To The 5 Boroughs (Reissue) (2CD)

To The 5 Boroughs saw the Beasties follow the sprawling and eclectic Hello Nasty (1998) with the most hip-hop focused album of their career. Taking inspiration from the stark rhythms and breaks of early NYC hip-hop, the album served as a love letter to the city that formed them and the music which inspired them as hardcore-obsessed teenagers. In keeping with their excellent 1999 single ‘Alive’ (one of the ‘new’ tracks on the hits and curios anthology The Sounds Of Science), To The 5 Boroughs was the group’s most socially conscious and political album, taking shots at the George W Bush administration, the ‘war on terror’ and the US’ involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. Being the Beasties, this was balanced by obscure samples galore as well as a plethora of deliciously goofy lines (who else would boast, “I’ve got more rhymes than Carl Sagan’s got turtlenecks”?).

Tracklist