Beastie Boys : The Skills To Pay The Bills (from So Wat'cha Want 12")

Beastie Boys : The Skills To Pay The Bills (Capitol, 1992)

I already wrote, years ago about the Skills To Pay The Bills remix of Pass The Mic. But they like the catchphrase of 1992 so much that they had to make a song out of it. I remember they overused that expression in the interviews at the time, and in the ads for Check Your Head.

I'm probably wrong but I think this is the only one, or one of the very few raps that they did over live instrumentation.

Gotta love the distrorted microphone to appreciate this 12" because the other tracks here shared the same aesthetics.

Update on your Sister's Def

I met MCA yesterday and I asked him about Your Sister's Def.

Apparently the song is a demo made by a friend of Original Concept's Dr.Dre. So This guy Anthony Davis wrote a song for the Beastie Boys, he recorded these lyrics a cappella and he submitted the tape to them. As you can hear the words are supposed to be told from the point of view of a group member. But they think it was funnier to keep the demo as it was and to press it on was.

And here we are, 17 years later discussing this on the internet.

Beastie Boys : What You Give Is What You Get (from SHadrach 12")

Beastie Boys : And What You Give Is What You Get (Capitol, 1989)

Beastie Boys : Your Sister's Def (Capitol, 1989)

First I forget last time give repsect where respect is due, namely to the Rickster, also known as Ricky Powell, the creative genius behind the cover of the Love American Style single with the three naked girls. Not only this, but most pictures of the Beastie Boys that you remember were taken by this guy. Oh, and of course he's the one who dicked your mom in Car Thief.

The second 12" taken from Paul's Boutique, Shadrach with its deliciously awkward cover was another thick ep,with 4 non-LP remixes and exclusive tracks. The bonus on this one run from the incredibly good remix to the totally leftfield song. My favourite on the 12" is the instrumental/cut & paste rework of Shadrach, disguise under the name What You See Is What You Get. Using the same method that worked well on 33% God the Dust Brother and/or The Beastie Boys threw dozens of scratches, vocal samples and loop over the Shadrach beat to create a new and improved track.

The other track that I MP3'ed is an a cappella rap written by one time Beasties' DJ Dr Dre, member of the Original Concept, DJ on WBAU and who was at that time hosting Yo MTV Rap, and some other guy, named Anthony Davis (any idea who this is ??).

The other exclusive called Some Dumb Cop Gave Me Two Tickets Already deserve the award of the worst song with a dope name. On this one you just have a slowed down and drunken Mike D talking shit over a Young-Holt Unlimited track. I'm not gonna say it's boring, but, yeah it is.