"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a song by Beastie Boys as well as the sixth single on their debut studio album Licensed to Ill.
Production and play [edit]
The guitar riffs and solo are played by Kerry King, guitarist for Slayer, who had also released an album produced by Rick Rubin in 1986 (Reign in Blood). The song interpolates "T.N.T." by AC/DC (though tuned in a different way).[1] The video, directed by Ric Menello, is a parody of glam metal.
Later in their career, Beastie Boys continued to perform the song live, although with altered lyrics to reflect their more mature attitude towards women. "M.C.A.'s in the back because he's skeezin' with a whore," is changed to "M.C.A.'s in the back with the mahjong board",[2] and also from "Autographed pictures and classy hoes" to "Autographed pictures to nobody knows."[2]
The song features one of many homages to New York City's boroughs, and has been described as "joyful ranting."[3]
Music Video [edit]
The music video for "No Sleep till Brooklyn" was co-directed by Ric Menello and Adam Dubin.[4][5]Menello and Dubin also directed the video for the Beastie Boys' preceding single, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)".[4][5]. Kerry King, who plays guitar on this track, also appears in the video.
In popular culture [edit]
- The song is featured on the soundtrack of the Steven Seagal film Out for Justice.
- The Canadian teen drama Instant Star named its second season premiere two-part episode after this song. The show is known for naming each of its episodes after a hit song.
- Comedian Christopher Titus sarcastically referenced the song in his 2001 comedy special Norman Rockwell is Bleeding when describing an event from his youth in which he was on drugs and License to Ill was playing "at a soothing billion-and-five decibels". He said of it, "Imagine that. A bunch of California white guys singing (in a mocking voice) 'No Sleep 'til Brooklyn'! Yeah, we rock."
- The song is a playable track in the 2008 music video game Guitar Hero World Tour.
- Rapper Tone Lōc sampled the riff for his song "Ace Is on the House", which was featured in the end credits of the 1994 film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
- The song was used as part of the opening sequence for the 2010 movie Cop Out.
- The song was released as downloadable content into the Rock Band series on August 2, 2011.
Covers and parodies [edit]
Charts [edit]
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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