10 Perfect Rap Songs For Rock Music Fans

From day one, the Beastie Boys always seemed to have much more rock and roll credentials than straight up hip hop. They were never meant to be gangstas or anything, and even their first few records were them rapping over some of hard rock's biggest acts, whether that meant flipping a Led Zeppelin sample or getting Kerry King to play a solo on their song. That was just interpreting someone else's work, and things got a lot more interesting when the Beasties picked up their own instruments.

With the only exception being maybe the Roots, Sabotage is one of the few hip hop songs where the Beasties are behind every instrument, as MCA delivers that now iconic bass riff that gets your blood pumping the moment that you hear it. A lot had changed since the days of Licensed to Ill, and the Beasties had gone more aggro in their production on this song, almost sounding dark and industrial in some spots with the way everything is mixed.

Seeing how this kind of song already had legs on the previous album with So What'cha Want, the band already knew they had something here. That was the proof of concept though, and hearing this song along with the over the top music video gave us a good idea of where the Beasties were headed. This was still hip hop to be sure, but it was now on the same level as something like punk rock.