Today in Hip-Hop — November 15: Licensed to Ill Turns 40, and the Joke Is Still on the Tail

November 15, 1986. Def Jam and Columbia released Licensed to Ill, the debut album from Beastie Boys. It’s 40 years old today. Before you get into the songs, look at the tail of the jet on the cover. Its registration number reads 3MTA3. Hold it up to a mirror. That one joke tells you the whole album: three New York punk kids, a producer who loved metal as much as rap, and a sense of humor built to get under adults’ skin.

Credits Hiding in Plain Sight

Rick Rubin produced it, with the Beasties credited as co-producers. Steve Ett was head engineer and Howie Weinberg mastered it. Rubin was also making Slayer records for Def Jam at the time, which is how Kerry King ended up playing lead guitar on “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” “Rhymin & Stealin” opens on John Bonham’s “When the Levee Breaks” drums. A Led Zeppelin break under a rap record, on Def Jam, in 1986.

The liner notes carry the real jewels. One line reads “Special Knowledge To Run, DMC & Jam-Master Jay.” That’s more than a shout-out: Darryl McDaniels and Joseph Simmons are credited writers on “Paul Revere” and “Slow and Low.” The album is dedicated to Doris Keefe Horovitz, Ad-Rock’s mother. The sleeve photos are by Ricky Powell, the downtown photographer who toured with them. World B. Omes (David Gambale) painted the cover art, with Stephen Byram on art direction. On one catalogued US Def Jam pressing, the dead wax is etched “GET OFF MY BACK” on side A and “WATCH YOUR BACK” on side B.

The numbers are well known. It was the first rap LP to top the Billboard 200. The RIAA certified it Platinum on February 2, 1987 and Diamond on March 4, 2015. It was also the only album the group made for Def Jam. They left for Capitol, and Paul’s Boutique followed in 1989. We told the label side in our Def Jam Records history, and the members’ stories in our Ad-Rock at 60 and MCA pieces.

Wear It

Forty years later, the joke on the tail still lands. We made a Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill tee and a Licensed to Ill hoodie for the heads who still check the dead wax. If you’re with the Dust Brothers era, the Paul’s Boutique tee is waiting.

Also Today in Hip-Hop

• 1994: Method Man, Tical (32 years). It was the first Wu-Tang solo album after 36 Chambers, and it also came out on Def Jam, eight years to the day after the Beasties. RZA produced all of it except “Sub Crazy” (co-produced with 4th Disciple) and “P.L.O. Style” (co-produced by Meth). It went Gold in January 1995 and Platinum that July. Our full Tical breakdown and the Tical tribute tee are here.
• 1967: E-40 is born in Vallejo, California (59 today). He founded the Click and Sick Wid It Records, and he’s the Bay’s slang architect. Rap is still borrowing his vocabulary.
• 1968: Ol’ Dirty Bastard is born in New York City. He would’ve been 58 today. A Wu-Tang founder and first cousin to RZA and GZA, he was the wildcard nobody could copy. Rep him with the Return to the 36 Chambers tee.

Stay creative — The Custom Creative Team

Jon Jones