Reddit reviews The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique (33 1/3)

If you ever run across the 33^1/3 books anywhere and they have the Pauls Boutique edition then you should definitely grab it. Has some great insight into the hilarious behind the scenes events that help shape the album as well as some great chapters on the impact and the reception when the album dropped.

The 33 & 1/3rd of Paul's Boutique is worthwhile: https://www.amazon.com/Beastie-Boys-Pauls-Boutique-33/dp/0826417418

There was a brilliant pocket sized book about the creation of the album released a while ago, I think on it's 20th anniversary. Loads of history into what the BB's were back then and the trials and tribulaitons of all of the sampling clearance dramas...here are the UK and US Amazon links to it, sorry everyone else! But I'm sure you can find it through those. :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Beastie-Boys-Pauls-Boutique/dp/0826417418

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beastie-Boys-Pauls-Boutique/dp/0826417418

thats a large portion of the premise of this excellent book about the album. a very interesting read, i highly recommend the 33 1/3 book series in general (there are also books about illmatic and MBDTF, among others)

Yes, Dust Brothers made the beats, but it's not like they had all these tracks and then the Beasties just rapped over it. The Beasties were there throughout the whole process and had input on tracks. And their verses on those tracks are great.

Read this, it's great and insightful:
http://www.amazon.com/Beastie-Boys-Pauls-Boutique-33/dp/0826417418

I can’t urge people enough to read Dan LeRoy’s book. It is a definitive time capsule of the making of the best album of all time IMO m

There's an interesting site that lists the samples by song...here. I'm not sure how complete it is, but it does a good job. Also, this book is an awesome read and talks a lot about the sampling issues with the album.

Link to the book he mentions. I highly recommend it.

The story behind Paul's Boutique is just as interesting as the album itself. Coming off the huge success and massive pressure to repeat Licensed to Ill led to some pretty shitty contract conflicts with Def Jam. Stratospheric 80s fame + a move to Los Angeles + drugs + the Dust Brothers became the ingredients for one of the richest, unrecreatable musical mindfucks that still holds up decades later.


It's a relatively quick read, but the 33 1/3 series book covering the album does an awesome job of telling the tale of the conditions and scenarios that led to its creation: http://www.amazon.com/The-Beastie-Boys-Pauls-Boutique/dp/0826417418

No problem! It's a pretty cool series. I also recommend the Public Enemy , Beastie Boys , and Slayer editions. Good stuff.

Read this.

Root For The Villain: Rap, Bull$hit, and a Celebration of Failure by J-Zone (who, if you're familiar with his music, is equally funny in his book)

Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor (it's a graphic novel focusing on the early days of hip hop done in the style of 90s Image comics)

How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC by Paul Edwards (this is full of interviews with some of the greatest of all time discussing every single aspect of rapping)

The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop by Dan Charnas (haven't read this one yet, but I've heard great things about it.)

Also, if you're interested in books on specific albums, the 33 1/3 series has quite a few: Illmatic, Paul's Boutique, Donuts, People's Instinctive Travels And the Paths of Rhythm, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. If you're a Nas fan you may enjoy Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic, which is a more scholarly approach to Illmatic