Paul's Boutique
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ARCHIVE EDITION - ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 11 JULY 2022
The Stop
Released on 25 July 1989, Paul’s Boutique is the second studio album by the American hip hop group The Beastie Boys. Coming three years after their debut (1986’s Licensed to Ill), the album received a lacklustre response upon its release, largely - according the group - due to a lack of support by Capitol Records.1 Named after a fictional clothing store,2 Rolling Stone3 was initially lukewarm to Paul’s Boutique, but as the album’s popularity grew and its cultural impact became apparent, the magazine acknowledged it as a masterpiece, referring to it as the ‘Pet Sounds/The Dark Side of the Moon of hip hop.’
After the success of their first album, the Beastie Boys relocated from New York City to LA in order to escape both the city’s ‘urban blight’ and to work with Capitol Records as a result of a royalties dispute which had led them to leave their label Def Jam. Preparing to follow up their ‘frat boy’ first album,4 they wanted to make a more ‘artistically mature album; an album with intelligence and creative depth.’ A chance opportunity to work with The Dust Brothers5 - known for their innovative use of sampling - turned out to be the perfect collaboration.
The product of over a year’s meticulous construction, Paul’s Boutique is a ‘landmark in the art of sampling’ - a ‘dense aural collage’ drawn from music of all kinds: jazz, soul, rap, funk, disco, prog, rock and punk.6 In addition, the album is ‘packed with lyrical and musical asides, name drops, and quotations’ that - when mixed with the music samples - create ‘self-contained little breakbeat universes filled with weird asides, clever segues, and miniature samples-as-punchlines.’7 In addition to a lack of support from their label, another reason given for the album’s sluggish reception upon its first release was its ‘density, sprawl, and information-overload.’ However, the band’s conscious decision to extend a ‘rapid-fire sound-bite hip-hop aesthetic’ over the entire album, meant a ‘positive first impression would eventually lead to a listener’s dedicated, zealous headlong dive into the record’s endlessly-quotable deep end.’
Paul’s Boutique gave the Beastie Boys the critical acclaim they desperately desired and earned them the respect of both their peers and idols. Miles Davis apparently ‘never got tired of listening to it,’ and Public Enemy’s Chuck D said, ‘The dirty secret among the Black hip hop community at the time of the release was that Paul’s Boutique had the best beats.”
Obviously, the best way to appreciate the album is to listen to it, so if you’re so inclined (remember - this album is at times explicit) follow this link:
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to an excellent article about the Krautrock/kosmische music scene. Featuring bands you’ve (probably) heard of, it’s a great introduction to the background of this genre - and numerous albums that are worth a listen. I’ve downloaded several of them after reading this.
The Book
Today’s book is Dan LeRoy’s8 The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique (2004). One of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series in which the origin and backstory of various classic albums are analysed, this book was a Christmas gift a few years ago. From the back: ‘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 fratboy novelty to hiphop giants, its sample-happy, retro aesthetic changed popular culture forever.’
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is composed of five of my favourite Beastie Boys tracks that aren’t from Paul’s Boutique. There are many great ones, but these are the tracks I default to: ‘Sabotage’ (1994), ‘So What’Cha Want’ (1992), ‘Root Down’ (1994), ‘Body Movin’’ (1998) and, from the album that started it all, ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’ (1986).9
The Thought
Today’s Thought is a Quote from - surprise - a Beastie Boys track: ‘Pass the Mic’ from Check Your Head (1992). It’s good advice:
‘Be true to yourself and you will never fall.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
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The album famously tanked upon its release, peaking at 14 on the Billboard 200 and at 24 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Top Albums chart. Sources for today’s stop include: Paul's Boutique (Pitchfork); Paul's Boutique (Rolling Stone Review) ; Paul's Boutique (Classical Albums Sunday)
It’s actually Lee’s Sportswear, located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side - a photograph of which is the album’s cover.
The magazine recognised the band’s skills v persona contradiction in the title of its review of Licensed to Ill: ‘Three Idiots Create a Masterpiece.’
The band’s on- and off-stage antics saw them labeled as ‘bunch of upper-middle-class, never-been-battled punk rockers in leather jackets and skinny jeans bellowing knowingly obnoxious, semi-ironic lyrics’.
The Dust Brothers are songwriters/producers Michael Simpson and John King. They’ve produced numerous albums, including Tone Lōc’s Lōc-ed After Dark, Young MC’s Stone Cold Rhymin’, Beck’s Odelay and Midnite Vultures, Tenacious D’s first album and the soundtrack for Fight Club. For an interesting interview, see: Mike Simpson Interview
This website provides a somewhat complete collection of samples and references used in the various tracks: Paul's Boutique Samples. Even in today’s data-heavy world, pinning down the actual number of samples is difficult - different estimates run 100 - 300. Everyone involved in the making of the album ‘is adamant that the samples were cleared’, but they only spent around $250,000 to do this - nothing compared to licensing fees today - and making it clear that this album could not be made today.
One example: ‘The Sounds of Science’ track alone references Jesus, Shea Stadium, Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth, Robotron, Ben Franklin, Isaac Newton, radium, Range Rovers, Adidas and Galileo - among many others.
Check him out at: danleroy.com
In the event of a Desert Islands Discs moment, ‘So Whatcha Want’ would be my favourite. It’s a brilliant example of psychedelic hip hop, but it also contains the line: ‘I’m as cool as a cucumber/in a bowl of hot sauce.’ Which is unquestionably a glimpse of genius, in its way.