• "The O.J. Chronicles" - an episode of The Joe Frank Show by Joe Frank and David Cross

References

• Trekkies - devotees and die-hard fans of the classic sci-fi television series Star Trek
• Klingons - a fictional warrior race in Star Trek
• Mutual of Omaha - an American life, annuity, property and casualty insurance company
• Glades - short for the Everglades, a swampy and partly forested region in southern Florida
• Lorne Greene (1915-1987) - actor best known for his role as Ben Cartwright on the television series Bonanza (1959-1973) and Captain Adama on Battlestar Galactica. He also hosted his own television series, Lorne Greene's New Wilderness.
• Caprese with basil - a summertime salad made with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil
• Darrin - Darrin Stephens, husband of Samantha the witch, on the television series Bewitched (1964-1972)
• Hazel - a character and situation comedy (1961-1966) starring Shirley Booth as the domestic help to the Baxter family
• Nick at Nite - evening to late-night television programming on cable's Nickelodeon that features re-runs of classic television programs
• Einstein - Albert Einstein (1879-1955), theoretical physicist
• The Rappin' Duke - Shawn Brown, a John Wayne soundalike who recorded and released one hit song in the 1980's called "Rappin' Duke"
• Salugi - a gamelike prank in which someone grabs something belonging to another and throws it to a third, preventing the owner from retrieving it as it is tossed back and forth
• Hot Potato - see "salugi" above
• Shazam - a magician's expression; also the name of track 11 on To the Five Boroughs
• Abracadabra - a mystical word or expression used as a magical means of warding off misfortune, harm, or illness
• Miss Piggy - a diva-esque Muppet pig who often refers to herself as "moi" (French for "me")
• Pink Champale - a cheap malt liquor from back in the day; often referred to as "the first wine cooler"
• Cable Guy - a 1997 film directed by Ben Stiller, starring Jim Carrey as a strange, obnoxious, and possessive cable repairman
• Armor All - a spray-on protectant that keeps your car looking shiny and new

Sample & Reference Breakdown

• "Oh, what'cho...what are you sayin?'" - a sample from "The O.J. Chronicles," an episode of The Joe Frank Show by Joe Frank and David Cross
• "Like Mutual of Omaha/Got the ill boat you never seen before" - The Mutual of Omaha insurance company used to sponsor Wild Kingdom (1963-1971), a television program that traveled to exotic locations to film animals in their natural habitat. The host Marlin Perkins was often shown riding an airboat through swamps.
• "Gliding in the Glades, and like Lorne Greene you know I get paid" - Actor Lorne Greene "got paid" by plugging Alpo dog food in commercials.
• "Now remain calm, no alarm cause my farm ain't fat" - refers to Def Jam Records co-founder/Beastie Boys ex-manager Russell Simmons' clothing company Phat Farm
• "Now, hey, Baby Bubba, now what's the deal?/I didn't know you go for that mass appeal" - The name "Baby Bubba" appears in the lyrics of "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang ("Rock it out, Baby Bubba, to the boogie/Da bang bang the boogie to the boogie da beat")
• "In the whip I gonna cruise past ya" - refers to a popular pastime at rolling skating rinks in the 70's and 80's to form a whip, a line of skaters who held on to each other, and as the line made a turn, the tail end of the line would go faster, catch up to the front, and eventually "cruise right past" the front of the line. Also, a "whip" is hip-hop slang for an expensive automobile.
• "We're working on the record, yo, so stay patient" - refers to the great length of time it takes the Beastie Boys to make a new album; the length of time between Hello Nasty and To the 5 Boroughs exceeded 6 years
• "You look like Cable Guy dunked off of your crown" - refers to a scene in the film Cable Guy in which the cable guy (actor Jim Carrey) slamdunks a basketball by catapulting it off another guy's head
• "Make your Grandma shake her head and say 'Those were the days'" - refers to the theme song of the television show All in the Family (1971-1979); "Those Were the Days" was sung by lead actors Carrol O'Connor (Archie Bunker) and Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker). Mike D cracks his voice to sound like Edith Bunker's annoyingly shrill delivery.

Press

"...a blast from the past, with Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA mugging for the mic and weaving through a rumbling bed of throwback breakdance beats" - MTV News, 2004

"[The] first single is a glorious return to the days when Ad-Rock would crack wise in his nasal whine, then pass the mic to MCA for a few raspy pop-culture couplets. And against a cymbal-snare drum loop, Ch-Check it Out gets no more highbrow than Klingons, Lorne Greene, Mutual of Omaha and Miss Piggy." - Michael D. Clark, Houston Chronicle, 2004

"'I bring the shit that's beyond bizarre,' Horovitz asserts against the quick hop and spears of sampled brass in [this track].'Like Miss Piggy,' he adds, apropos of nothing, to which all three respond in idiot falsetto, 'Who moi?'" - David Fricke, Rolling Stone, 2004

"The video boasts 'exclusive cameos' from Bonanza's Lorne Greene and Star Trek's Deforest Kelley. Now, both of those gentlemen have been dead for several years now, so their involvement in the video should be interesting." - CharkAttack.com, April 2004

"...an energetic comeback" - Josh Cannon, Indiana Statesman, June 2004

"The right balance is struck in the first single, 'Ch-Check It Out,' which in the tradition of Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' weaves its message so neatly into the music that the two elements seem part of an organic whole.'Ch-Check' is one of the few protest songs that you could play at a chugging contest." - David Segal, Washington Post, June 2004

"The album's first single and first track opens with MCA calling out a few constituencies that most other rappers wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole: television addicts and Trekkies. Of course, it's always impossible to tell whether the Beasties' name-checks constitute acknowledgement of the breadth of their fan-base, gentle taunting or simply the weirdest reference that fits into the rhyme. [The song] represents the now expected up-tempo single that eventually gives way to slower, more contemplative tracks later on the album." - Niels Strandskov, Minnesota Daily, June 2004