First Impressions: The 50 Best Hip-Hop Intro Tracks

17. Beastie Boys – “Rhymin’ and Stealin’”
Produced By Rick Rubin ~ Album: Licensed To Ill (1986)

Beastie Boys’ first album can be seen as a time capsule for both the group and the genre of rap music. Licensed To Ill was released in a time where rap was only just starting to terrorize suburban parents via their kid’s stereos.

It was also a time when the mixture of rap vocals placed over gnarly guitars and drums was a fairly new concept with other groups like Run-DMC using the same Rick Rubin sound.

Even though “Rhymin and Stealin” was the pirate themed parody ode to buffoonery, the track kicked opened the door for similar themes that ran through out the album

Memorable Lines:

One for all and all for one
Taking out emcees with a big shotgun
All for one and one for all
Because the Beastie Boys have gone AWOL
Friggin’ in the riggin’ and cuttin’ your throat
Big biting suckers gettin’ thrown in the moat