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The Beastie Boys were a formidable force in the 1980s and were very much part of the thriving and growing East Coast hip-hop scene. The Beastie Boys were a critical pillar of the culture, with the likes of LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and the Juice Crew, who ran New York City. 

The collective wasn’t your typical rap group. With Ad-Rock, Mike D and MCA hailing from regular middle-class Jewish families, they definitely didn’t tell a rags-to-riches story. Instead, they delivered a cross-cultural cacophony centred around the rebellious spirit of rock and hip-hop music.

The collective’s formation was unusual. However, Ad-Rock’s journey was particularly interesting. The Paul’s Boutique creator didn’t always want to enter the music industry. In fact, he had a job before he even entered the studio, and it was a far cry from the rebellion of hip-hop.

During a revelatory conversation with the esteemed artist, film director and creative Andy Warhol, Ad-Rock spoke about his job in New York just before he got drafted into the industry. The Licensed To Ill creator admitted that his first job as an adolescent was as a “Counselor-in-training at a summer camp in Massachusetts.”

However, when he opened up about his strange entrance into the record industry, Ad-Rock revealed the bizarre job he had before everything changed, telling Warhol, “Well, it really all started for me at the Joffrey Ballet School. I was teaching there, on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village.”

It is hard to imagine that the loud, rebellious, and defiant Ad-rock was once a ballet teacher, and it still baffles many. Still, the emcee detailed the specifics of his job, admitting to Warhol that his class was “just entry-level” and consisted of “very basic technique.”

Regardless of how many people ridiculed him for the job, it was partially responsible for catapulting him to fame. Recalling how it got him into the studio, the ‘No Sleep Til Brooklyn’ rhymer reflected, “One of my student’s friend’s uncle ran a record label, and since I was already working within the arts, I agreed to a meeting. That’s how I first met Tommy Mottola and Bert Padell.”

Tony Mottola was a well-connected manager who knew New York City’s underground music scene like the back of his hand. That said, he was so knowledgeable that he later became chairman and CEO of Sony Music. The Beastie Boys’ rise is a patchwork of different figures. However, Tommy Mottola undoubtedly got the trio’s material out there, and soon enough, Rick Rubin was paying attention. From there, the rest is history.

While speaking to Andy Warhol, Ad-Rock admitted that he had worked an unusually large number of jobs before he and his friends managed to get a shot at fame. One of his favourites was selling Ice Cream with his best friend.

Opening up about that beloved job, Ad-Rock explained, “My best friend Nadia was my boss at an ice cream store, and she taught me how to properly steal money and ice cream. (I did get fired by the owners for stealing, but I’m sure it was because I was doing it wrong.)”

Considering what the Beastie Boys went on to achieve, making one of the highest-selling hip-hop albums of all time, it is quite a shock to know that Ad-Rock got his foot in the door by happening to teach ballet in Greenwich Village.