensed to Ill
Licensed to Ill is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys. It was released on November 15, 1986 by Def Jam and Columbia Records. It was the first rap LP to top the Billboard album chart. It is also one of Columbia Records' fastest-selling debut records to date and eventually sold over ten million copies in the United States.
Background
The full album cover, front to back, features a Boeing 727 — with "Beastie Boys" emblazoned on the tail — crashing head-on into the side of a mountain, appearing as an extinguished joint. The tail of the plane has the Def Jam logo and the tail number "3MTA3" which spells "EATME" when viewed in a mirror. The livery of the plane is based on that of American Airlines.
The group originally wanted to title the album Don't Be a Faggot, but Columbia Records refused to release the album under this title – arguing that it was homophobic – and pressured Russell Simmons, the Beastie Boys' manager and head of Def Jam Recordings at the time, into forcing them to choose another name.Adam Horovitz has since apologized for the album's earlier title.
Podcasts:
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by Beastie Boys
Licensed to Ill
by: Beastie BoysThey got a committee to get me off the block
'Cause I say my rhymes loud and I say 'em nonstop
Because being bad news is what we're all about
We went to White Castle and we got thrown out
I got my boy Mike D, I got the King Ad Rock
I got the Jammy with the ammo inside my sock
I shot homeboy, but the bullet was a dud
So I reached in the miller cooler, grabbed a cool bud
Slow riding, gun hidin' on the go
I fly like an eagle and I drink Old Crow
I'm the king of the classroom, coolin' in the back
My teacher had beef so I gave her a smack
She chased me out of class, she was strapped with a ruler
Went to the bathroom, rolled myself a wooler
With bottle in hand at the microphone stand
Hey yo, homeboy, what you drinkin' man?
I got money, I got juice
I got to the party and I got loose
I got rhythms, I got rhymes
I got the girlies with the Def behinds
I got ill, I got busted
I got dust and I got dusted
I got gold, I got funky
Got the new dance they calls the Brass Monkey
Because I'm hard hittin', always bitten, cool as hell
I got trees on my mirror so my car won't smell
Sittin' around the house, gettin' high watchin' tube
I'm eating Colonel's chicken, drinkin' Heineken brew
I'm a gangster, I'm a prankster, I'm the King of the Ave
I'm hated, confrontated for the juice that I have
All the fine ladies are makin' a fuss
But I can't pay attention, 'cause I'm on that dust