The offensive name The Beastie Boys initially had for ‘Licensed to Ill’
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 act 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 cleverly combined rock and hip-hop genres 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. Until the late 1990s, they had remained a powerful force in hip-hop, with their well-known projects such as Licensed To Ill and Paul’s Boutique.
That said, their debut album had a different name when it was created, and the title was offensive, to say the least. However, the 1980s was an offensive era in hip-hop and much of the music strived to be outrageously honest.
With tracks such as ‘F*ck Tha Police’, ‘Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here’ and Too $hort’s ‘The Bitch Sucks Dick’, there was no shortage of songs made to send a message. However, the Beastie Boys’ initial name for License To Ill would have caused an uproar as it targeted a continuously persecuted group in the 1980s.
Like a slew of rap groups of their era, The Beastie Boys said (and did) some extremely ill-judged things in their early days. Concerning their lyrics, in his book The Beastie Boys Book, Mike D explained, “Our main goal was just to crack each other up. We just started writing about the ridiculous stuff we did and saw.”
The Beastie Boys, akin to their hip-hop peers in N.W.A, Boogie Down Productions and the 2 Live Crew, wrote and delivered lyrics that would be considered misogynistic and homophobic. However, shockingly, during that decade, much of it was considered normal.
The original title of their debut body of work would have been offensive, even back then. In their book, Ad-Rock revealed that while the group was brainstorming and thinking of a title, the collective agreed to go with producer Rick Rubin’s suggestion that it be called Don’t Be a F*ggot.
As soon as they delivered the final project, it was rejected by Columbia Records with a resounding “No!” Explaining their thought process behind it, Ad-Rock once wrote, “It was meant to be a joke about jock frat dudes. But homophobia’s not funny, and we are truly sorry.”
Over the years, many MCs have had to retract some of the things they said in the ’80s and even the ’90s due to the amount of offence they have caused particular groups, most pertinently women and the gay community.
In a 1999 apology letter written for Time Out New York, Ad-Rock professed, “I would like to formally apologize to the entire gay and lesbian community for the s—ty and ignorant things we said on our first record. There are no excuses. But time has healed our stupidity…. We have learned and sincerely changed since the ’80s.”