The White Rap

I downloaded the new Beastie Boys album, To The 5 Boroughs, off iTunes today and it's quite good for a bunch of older, Jewish, white men. I of course mean that as a compliment.

The album is relatively heartfelt and does aim to please the folks who have it tough in New York City since 9/11, which is probably 2/3 of the population here. But the beats sound like they came off a tin can and only a few of the rhythms feel very original. Mostly, the lyrics are righteous which is how the B-Boys always have been. I need to listen to the album a few more times before making a more final verdict, but the album comes off as new-ish.

I didn't mention that I accidentally downloaded the CLEAN version of the album. My dumb. Gee, could this possibly effect the above perspective?

Finally, I like the cover art a lot. It's a flat-out fine drawing by the otherwise average illustrator Matteo Pericoli.

Posted by Andrew at June 18, 2004 10:07 PM