Volume 19, Track 8
Posted on | August 15, 2010 | No Comments
“Professor Booty” by Beastie Boys (1992)
By starting the song with sampled dialog from the movie Wild Style[1] and then following it up with a conversation (with exaggerated voices, no less) that goes like,
“Professor, what’s another word for pirate treasure?
Well, I think it’s ‘booty’”
“Professor Booty” goes out of its way to show you that this song is meant to be fun, and a nice nod to the frat humor of the Beastie Boys of a few years prior. “I’m in the pocket just like Grady Tate/I got supplies of beats so you don’t have to wait/’Cuz I’m the Master Blaster/Drinkin’ up the Shasta/My voice sounds sweet ‘cuz it hasta,” exclaims Mike D during the introductory lyrics. Musically, the beats are heavy but still pitch-perfect. But the music of “Professor Booty” also shows a side of the Beasties that people who are familiar only with their hit singles probably are unaware of: the end of this song is kind of psychedelic. At around the 2:45 mark, the beats get a little slower and become spliced with exaggerated breathing. It’s kind of an unexpected shift but not only does it work, it also shows the creative range of the band in that they were able to seamlessly integrate trippy music without the help of disparate samples.
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[1] Wild Style is widely considered to be the first rap/hip hop movie made.
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