When you realized last month that Eminem had surprise-released a new album, you probably simultaneously thought about Beastie Boys' Rick Rubin-produced 1986 classic Licensed to Ill.
That's because Em's Kamikaze cover art has a strikingly similar vibe to the iconic look of the 13-track diamond-certified Beastie entry. Now, in a new interview with George Stroumboulopoulos, surviving Beastie members Ad-Rock and Mike D (Adam "MCA" Yauch died in 2012) revealed they were as surprised as anyone else by the homage.
"We literally just, we saw it like everybody else," Mike D said around the 44-minute mark in the video up top. "I guess the only difference is, like . . . I get 10 text messages, 20 text messages, then I'm like 'Why do I all of a sudden have 50 text messages?' I better see what's going on.' Everybody was, like, forwarding me the album cover from the Twitter feed or whatever."
Ad-Rock added a "Sure!" when asked if it's nice to have their debut album remembered in such a way. "I don't know him, I'm sure that was nice . . . I met him once in a bathroom in Rome," he said, comparing the encounter to a separate and totally unrelated one he had with MC Hammer. "We didn't embrace." Per Mike D, Em is likely just not the "warm embrace type." Hammer, however, did engage in a hug.
Ad-Rock and Mike D are currently doing the interview circuit ahead of the release of a book someone who cares about me should definitely buy for me, Beastie Boys Book. The memoir hits shelves Oct. 30.
