The Paul’s Boutique Anniversary is a Fine Time to Revisit a Beastie Best
When the Paul’s Boutique anniversary rolls around each year, I always make it a point to revisit. And I’m always delighted by what I remember.
Released on July 25, 1989, Paul’s Boutique is the Beastie Boys sophomore album. And initially, it was considered a sophomore slump. It paled in comparison sales-wise to the B-Boys 1986 debut Licensed to Ill, and Capitol Records did precious little to promote it.
By 1999, the album had gone double-platinum. So what happened in the ensuing decade? The very things the album was criticized for–being too experimental, sample-heavy, and lyrically dense–became what the album was celebrated for.
Paul’s Boutique Anniversary: A Sample of Samples
Sampling has become a cornerstone of rap music. But in 1989, the art was in its nascency. The Beasties produced Paul’s Boutique with the Dust Brothers, who elevated sampling to an artform. The album contains over 100 samples, with 24 on “B-Boy Bouillabaisse” alone.
The myth of those samples not being cleared is just that: the samples were all cleared, eventually. Of course, the amounts they were cleared for back in the day were a fraction of what it would cost to make the album today.
Paul’s Boutique Anniversary: A Capsule of Time
Would Paul’s Boutique get made today? It’s hard to say. That’s a lot of dough to commit to clearing samples for a newer act with only one album to date. I think that’s what makes the album so special. It’s a moment in time both musically and production-wise.
That’s the legacy of Paul’s Boutique. It not only helped the Beastie Boys find their creative stride, it became a watershed moment in hip-hop, inspiring sample-geared work for decades to come. It’s also a damn good record.
See where lands alongside the rest of the Beastieography below.