This week, the Randomizer brings us the Beastie Boys' stone cold 1989 classic, Paul's Boutique. This is the copy I'm playing today, on two gorgeous, violet discs. It's funny, I didn't even get into hip-hop right away. I was a rock n' roll kid, and it took me a bit to find my way in. But by the end of the 80s, my holy trinity was Public Enemy's Nation of Millions (1988), De La Soul's 3 Feet High (1989) and Paul's Boutique. Played those to death and they still sound great today as far as I'm concerned. There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said, except this album has stuck with me all this time and I still listen to it on the regular. This album was one of the reasons sampling laws were created, they got it all done the hard way (ages before Pro Tools and DAWS became the norm) AND it's still the gold standard. Go get you a copy.
PSA: listen to the audiobook version of the Beastie Boys Book if you can. The list of people who narrate it is a who's who cornucopia of crazy cool peeps. If you listen/read, you'll discover that Beastie Boys came up as a hardcore band, then fell in love with hip-hop and decided to change up their entire sound. Just super cool.