"Intergalactic" is a song by American

rap rock Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...

group

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

. "Intergalactic" was released as the first single from their fifth studio album, ''

Hello Nasty ''Hello Nasty'' is the fifth studio album by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, released by Capitol Records and Grand Royal Records on July 14, 1998. It sold 681,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albu ...

'', on June 2, 1998. The single reached number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it the band's third top-40 single, and reached number five on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, where it remains the band's biggest hit. It received a

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was awarded between 1991 and 2011, alongside the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. The award was discontinue ...

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Music video

The "Intergalactic" video was directed by

Adam Yauch Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), better known under the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bass player, filmmaker and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed ...

under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Nathanial Hörnblowér. The storyline revolves around a giant robot causing destruction by fighting a giant octopus-headed creature in a city while

popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance) cultural movement in Oakland, California. As Boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as Robottin in Richmond, California, Strutting movements in San Francisco and San ...

, a parody of, or tribute to, Japanese

Kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

films (specifically the series finale of ''

Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot , also known as ''Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot'' in the United States, is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to Yokoyama's ''Tetsujin 28-go'' (known as '' Gigantor'' in the U.S.), but ''Giant Robo'' has ...

''). Various scenes are filmed in the

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

and

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

train stations in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

; the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building The , also referred to as the for short, is the seat of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs the special wards, cities, towns, and villages that constitute the Tokyo Metropolis. Located in Shinjuku ward, the building was designed b ...

No. 1 makes a brief appearance. Throughout the video, the band wear bright uniforms of (Koji) Japanese street construction workers. The music video was added to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

on the week ending June 14, 1998. The video was a regular on ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' and won the award for Best Hip-Hop Video at the

1999 MTV Video Music Awards The 1999 MTV Video Music Awards (stylized as 9999 MTV Video Music Awards) aired live on September 9, 1999, honoring the best music videos from June 13, 1998, to June 11, 1999. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at the Metropolitan Opera House in N ...

. Beastie Boys performed " Three MC's and One DJ" and "Intergalactic" at the

1998 MTV Video Music Awards The 1998 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 10, 1998, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1997, to June 12, 1998. The show was hosted by Ben Stiller at Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Madonna was the most successful winn ...

. The music video also somewhat parodies Japanese

Super Sentai is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The sho ...

shows, which are the basis for ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entert ...

'' and ranked number 64 on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

's 100 Best Videos. ''

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'' wrote that, "We get the feeling Godzilla creator

Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer. He is best known for co-creating the ''Godzilla'' franchise and its associated spin-offs. Early life Tanaka was born on April 26, 1910, in Kashiwara, Osaka. As a child, he would often walk miles to the nearest th ...

, who passed the year before the 'Intergalactic' single was released, would be proud."

Track listings

CD single 1 # "Intergalactic" (album version) – 3:33 # "Hail Sagan (Special K)" – 4:06 # "Intergalactic" (Prisoners of Technology Mix) – 5:46 # "Intergalactic" (Fuzzy Logic Re-Mix) – 3:47 CD single 2 # "Intergalactic" (album version) – 3:32 # "Intergalactic" (Remix No. 1) – 3:54 # "Intergalactic" (Remix No. 2) – 4:02 # "Intergalactic" (Remix No. 1 Instrumental) – 3:56 # "Intergalactic" (Remix No. 2 Instrumental) – 3:59

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1998 singles 1998 songs Beastie Boys songs Capitol Records singles Grand Royal singles Music videos directed by Adam Yauch Science fiction music Song recordings produced by Mario Caldato Jr. Songs written by Ad-Rock Songs written by Adam Yauch Songs written by Mario Caldato Jr. Songs written by Mike D