B For My Name

Album: The Mix-Up (2007)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This instrumental is titled for a scene in the 1983 hip-hop movie Wild Style where the rapper Busy Bee lays out some cash on a mattress in the shape of the letter B. When someone asks him what he's doing, he says, "B for my name."

    Beastie Boys were big fans of the film. Their 1992 track "Professor Booty" incorporates some of its dialogue.
  • This is the first track on The Mix-Up, an all-instrumental album by Beastie Boys. After starting families in the late '90s, they started working remotely, sending each other tracks and piecing them together. They wanted to get back in the studio together, and by making it an instrumental project, they didn't have to worry about lyrics, which took a huge load off. Predictably, the album wasn't a big seller (it peaked at #15 in America; their previous three albums all went to #1) but they had fun making it.
  • Beastie Boys' longtime associate "Money" Mark Nishita wrote this song with the group and played the Farfisa organ, Clavinet, and Fender Rhodes piano. Nishita started working with the group on their 1992 album Check Your Head.

    Also on the track is percussionist Alfredo Ortiz. The rest of the instrumentation was by the group: Ad-Rock played guitar, MCA played bass, and Mike D handled the drums.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

AC/DC

AC/DCFact or Fiction

Does Angus really drink himself silly? Did their name come from a sewing machine? See if you can spot the real stories about AC/DC.