Sure Shot

This article is about the Beastie Boys song. For other uses, see Sureshot (disambiguation).

"Sure Shot"
Single by Beastie Boys
from the album Ill Communication
Released	May 31, 1994
Format	Vinyl, maxi single, CD, Cassette
Recorded	1994 at G-Son Studios, Atwater Village; Tin Pan Alley, New York City
Genre	Alternative hip hop
Length	3:20
Label	Grand Royal, Capitol Records
Writer(s)	Beastie Boys, DJ Hurricane, Mario Caldato, Jr., Jeremy Steig
Producer	Beastie Boys, Mario Caldato, Jr.
Beastie Boys singles chronology
"Get It Together" (1994) "Sure Shot" (1994) "Root Down" (1995)
Audio sample file info · help Music video "Sure Shot" on YouTube

"Sure Shot" is a song by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released as the third single from their 1994 album Ill Communication. The single was released a few days after the release of the album, on May 31, 1994.

Release

The CD and cassette maxi single (with a total of 7 tracks) features three remixes of the title track, one by Large Professor, one by Mike Nardone and Dred Scott, and a third by the Prunes.

It also features 3 new songs, "Mullet Head" (a punk rock style song; the title is a reference to the much-ridiculed mullet hair-style), "Son of Neck Bone" (an instrumental track) and "The Vibes", a more traditional rap song in the manner of "Sure Shot".

Song structure

The driving force of the track "Sure Shot" is the flute riff, sampled from Jeremy Steig's "Howlin' for Judy", and hardcore beat. In the booklet for the Beastie Boys anthology, The Sounds of Science (1999), Ad-Rock writes of "Sure Shot":

I like this cut a lot. Just straight up hip hop. Like a lot of our songs, it's arranged like a hardcore [punk] song. Mathematical. Intro - verse - chorus - verse - chorus - break - chorus - verse - chorus - end. Nice. The flute line is from the elusive Jeremy Steig. Off the SP1200 it sounds nice.

The Beastie Boys had laid down most of the song, and had put together many of the lyrics, but they were missing a chorus (or hook) for the song. They called DJ Hurricane over the phone to see if he had any ideas, and out of his sleep, over the phone, Hurricane improvised the chorus which would become:

"Because you can't, you won't, and you don't stop

When you can't, you won't, and you don't stop

You know you can't, you won't, and you don't stop

[name of a Beastie Boy] .... come and rock the Sure Shot"

The chorus is also a reference to the structure found in the song "Jazz (We've Got)" by A Tribe Called Quest

Charts

Chart (1994)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	27
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	48