Hello Nasty is the fifth studio album by the Beastie Boys, released by Capitol Records and Grand Royal Records on July 14, 1998. It sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, and won Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (for Intergalactic) at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards. In Beastie Boys Book (2018), Ad-Rock said he felt Hello Nasty was the group’s “best record”. The album was released on July 14, 1998, just over four years after the previous Beastie Boys album, Ill Communication. It marked the addition of DMC champion Mix Master Mike to the group’s line-up, and was the last time the band worked with percussionist Eric Bobo or a co-producer. There are several guest vocalists on the album, including Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto on I Don’t Know, and Jamaican dub musician Lee “Scratch” Perry on Dr. Lee, PhD.
The title of the album was allegedly inspired by the receptionist of the band’s NY-based publicity firm Nasty Little Man, who would answer the phone with the greeting “Hello, Nasty.” In addition, the title is mentioned in the song Putting Shame in Your Game. The cover art depicts the three Beastie Boys (Horovitz, Yauch, and Diamond, from left to right) stuffed in an aluminum sardine tin and getting baked in the sun. The band references this image in the song Body Movin’, with the lyrics: “MCA, where have you been?/Packed like sardines in a tin.”
Tracklist:
- Super Disco Breakin’
- The Move
- Remote Control
- Song for the Man (with Brooke Williams)
- Just a Test
- Body Movin’
- Intergalactic
- Sneakin’ Out the Hospital
- Putting Shame in Your Game
- Flowin’ Prose
- And Me
- Three MC’s and One DJ
- The Grasshopper Unit (Keep Movin’) (with Biz Markie)
- Song for Junior (with Jill Cunniff)
- I Don’t Know (with Miho Hatori)
- The Negotiation Limerick File
- Electrify
- Picture This (with Brooke Williams)
- Unite
- Dedication
- Dr. Lee, PhD (with Lee “Scratch” Perry)
- Instant Death
Credits
Beastie Boys: producers
Mario Caldato, Jr.: producer
Mix Master Mike: DJ (8, 9, 12, 13, 19)
“Money” Mark Nishita: keyboards (4, 14, 20, 21)
Eric Bobo: percussion (3, 8, 14, 21)
Brooke Williams: vocals (4, 18)
Nelson Keane Carse: trombone (4)
Paul Vercesi: alto sax (4)
Biz Markie: vocals (7, 12, 13)
Jill Cunniff: vocals (14)
Joe Locke: vibraphone (14)
Steve Slagle: flute (14)
Miho Hatori: vocals (15)
Duduka Da Fonseca: percussion (15)
Richard Siegler: percussion (15)
Jane Scarpantoni: cello (15)
Brian Wright: violin, viola (15)
Lee “Scratch” Perry: vocals (21)
Pat Shannahan: sample clearance
Steve Revitte: engineering
Suzanne Dyer: engineering
Andy VanDette: mastering
Howie Weinberg: mastering
Michael Lavine: photography
Cey Adams: art direction
Bill McMullen: design
Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012)
