What was the first rap album to go number one?
It took a long time for hip-hop and rap music to be taken seriously within the music industry, as exemplified by the scene’s contentious history with the Grammy Awards. But, despite record bosses and award show organisers’ reservations, rap music has been extremely popular for a very long time.
It was in the ’80s that a rap album first went to number one in the US album charts, which, perhaps, is earlier than might have been expected. But with the arrival of the Beastie Boys and their debut album in November 1986, rap scored its first chart-topping hit. Licensed to Ill was a sensation.
The members of the Beastie Boys, Ad-Rock, Mike D and MCA, had started out in New York rock music circles, but they came to be more and more interested in the emerging rap scene of the era. They adopted the style for themselves, but, in order to perform it, they needed a DJ. That led them, eventually, to a young unknown by the name of Rick Rubin.
Rubin, today celebrated as a legendary producer associated with literally some of the biggest musical artists in pop history, DJ’d for the Beasties, as well as producing music for them, too. He even signed them to his new label, Def Jam Recordings, which he had set up in 1984 alongside Russell Simmons.
With Rubin at the helm, the Beastie Boys recorded what would become Licensed to Ill in 1986, releasing it in November that year. The record produced seven singles, but the biggest of them all was the rock-infused ‘(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)’
Licensed to Ill was a smash with the critics and audiences alike, and it is now considered to be one of hip-hop’s most important albums. But even though it was such a big success, it marked the first and last time that the band would release an album on Def Jam. They’d soon split with Rubin because of “creative differences,” as the euphemism always goes.
It took a little while for Licensed to Ill to rise to the top, but, once it did, it refused to budge. It topped the Billboard 200 in early March 1987 and it stayed at number one for seven weeks in a row. It was a massive step forward for hip-hop in general.
It very easily might not have played out that way. The group had originally planned to call their album by a homophobic title, which would surely have damaged its commercial appeal. They were convinced to drop the original title of Don’t Be a F—t, and Ad-Rock later apologised for it.
The album, under its proper title of Licensed to Ill, is considered an all-timer today, and it has even reemerged on the charts over the years. After MCA died in 2012, the Beastie Boys experienced a surge in popularity that saw their debut record chart again. It has sold millions of copies since its release, and marks a major moment in hip-hop’s history.