June 19, 1997
Who would have guessed? Three whiny white adolescents grew up in a big way on their sophomore release, and with groundbreaking production from the Dust Brothers (who also did Beck's Odelay) produced one of hip-hop's finest moments, perhaps second only to A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory. Paul's Boutique is one of the few hip-hop albums that is not only consistently satisfying from looped start to bass popping finish, but whose innovative and enormously influential approach sounds as fresh today as it did eight years ago.
The raps are clever and surprisingly literate. The Beastie's sly lyrics are intelligent and hilarious by turns, citing Cezanne, Issac Newton, Fred Flintstone, Van Gogh and Hawaii Five-O for starters; any sacred cow and all pop culture wreckage is fair game, and their verbal reach never exceeds their grasp. The trio's breathless call-and-response technique is wildly energetic, a flood of similes and Brooklyn vignettes that leave a listener laughing too hard to keep up.
But as complex as the internal and staggered rhyming gets, the music is equally impressive. Dense to the point of implosion, each song is rich with intricate samples from James Brown, reggae, country, soul and heavy metal, all-encompassing in the search for the perfect groove. The 15-minute suite "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" does for rhythm what side 2 of Abbey Road did for melody; it's a riotous whirlwind tour through hip-hop culture, recalling old school Kurtis Blow and Afrika Bambatta while revitalizing the future.
"Hey Ladies" has the funkiest break since James Brown's "Funky Drummer", Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" is deconstructed into the staggering, winking word play of "Egg Man", and "Shake Your Rump" isn't a request, it's an irresistible break beat manifesto. Want to know how good rap gets? This ultimate party album is it.
- Jared O'Connor
pop culture wreckage