Beastie Boys Collaborate With Bob Dylan on Upcoming Track

Posted on Jul 1st 2009 11:30AM by Benjy Eisen
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On their 1986 debut album, 'License to Ill,' the Beastie Boys boasted "If I played guitar I'd be Jimmy Page" and sampled riffs from Led Zeppelin's catalog. 23 years and seven albums later, the grey-haired rappers are shifting their sights from a guitar hero to a more mellow but equally iconic legend -- Bob Dylan.

The Beasties included some of Dylan's music on the song 'Finger Lickin' Good,' but a new sample they plan to use comes from props Dylan gave the trio on his XM Satellite show, 'Theme Time Radio Hour.' In fact, that is the sample. Ad Rock told Drowned in Sound this week that it's "more of a spoken word thing ... He played one of our songs and was talking about us; he's a big fan."

For the Beastie Boys, it's just another chance to pay homage to their roots. In the same interview, Mike D said Dylan was actually, "one of the first B-Boys, if not the first. What's more to say?" His cohort, Ad-Rock had an answer: "Billy Joel is the fifth B-Boy. That's just a side note. Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time."

But don't think this means the Beastie Boys have gone soft or are taking to retirement rock. On the upcoming 'Hot Sauce Committee Part 1', due on September 15, they pass the mic to both Santigold and Nas, They even flew Nas down to Bonnaroo last month for a surprise cameo where they debuted their collaboration, 'Too Many Rappers.'

There may be indeed be too many rappers, but we hope they make way for MC Bob Dylan.