To the 5 Boroughs

To the 5 Boroughs
Studio album by Beastie Boys
Released	June 15, 2004
Recorded	2002–2004
Studio	Oscilloscope Laboratories, Tribeca, New York City
Genre	Hip hop[1][2]
Length	44:37
Label	Capitol
Producer	Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys chronology
Hello Nasty (1998) To the 5 Boroughs (2004) The Mix-Up (2007)
Singles from To the 5 Boroughs
"Ch-Check It Out" Released: March 2004 "Triple Trouble" Released: September 2004 "An Open Letter to NYC" Released: November 2004 "Right Right Now Now" Released: 2004

To the 5 Boroughs is the sixth studio album by the Beastie Boys. The album was released on June 14, 2004 internationally, and a day later in the United States. The album debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 with 360,000 copies sold in its first week and is certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of over 1,000,000 in the U.S.

Release and promotion

The album's lead single "Ch-Check It Out" debuted on The O.C. in "The Strip" from Season 1, airing on April 28, 2004.^[3] The album was the cause of some controversy with allegations that it installed spyware when inserted into the CD-ROM of a computer.^[4] The band has denied this allegation saying there is no copy protection software on the albums sold in the U.S. and in the U.K. While there is Macrovision's CDS-200 copy protection software installed on European copies of the album this is standard practice for all European releases on EMI/Capitol Records released in Europe and it does not install spyware or any form of permanent software.^[5]

Singles

The album's first single "Ch-Check It Out" was released on April 28, 2004.^[6] The album's second single "Triple Trouble" was released in July 2004.^[7] The album's third single "An Open Letter to NYC" was released in November 2004.^[8] The album's fourth single "Right Right Now Now" was released in 2004.^[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[11]
The Guardian	[1]
Los Angeles Times	[12]
NME	8/10[13]
Pitchfork Media	7.9/10[14]
Q	[15]
Rolling Stone	[16]
Uncut	[17]
The Village Voice	A−[18]

The album was met with positive reviews, with an aggregated score of 71 on Metacritic.^[10] Playlouder said "To the 5 Boroughs is a triumph."^[19] Rolling Stone said "To the 5 Boroughs is an exciting, astonishing balancing act: fast, funny and sobering."^[16] Jason Thompson of PopMatters called To the 5 Boroughs "their best album since Paul's Boutique".^[20] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The beats are[...] simple and effective, with a welcome lack of bells and whistles that made Hello Nasty so distracting."^[11] AllMusic said: "It's rather impressive that they're maturing gracefully turning into expert craftsmen who can deliver a satisfying listen like this".^[2] The NME said: "Like Missy Elliott, the Beasties are re-examining hip hop — what it was, what it is, what it can be".^[13] The Onion AV Club said: "With To the 5 Boroughs, Beastie Boys' members discover a musical entryway to an earlier, more innocent era, affording listeners the exuberance of youth along with the hard-won wisdom that can only come with experience."^[21] E! Online rated the album as a B- saying it was "fun but hardly fresh.^[22]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ch-Check It Out"	3:12
2.	"Right Right Now Now"	2:46
3.	"3 the Hard Way"	2:48
4.	"It Takes Time to Build"	3:11
5.	"Rhyme the Rhyme Well"	2:47
6.	"Triple Trouble"	2:43
7.	"Hey Fuck You"	2:21
8.	"Oh Word?"	2:59
9.	"That's It That's All"	2:28
10.	"All Lifestyles"	2:33
11.	"Shazam!"	2:26
12.	"An Open Letter to NYC"	4:18
13.	"Crawlspace"	2:53
14.	"The Brouhaha"	2:13
15.	"We Got The"	2:27
16.	"Now Get Busy" (Japan bonus track)	2:25

Australian 2CD Tour Edition bonus disc
No.	Title	Length
1.	"An Open Letter to NYC"
2.	"Rizzle Rizzle Nizzle Nizzle" (Remix for "Right Right Now Now")
3.	"MTL Reppin for the 514" (Remix for "Right Right Now Now")
4.	"Sabotage" (Live)
5.	"Brr Stick Em"

