Blogocentric Formulations

No Sleep till Brooklyn

** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **

Song: "No Sleep till Brooklyn"
Original: Beastie Boys
Cover: Jay-Z


Might as well keep the Jay-Z rolling today by talking a little about his cover of "No Sleep till Brooklyn." I grew up listening to the Beastie Boys and even though they haven't been around for a few years now, they'll always have a special place in my heart. It's not too often you find bands who completely invent their own sound and the Beastie Boys' rap/rock style completely blew my mind when I first started listening to them.

You won't find this cover on any album (I don't think), because Jay-Z actually did the cover during a performance at the 2009 All Points West Music & Arts Festival. The Beastie Boys were originally slated to headline but had to pull out due his then-recent cancer diagnosis, so Jay-Z was tapped to take their place. Rather than do a set comprised entirely of his own songs, Jay-Z decided to cover this Beastie Boys song out of respect. I think he did a great job on the cover and further proved that 2004's Collision Course collaborative album with Linkin Park wasn't a fluke; the man knows how to effectively marry rock beats and rap lyrics.

Fun fact: The Beastie Boys changed the lyrics to this song slightly over the years, in an effort to change the immature attitude toward women that was demonstrated in the original. For example, the line "MCA's in the back he's skeezin' with a whore" was changed to "MCA's in the back with the mahjong board." And the line "Autographed pictures and classy hoes" was altered to "Autographed pictures to nobody knows."