Samples

• "Headless Heroes" by Eugene McDaniels from the album Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse (1971)
• "Inside Looking Out" by Grand Funk Railroad from the album Grand Funk (1969)
• "Nothing Is the Same" by Grand Funk Railroad from the album Closer to Home (1970)

References

• The Abstract - Q-Tip's production alias
• John Starks (1965- ) - a shooting guard for the New York Knicks
• John Holmes (1944-1988) - an American porn star
• Ione - Ione Skye, Adam Horovitz' wife at the time this song was recorded (they divorced in 1998)
• Chachi and Joanie - popular characters from 70's television show Happy Days and spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi
• Grand Royal - Beastie Boys' now-defunct record label and magazine
• Patty Duke - a dance
• Evan Bernard - music video director (Money Mark, Cibo Matto, BIS, Buffalo Daughters)
• Biz Mark - rapper Biz Markie, Beastie Boys friend
• Moog - an electronic synthesizer
• Tip - Q-Tip, a friend of Beastie Boys and member of A Tribe Called Quest
• Kung-Fu grip - the gripping action of children's action figures
• Farmer's Boulevard - a street in Queens
• Manhattan - a borough of New York City
• Brooklyn - a borough of New York City
• Timbos - nickname for Timberland boots
• Ma Bell - Bell Communications, a phone company; also referenced in "Sure Shot" and "Root Down"
• Now & Laters - tangy, bite-size taffy candies

Sample & Reference Breakdown

• "Born on the cusp in the month of November" - a factual lyric; Mike Diamond was born on November 20, 1965
• Well, I'm a funky skull and I'm a Scorpio" – "funky skull" is a reference to Melvin Jackson's album Funky Skull, which was released in the 60's (Jackson spent much of his career playing with Eddie Harris, who Beastie Boys mention in "So What'cha Want."); Adam Horovitz was born on October 31, 1966, placing him under the zodiac sign of Scorpio

Beastie Boys

"The music was something that I made just messing around with my sampler at home, just a real simple but ill Moog loop and some simple beats. I remember this being a really fun time, when we would all be working somewhat on stuff at home and then bring it into the studio, and we would all build on it. We would just write, record, and play ball. Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest would usually stop by when he was in town, just to hang out, listen to music, and play some ball. We'd been wanting Tip to get on a track for a while, so one night we played him the track, and he was like, 'This shit is funky, I could rhyme on this.' So Mario, as usual, wasted no time in handing him the mic. Tip freestyled a few takes, and then we fit our rhymes around his." - Mike Diamond, 1999

"I was pretty fucked up when we did [Get It Together]. I can't really remember making it, but I know Adrock took that beat from an old Moog record. The Beasties are the fucking Bugs Bunny of hip-hop. They just come up with the ill shit." - Q-Tip, 2000

"Praying mantis on the court and I can't be beat/But, yo, Tip, what's up with the boots on your feet?"
"At our own basketball court at Atwater, our recording studio the guys would call me 'The Praying Mantis.' I don't know. It's just my Atwater nickname. Maybe it was my technique - praying mantis-style." - Adam Yauch

Press

"...the thrown together 'Get It Together' feature[s] the nastily ubiquitus Q-Tip pulling one of his notorious hear-track-rip-track episode" - Bomb, July/August 1994