B-sides

• "In A World Gone Mad" (2003 Internet single/12" single)
• "This Government Needs A Tune Up" (2004 Internet free track^[23])
• "...And Then I" ("Ch-Check It Out" UK/Japan/Australia/Canada CD single^[24])
• "Brr Stick Em" ("Right Right Now Now" Japan CD single^[25])
• "Now Get Busy" (2004 Internet single/To The 5 Boroughs Japan bonus^[26])

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
scope="row"	Canadian Albums (Billboard)[27]	1
scope="row"	US Billboard 200[28]	1
scope="row"	US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[29]	1

References

1. Petridis, Alexis (June 11, 2004). "Beastie Boys, To the 5 Boroughs". The Guardian. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "To the 5 Boroughs – Beastie Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
3. Yahoo Launch News Story
4. Greene, Thomas C. (23 June 2004). "Beastie Boys CD installs virus". The Register. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
5. "Official Merchandise Store". Beastie Boys. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
6. "Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
7. "Adam Yauch: The Videos of Nathaniel Hornblower Pictures - 'Triple Trouble' 2004". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
8. "Beastie Boys - An Open Letter To NYC (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
9. "Right Right Now Now: Beastie Boys: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
10. "Reviews for To The 5 Boroughs by Beastie Boys". Metacritic. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
11. Sinclair, Tom (June 18, 2004). "To the 5 Boroughs". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
12. Kuipers, Dean (June 13, 2004). "Absent an anthem". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
13. Fitzpatrick, Rob (July 7, 2004). "Beastie Boys : To The 5 Boroughs". NME. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
14. DiCrescenzo, Brent (June 14, 2004). "Beastie Boys: To the 5 Boroughs". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
15. "Beastie Boys: To the 5 Boroughs". Q (216): 108. July 2004.
16. Fricke, David (July 9, 2008). "To The 5 Boroughs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
17. "Beastie Boys: To the 5 Boroughs". Uncut (86): 108. July 2004.
18. Christgau, Robert (August 24, 2004). "Consumer Guide: Looking Past Differences". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
19. "Playlouder MSP Music Service". Playlouder.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
20. Thompson, Jason. "Beastie Boys: To the 5 Boroughs". PopMatters. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
21. "The Onion A.V. Club | Music — To The 5 Boroughs". Web.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-01-17. C1 control character in |title= at position 34 (help)
23. http://www.beastiemania.com/songspotlight/show.php?s=government
24. http://www.beastiemania.com/discog/show.php?r=checkit12uspromo,checkit12uspromoblaze,checkit12uk,checkit12eu,checkit12nevins,checkit12saville,checkit12jizztp,checkit12jizz,checkit12peggy,checkit12gingerjoker,checkit12blackbeast,checkit12murphy,checkitcdrus,checkitcdrau,checkitcdrjp,checkitcdrfr,checkitcdrgr,checkitcduspromo,checkitcdeupromo,checkitcdjppromo,checkitcdmxpromo,checkitcduk1,checkitcduk2,checkitcdeu1,checkitcdeu2,checkitcdau,checkitcdca,checkitcdjp,checkitcdgingerjoker
25. http://www.beastiemania.com/discog/show.php?r=rightnowcduspromo,rightnowcdrjppromo,rightnowcdjppromo,rightnowcdjp
26. http://www.beastiemania.com/discog/show.php?r=tt5b12us,tt5b12uk,tt5b12eu,tt5bcdruslisteningpost,tt5bcdkrpromo,tt5bcdjppromo,tt5bcdarpromo,tt5bcdus,tt5bcdus2,tt5bcdusclean,tt5bcdusclean2,tt5bcdeulimited,tt5bcdeulimited2,tt5bcduk2,tt5bcdau,tt5bcdjp,tt5bcdjp2,tt5bcdth,tt5bcdmy,tt5bcdtw,tt5bcdar,tt5bcdph,tt5bcdmx,tt5bcdidclean,tt5bcdca,tt5bcdca2,tt5bcdbr,tt5bcdkr,tt5bcdbg,tt5bcdjpdvd,tt5bcdautour,tt5bcdcn,tt5bcdkh,tt5bcdruboot,tt5bmceuclean,tt5bmcmyclean
27. "Beastie Boys – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Beastie Boys. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
28. "Beastie Boys – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Beastie Boys. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
29. "Beastie Boys – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Beastie Boys. Retrieved May 4, 2013.