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Right Right Now Now
First Appearance: To the 5 Boroughs LP, 4 June 2004
Written by: Beastie Boys/Tony Romeo
Performed by: Beastie Boys
Production Notes: Produced by Beastie Boys. Mixed by Supa Engineer "DURO" for No Question Ent./Loreal Inc. Recording engineered by Beastie Boys and Jon Weiner. Turntable Extraordinaire: Mix Master Mike. Recorded and mixed at Oscilloscope Laboratories. Mastered by Chris Athens at Sterling Sound.
Behind the Beats and Lyrics...

Samples

  • Cool in the Furnace LP by Buryl Red and Grace Hawthorne
  • "The Devil Rides in Jericho" by Don Costa
  • "I Would Have Loved You Anyway" by The Partridge Family from their album Sound Magazine (1971)

References

  • Matt Takei - a friend of Tokyo entrepreneuer Nigo (founder of A Bathing Ape clothing); Takei and Nigo helped find the Beastie Boys uniforms for their Quasar tour dates in Tokyo
  • Munich - the capital of Bavaria, Germany
  • Taipei - the capital of Taiwan, an island off the coast of southeast China
  • Columbine bowling - Bowling for Columbine (2002) is a critically acclaimed film by Michael Moore that focuses on America's obsession with guns
  • Bahamas - an island group (and popular vacation spot) in the North Atlantic between Florida and Hispaniola
  • KKK - abbreviation for the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacy group
  • Iron Chef - a popular Japanese culinary show airing on cable TV's Food Network channel
  • Riunite - a cheap, all-occasion wine
  • Levert - a smooth-sounding R&B/soul group formed by Gerald Levert

Sample & Reference Breakdown

  • "Now get busy" - a sample from Cool in the Furnace LP by Buryl Red and Grace Hawthorne
  • "And, yes, we're gonna party for the right to fight" - a play on their 1986 hit single "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)." Def Jam group Public Enemy also have a track called "Party for Your Right to Fight" on their album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
  • "The U.S. attacking other nations, and narration, on every station" - in response to the terrorist acts committed in the United States on September 11, 2001, the United States has instigated wars with the Middle-Eastern countries of Afghanistan and Iraq
  • "I'm a funky-ass Jew and I'm on my way" - Adrock is part Jewish (father's side) and Irish (mother's side)
  • "So please pass me the Riunite on ice" - Riunite wine gained recognition in the 80's by its advertising slogan: "Riunite on ice, that's nice!"
  • "Try to smooth it out like Levert" - in 1997, band LSG (Levert.Sweat.Gill) released the song "Curious" in which guest rapper L.L. Cool J speaks the following lines: "U are amazing, there's no doubt/Top it off with an S, 'cause you smooth me out"
Commentary

Beastie Boys

"That's on serious island. But it's also on b-boy island. But sometimes it visits goofy island. It's actually the only song on the album that visits all three islands." - Beastie Boys, using their "Three Islands" approach in describing the songs on their new album (2004)

"[Gun control is] definitely a topic that needs to be discussed. I think gun control in the United States is a pretty intense issue and it's good to open it up and discuss it. There's a lot of people who have a lot of very extreme feelings on both sides." - Adam Yauch, June 2004

Press

"Mix Master Mike's scratching highlights [Right Right Now Now]" - Jonathan Cohen, Billboard, April 2004

"And this time round the trio have also used their Jewish roots to comment on US race relations - 'I'm a funky ass Jew against the KKK.'" - "Beauty of The Beasts" by Richard Ferrer, June 2004

"Tracks like [Right Right Now Now] put the trio's sociopolitical agenda front and center" - Billboard, June 2004

"...best of the bunch" - Nigel Gould, Belfast Telegraph, June 2004

"[Right Right Now Now] addresses the issue of gun control, specifically in the wake of the Columbine high school shootings: 'Columbine bowling, childhood stolen, we need a bit more gun controlling,' goes the rap" - Jane Stevenson, The Calgary Sun, June 2004

"...built around a nifty harpsichord loop" - Peter Relic, Cleveland Free Times, June 2004