Hello Nasty

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Shortlead Template:Infobox album Hello Nasty is the fifth studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 14, 1998, by Grand Royal and Capitol Records. The album sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and won Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (for "Intergalactic") at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards. In Beastie Boys Book (2018), Ad-Rock said he felt Hello Nasty was the group's "best record".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Background

The album was released on July 14, 1998, just over four years after the previous Beastie Boys album, Ill Communication. It marked the addition of DMC champion Mix Master Mike to the group's line-up,<ref name="allmusic review"/> and was the last time the band worked with percussionist Eric Bobo or a co-producer.<ref name="Rolling Stone Review"/> There are several guest vocalists on the album, including Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto on "I Don't Know", and Jamaican dub musician Lee "Scratch" Perry on "Dr. Lee, PhD".<ref name="Rolling Stone Review"/>

On the many musical styles on the album, Mike D said in 1998: "We spent so much time in the studio that we weren't in touch with the things that happened around us, not what's going on in the music scene and not what other people think about our music. We didn't even hear other opinions; we were rather reclusive. You know, there is nothing planned on the album, we didn't plan anything. All you hear are different sounds, sounds we experimented with, nothing else. Maybe that's our problem: we were so far removed from everything, it was like being underground, really underground, like in a hole in the ground."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The title of the album was allegedly inspired by the receptionist of the band's NY-based publicity firm Nasty Little Man, who would answer the phone with the greeting "Hello, Nasty."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

There were CD, double-vinyl LP, MiniDisc, and cassette tape releases of the album. One of the cassette formats was packaged for a limited run by BioBox in a small cardboard box, rather than a clear plastic case, in an attempt to distinguish the retail product and augment sales.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Music

Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork assessed: "At its core, the album is a revisionist love letter to ’80s hip-hop, built from repurposed trappings of that era—808s, disco breaks, beatboxing, analogue synthesizers, Kool Moe Dee and Kurtis Blow samples, and scratches. But its true character lies in its tangents and outliers—the leisurely electronic pastiches, tipsy dub tracks, and earnest ballads that break up all the instant-gratification rap songs."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical reception

Template:Album ratings Hello Nasty received mostly positive reviews upon its release. Caroline Sullivan, writing for The Guardian, named it the "Pop CD of the Week" and said it "fills a gap created by the current profusion of serious rock bands like Radiohead; elbowing its way up front, [and letting] rip with adolescent vigour."<ref name="The Guardian Review"/> She went on to summarize the record as "the perfect party soundtrack by the perfect party band."<ref name="The Guardian Review"/> SelectTemplate:'s John Harris praised the Beastie Boys' lyrics for being as "fantastically off-beam as ever", while at the same time noting that they had "broadened their musical vistas yet further".<ref name="Select Review">Template:Cite journal</ref> Although AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt the album's ending was "a little anticlimactic", he also saw Hello Nasty as a progressive step forward from the group's 1992 LP Check Your Head and praised the contributions of the group's new recruit, Mix Master Mike: "Hiring DJ Mixmaster Mike turned out to be a masterstroke; he and the Beasties created a sound that strongly recalls the spare electronic funk of the early '80s, but spiked with the samples and post-modern absurdist wit that have become their trademarks."<ref name="allmusic review"/> In his review for Entertainment Weekly, David Browne highlighted the album's multi-genre sound as its most engaging aspect:

Hello Nasty is a sonic smorgasbord in which the Beasties gorge themselves with reckless abandon. They dabble in lounge-pop kitsch (the loser put-down "Song for the Man"), make like a summit of Santana and Traffic (the Latin-flavored "Song for Junior"), and subtly incorporate a drum-and-bass shuffle into the mix ("Flowin' Prose"). The melange makes for a looser, more free-spirited record than their earlier albums; the music invites you in, rather than threatening to shut you out.<ref name="EW review"/>

Accolades

* denotes an unranked list

Accolades for Hello Nasty

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Les Inrockuptibles	France	Best 50 Albums of the Year<ref name="LI Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	44
Melody Maker	United Kingdom	Best 50 Albums of the Year<ref name="MM Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	2
Mixmag	United Kingdom	Best 10 Albums of the Year<ref name="Mixmag Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	5
Musikexpress	Germany	Best 50 Albums of the Year<ref name="Musikexpress Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	22
Muzik	United Kingdom	Best 75 Albums of the Year<ref name="1998 Muzik Albums">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	2
NME	United Kingdom	Best 50 Albums of the Year<ref name="1998 NME Albums">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	2
Pitchfork	United States	Best 50 Albums of the Year<ref name="Pitchfork - 50 Best Albums of 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	20
Q	United Kingdom	Best Albums of the Year<ref name="Q Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	*
Rocksound	France	Best 50 Albums of the Year<ref name="Rocksound Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	17
Rolling Stone	United States	Best 5 Albums of the Year<ref name="RS Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref> The Essential Recordings of the 90s<ref name="RS Essential Albums">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998 2009	2 *
Select	United Kingdom	Best 30 Albums of the Year<ref name="Select Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	13
SPIN	United States	Best 20 Albums of the Year<ref name="Spin Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	10
Technikart	France	Best 10 Albums of the Year<ref name="Technikart Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	2
The Face	United Kingdom	Best 20 Albums of the Year<ref name="Face Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	11
The Village Voice	United States	Albums of the Year Poll<ref name="VV Albums 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	9
Uncut	United Kingdom	Best 40 Albums of the Year<ref name="Uncut, 1998">Template:Cite web</ref>	1998	12

Personnel

Adapted from the AllMusic credits.<ref name=autogenerated2>[[[:Template:AllMusic]] Hello Nasty - Credits</ref>

• Beastie Boys – producers
• Mario Caldato Jr. – producer
• Mix Master Mike – DJ (8, 9, 12, 13, 19)
• "Money" Mark Nishita – keyboards (4, 14, 20, 21)
• Eric Bobo – percussion (3, 8, 14, 21)
• Brooke Williams – vocals (4, 18)
• Nelson Keane Carse – trombone (4)
• Paul Vercesi – alto sax (4)
• Biz Markie – vocals (7, 12, 13)
• Jill Cunniff – vocals (14)
• Joe Locke – vibraphone (14)
• Steve Slagle – flute (14)
• Miho Hatori – vocals (15)
• Duduka Da Fonseca – percussion (15)
• Richard Siegler – percussion (15)
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello (15)
• Brian Wright – violin, viola (15)
• Lee "Scratch" Perry – vocals (21)
• Pat Shannahan – sample clearance
• Steve Revitte – engineering
• Suzanne Dyer – engineering
• Andy VanDette – mastering
• Howie Weinberg – mastering
• Michael Lavine – photography
• Cey Adams – art direction
• Bill McMullen – design

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Hello Nasty

Chart (1998)	Peak position
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Danish Albums (IFPI Denmark)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	6
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European Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
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Year-end charts

1998 annual chart performance for Hello Nasty

Chart (1998)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref name="AUS-1998-YE">Template:Cite web</ref>	70
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)<ref name="AUT-1998-YE">Template:Cite web</ref>	29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref name="BELFL-1998-YE">Template:Cite web</ref>	55
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref name="NLD-1998-YE">Template:Cite web</ref>	84
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	33
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	25
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	72
UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	58
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	13

1999 annual chart performance for Hello Nasty

Chart (1999)	Position
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	104

External links

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