The Beastie Boys are set to tell their story in a new book
Almost 600 pages full of anecdotes, rare photos, original illustrations, more...
The Beastie Boys, the pioneering, Grammy-winning American hip-hop group, are releasing a new book this fall that is set to tell their story in their own words.
Beastie Boys Book, spearheaded by founding members Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, follows the group’s nearly-40-year evolution from NYC hardcore punk band to record-breaking hip-hop trailblazers. The 592-page memoir will feature loads of anecdotes, rare photos, original illustrations, mixtape playlists and more, as well as contributions from friends and collaborators like Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, Amy Poehler and others. The book will also feature other unique elements like a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a map of Beastie Boys’ New York, a graphic novel and more.
The memoir — first announced in 2013, a year after the death of cofounder Adam Yauch — is said to offer a “panoramic experience” via its unique, multimedia approach.
“I think a lot of times when I read a band book or I watch a music documentary,” said Mike D in an interview on Beats 1 earlier this year, “maybe I’m just kind of ADD, I get a little bored. But actually, I don’t think they do the subject matter justice because it’s kinda surreal what happens in bands’ lives, so you kind of have to use all dimensions to tell the story more accurately. I can say pretty confidently, it will be unlike any other music book.”
In other recent news, several rave- and electronic-music-related books have been announced this year including: Clubbed: A Visual History of UK Club Culture, which celebrates classic rave flyers and club artwork; Mars by 1980: The Story of Electronic Music, which chronicles the vast and varied history of electronic music and its culture; Flying Over England: Rave Flyer Art Of The Early 90s, which features rave posters collected from UK events in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s; Clubbed, which highlights and celebrates some of the electronic scene’s most iconic imagery; and Rave On: Global Adventures In Electronic Dance Music, which documents the evolution and ever-changing culture of electronic music.
Beastie Boys Book, out 1st November in hardback and e-book format via Faber, is available now for pre-order via the band’s official website.
