Album dossier / 1986

Licensed to Ill

Beastie Boys · Hip-Hop

Beastie Boys' Def Jam debut was recorded simultaneously with Slayer's Reign in Blood, both produced by Rick Rubin in the same studio complex -- a proximity that led Rubin to bring Slayer guitarist Kerry King down the hall to cut the solo on 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' for a flat one-off fee King later said he regretted not taking a royalty point for. Ad-Rock, Mike D and MCA wrote verses collectively during nightly outings to NYC's Danceteria club, pooling and refining lines for whichever song was 'the song of that month' before assembling them into finished tracks. It became the first hip-hop album to top the Billboard 200, but creative and financial disputes with Rubin and Def Jam over royalties led the group to leave the label entirely for their 1989 follow-up, Paul's Boutique.