The Skills to Pay the Bills

In 1987, three white Jewish boys from New York City were the most fascinating phenomenon in the burgeoning rap music scene. No, really. The Beastie Boys, barely out of their teens, had just released Licensed to Ill, which quickly became the first hip-hop album to reach number one on the charts. Pairing vulgar and hilarious lyrics with heavy-metal-derived musical backing and a punk DIY attitude, the Beasties—MCA (Adam Yauch), King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz), and Mike D (Michael Diamond)—changed the face of rap forever by bringing it into the mainstream. In the years that followed, they would change it again and again—musically, culturally, and politically.

To create The Skills to Pay the Bills, Alan Light spent years taping conversations with the group, their friends, roommates, producers, engineers, collaborators, and other artists from Madonna to Chuck D. Here, as told from the inside, is the fascinating tale of three rump-shaking, innovative rappers whose albums still go platinum and whose tours continue to fill arenas after more than two decades of making music. The Skills to Pay the Bills chronicles the Beasties’ unique journey from the hardcore New York underground to the top of the Billboard charts. It is a story of larger-than-life personalities, noble causes, funky beats, and truly one of the most influential and ambitious groups of all time.

I said, Where’d you get your information from, huh?

“The first time I met them, I thought I was on Candid Camera.” —D.M.C.

“I think I made out with Adam Yauch once in their dressing room.” —Madonna

“One of my favorite groups is the Beastie Boys.” —Bono

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Title of ebook: The Skills to Pay the Bills
ISBN: 9780307339669
parent-ISBN: 9780609604786
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 01-2006
Released online for download: 01-24-2006
Author of eBook: Light, Alan

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The Skills to Pay the Bills

Chapter One

1: Young and Useless: 1981–82

ADAM YAUCH: I met this guy John Berry at Tier 3, a little teeny hole-in-the-wall punk club, and we hung out a little. Then a day or two later, John brought Mike with him. They had this band called the Young Aborigines—Mike played drums, John played guitar, Kate Schellenbach played percussion.

JOHN BERRY: When I first met Adam Yauch, he was the funniest motherfucker I’d ever met in my life. He had this incredible knack for picking up somebody’s voice. He was really into Monty Python. I think a heavy influence of his was the silly-walk skit.

ADAM HOROVITZ: I have this memory of seeing Yauch at a record store. He wore an overcoat and boots and just looked funny. I’m not saying that I looked cool, but he looked funny.

SASHA FRERE-JONES: I went to Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn Heights, this private, progressive school. Mike D came in as a junior. He was from Manhattan, was into punk rock, and instantly started hanging out with all the cool, good-looking girls. He used to wear an Isaac Hayes T-shirt, which was incredibly cool at the time.

JILL CUNNIFF: When I m ... read full excerpt from: The Skills to Pay the Bills ebook

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