Beastie Boys Story is an emotional and fun sharing of the hip-hop trio’s life and adventures told in an intimate way that is different from an ordinary documentary.
Currently streaming on Apple TV+, the documentary was filmed during a live story-telling presentation. Members, Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) and Mike D (Michael Diamond) spoke about being a group of friends, including their dear friend and group member MCA (Adam Yauch), through their rise to fame.
The trio started off as a group of teenage friends out of New York City, who performed punk rock music to just their friends. As they continued to have fun playing music, they ran into record producer Rick Rubin. Partnered with Russell Simmons, Rubin started Def Jam Recordings, who the Beastie Boys would eventually sign onto.
The Beastie Boys, which stood for Boys Entering Anarchic States Towards Internal Excellence Boys, got their start opening up for Madonna earlier in her career. Once they came back from touring, the group released their first album, “Licensed to Ill,” which was a big splash.
Horovitz and Diamond both shared in the documentary that although it is their most popular album to this day, they have a lot of regrets that come with it. They were young teenagers at the time and almost every song on the album, they stated, was written as a joke. When touring, they wanted to build their reputation as a bunch of “a-holes” that were always going to frat parties, they kept that reputation for a while.
The hip-hop group had their ups and downs throughout their career but later were able to find a new light in themselves. The two remaining members shared that from their third album, “Ill Communication,” to their last performance together, before the passing of Youch to cancer in 2012, the trio found themselves again in each other, felt the most accomplished and were at their happiest.
The unique way this documentary was filmed helped catch the raw emotion of the stories that Korovitz and Diamond were telling. When talking on how they felt about their outlook, on finding themselves again and how they truly felt about their dear friend MCA, every emotion was felt through the live presentation.
Most documentaries have a narrator and sit-down interviews to tell the story of the main character. The way this documentary is filmed, it gives a whole new aesthetic to the genre. The production, narration and storytelling come straight from the two members of the Beastie Boys. It is honest, emotional, hilarious and true to the Beastie Boys on their own.
From the start to all the way through the credits, where they interact with popular comedians in their live audience, you get to see the Beastie Boys being themselves. If viewers weren’t a fan before, this documentary will make then one by the end, as you really get to know MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D.