Beastie Boys - Hold It Now, Hit It

What this video is

Released on or shortly after Licensed to Ill (November 15, 1986, Def Jam/Columbia Records) — the first rap album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 — 'Hold It Now, Hit It' exists within one of the most culturally significant moments in hip-hop history. The Beastie Boys, three Jewish white men from Manhattan, were crossing racial and genre lines in American popular music at a time when hip-hop was still largely…

Why it matters

As a track and video from Licensed to Ill, 'Hold It Now, Hit It' is a primary artifact of the rap-rock crossover that defined Def Jam's mid-80s commercial breakthrough. Rick Rubin's production fused block-party hip-hop with heavy metal drum programming, and the video's performance-doc aesthetic…