Three white Jewish boys from New York City became the most fascinating phenomenon in the burgeoning rap music scene in the 1980s. The Beastie Boys, barely out of their teens, released License to Ill, which quickly reached number one on the charts and became the first hip-hop album to achieve that exalted status. With their unique blend of punk, funk, and rap, the Beastie Boys reinvented their sound and became the ultimate tastemakers and cool hunters, selling over 50 million records worldwide and cementing their place as one of the greatest rap groups of all time.
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