The Beastie Boys were an incredibly impactful group operating in New York during the 1980s. Despite the absolute supremacy of Run-DMC at the time, the Beastie Boys were a highly prevalent group with a very loyal fanbase.
Comprised of Michael ‘Mike D’ Diamond, Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch and Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz, akin to Run-DMC, the trio brought the genres of rock and hip-hop together in a clever way and made an indelible mark on the culture.
The collective was formed in 1978, and by the mid-’80s, they had quickly risen to the top of the charts, and until the late 1990s, they remained a powerful force in hip-hop. However, aside from their well-known projects such as, Licensed To Ill and Paul’s Boutique.
That said, the latter features a groovy track that Ad-Rock considers unremarkable. The track, entitled ‘Shake Your Rump’, featured a bass-heavy catchy groove and sampled a plethora of songs. The main line, “Well, I think it’s booty, that’s what it is,” is a sample of a 1971 song called ‘Loose Booty’ by Willie Henderson. It also includes elements from the 1969 single ‘Give It Up’ by Kool & the Gang and ‘I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe’ by Jimmy Smith.
In the paperback Beastie Boys Book written by Ad-Rock and Mike D, the former wrote, “There’s nothing outrageously remarkable about this song. We just looped a beat and wrote lyrics. We switched back and forth with our rhymes so often that we wanted to each take a verse for a change. It’s dumb and funny, and the music is funky. What else do you want?”
The track also had a follow-up on the group’s third album, Check Your Head, in 1992, entitled Professor Booty. The 1989 precursor saw the song’s producer, Mario Caldato, get a writing credit on this song along with the three group members.
Paul’s Boutique debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified double-platinum. Many have called it the Sgt Pepper of hip-hop. You can listen to ‘Shake Your Rump’ below.
