Okay, I just picked up the new Beastie Boys album, To The 5 Boroughs, during my almost weekly trip to Best Buy. It’s been waaaay too long since the boys released something, and this is something. I’m about halfway through the disc, and I’ve yet to feel the urge to skip ahead, which is a really good sign. As for lyrical content, let’s just say they don’t take kindly to the current administration and it’s tactics. Yes, it’s kind of political, but not overtly so, and certainly not in an annoying way. And yet it is still fun in the typical B-boys way. One kind of weird bit: the background sample for the song Triple Trouble is very familiar… it’s the background track for Rapper’s Delight, which of course is a sample of something else entirely. But that just seemed like an odd choice, especially from such a famous and influential song.
Also picked up Bumblebeez 81‘s debut release, The Printz. Kind of on a rap kick, I guess. So, who forgot to tell Brisbane that the “band name with trailing numbers” thing died a few years ago? At least it’s something different… another “pop punk” band with numbers would kill me.
Australian rap always makes me grin.