fight for your right

2022 week 3 | licensed to ill by beastie boys

this week’s album was inspired by Mitch showing me this 30 minute video from 2011 of “Fight For Your Right” revisited, chock full of weird cameos, goofy visuals, and honestly just a lot of fun being had in celebration of the group, this song, and the culture around it. I realized, (1) that this album came out in 1986 (!) which blew the mind of this 90s baby. the first song on the album samples led zeppelin (who have been near and dear to my heart since high school) and their final album came out only 4 years before Licensed to Ill! in my mind, these two groups were so far away from each other in the musical landscape, but the reality is that the way we are all introduced to certain music is shaped and formed by the culture or counterculture itself. the people listening to led zeppelin’s final album weren’t necessarily the same as those discovering newcomers like the beastie boys.

I like to think I have some level of knowledge surrounding music history, but having not lived during most eras of music, the contextual Venn diagram can so easily slip through the cracks. and I love to learn about it! I could spend days watching any and every music doc, Behind the Music episode, even a good E! True Hollywood Story (taken with many grains of salt). so this week is a first time visitor revisiting this major moment in music history.