Ill Communication is the fourth studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on May 31, 1994, by Grand Royal and Capitol Records. Co-produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr., it is among the band's most varied releases, drawing from hip hop, punk rock, jazz, and funk, and continues their trend away from sampling and towards live instruments, which began with their previous release, Check Your Head (1992). The album features musical contributions from Money Mark, Eric Bobo and Amery "AWOL" Smith, and vocal contributions from Q-Tip and Biz Markie. Beastie Boys were influenced by Miles Davis's jazz rock albums On the Corner (1972) and Agharta (1975) while recording Ill Communication. The album became the band's second number-one album on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and their second album to be certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was supported by the single "Sabotage", which was accompanied by a music video directed by Spike Jonze that parodied 1970s cop shows.

Singles

"Sabotage" was the first single taken from Ill Communication. It was released to radio on May 9, 1994. The backing track of the song was laid down by the band members, driven by MCA's fuzzed and twangy bass, at Tin Pan Alley Studios in New York, and then sat unused for a year, with the working title of "Chris Rock", before vocals were added. According to Ad-Rock in the 2020 documentary Beastie Boys Story, the lyrics are a fictitious rant about how their producer "was the worst person ever and how he was always sabotaging us and holding us back." "Get It Together", which samples The Moog Machine's cover of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", was released as a single on March 17, 1994. "Sure Shot" features a sample taken from jazz flautist Jeremy Steig's song "Howlin' For Judy" from the 1970 album Legwork as the main instrumental part of the song, and was released as a single on May 31, 1994. The album's fourth single, "Root Down", was released in 1995.

Artwork

Mike D and MCA collaborated with Gibran Evans, son of the artist and designer Jim Evans (who designed a hand-drawn typeface specifically for Ill Communication that was used throughout the promotion of the album), to create the album's packaging. The photograph they chose for the front cover was taken by Bruce Davidson in 1964 at a Los Angeles drive-in diner called Tiny Naylor's as part of an assignment for Esquire, but the magazine ultimately did not publish the photos. Although Davidson had not heard the Beastie Boys' music and did not understand it once he did—he later recalled thinking it sounded like a "secret language" when they sent him a demo tape—he agreed to let the band use his photo. The booklet that came with the album features the artwork "Gaia" by Alex Grey on the middle pages.

Critical reception

The album received critical acclaim, Ill Communication placed at number 15 on The Village Voices 1994 Pazz & Jop critics' poll, number 19 on Spins list of the "20 Best Albums of '94", number three on NMEs list of the "Top 50 Albums of 1994", and number 13 on The Wires annual critics' poll. Guitar World included the album in its "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. Rolling Stone included the album in its list of "Essential Recordings of the 90s", and Q included the album in its list of the "90 Best Albums of the 1990s". Mojo ranked the album number 54 on its list of "100 Modern Classics". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

All tracks produced by Beastie Boys and Mario Caldato, Jr.

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications