Release Date: May 3, 2011
“Good people, unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, the ‘clean’ version of our new album, The Hot Sauce, Committee Part Two, has leaked. So as a hostile and retaliatory measure with great hubris we are making the full explicit aka filthy dirty nasty version available for streaming on our site. We hope this brings much happiness, hugs, and harmony. Enjoy. Kikoos for life!”
—Thank you, The Management
The Three Stooges of hip-hop have unleashed their bag of tricks on an eager listenership once again, and the b-boy Bard exiles have brought back the funk and the energy that makes so much of their discography such a hoot. When the “clean edit” leaked about a week before its scheduled in-store drop on May 3, they retaliated by streaming the “filthy” edit in its entirety on their website, so everyone with an internet connection can now hear their aspirations to Shakespearean lyricism on such potential classics of post-modern literature as “Crazy Ass Shit,” “Funky Donkey” and “Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament.”
Seriously, though, rumors of their demise were greatly exaggerated, especially given they canceled a number of tour dates and pulled out of Lollapalooza 2009 due to member Adam “MCA” Yauch’s cancer treatments, for this is their strongest and most straightforward outing since their love letter to New York, To The 5 Boroughs. It’s hard to believe their last proper hip-hop full-length came out almost seven years ago, but a few smatterings from this collection and other one-offs, including their Grammy-winning instrumental record, 2007’s The Mix-Up have satiated the palates of hardcore fans, at least to a certain extent.
These three white kids who came of age merging punk and hip-hop at small liberal arts college, Bard, have returned full circle to defend the fight for their right to party.
As they espouse on the cut that kicks off this collection, “Make Some Noise”: “Party on the left, party on the right/Party for the motherfuckin’ right to fight,” a welcome philosophical statement, given that the instrumental introduction sounds a bit like the theme to ’70s generation gap sitcom “Sanford & Son.” The Boys are offering a Passion Pit remix of the cut with a pre-order of the album. The beats here even echo “Brass Monkey” from their 1986 debut Licensed to Ill and “Shadrach” from its initially under-appreciated follow-up Paul’s Boutique. The second cut, “Nonstop Disco Powerpack,” begins with a traditional James Brown rhythmic trope but quickly moves into a discussion of how each of member is feeling, a fairly standard cliche in the hip-hop world, but an act that takes on a newly meaningful resonance, given MCA’s recent health issues notwithstanding, is that it’s the funkiest, most engaging cut here—”This is the way we run it down/B-boys in the house ’til the break of dawn,” and God forbid it should be any other way.
After a booming post-witch-house glitch pop intro, a powerful guest spot from Nas adds a valuable fourth musketeer on “Too Many Rappers [New Reactionaries Version]” and gives currency to their charge of “too many rappers, not enough MCs.” “Oh my God just look at me/Grandpa been rappin’ since ’83,” MCA shouts on the cut in his characteristic rap.
They hearken to their punk rock roots on “Lee Majors Come Again” and unleash some “Crazy Ass Shit” that includes a little girl reciting the words to “Brass Monkey.” Although “The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine” and “The Bill Harper Collection” aren’t much more than throw-away jokes, the solid tracks throughout make that an easy mis-step to forgive. After all just because a joke is a throw-away, that doesn’t mean it’s not funny.
Never mind what happened to Hot Sauce Committee Part One, Part Two is some dope shit throughout. Good luck trying to go to sleep after cranking this one up and spinning it a few times. The Beastie Boys aren’t dead. Long live the Beastie Boys.
Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part Two Tracklist:
- “Make Some Noise”
- “Nonstop Disco Powerpack”
- “OK”
- “Too Many Rappers [New Reactionaries Version]”
- “Say It”
- “The Bil Harper Collection”
- “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win”
- “Long Burn the Fire”
- “Funky Donkey”
- “The Larry Routine”
- “Tadlock’s Glasses”
- “Lee Majors Come Again”
- “Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament”
- “Here’s a Little Something for Ya”
- “Crazy Ass Shit”
- “The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine”
