"Shadrach" is a song by rap trio

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 ...

from their album ''

Paul's Boutique ''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two y ...

''. Released on October 30, 1989, it was the second and final single released from the album. The song refers to the

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

story of

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hebrew names Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) are figures from the biblical Book of Daniel, primarily chapter 3. In the narrative, the three Hebrew men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King o ...

and the fiery furnace in the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...

. However, the lyrics "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego" in the track are used and sampled from

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...

's "Loose Booty", where they are repeated and spoken rhythmically throughout the track in an almost rap-like form. In verse two, the lyric, ''So I'm out pickin' pockets at the

Atlantic Antic The Atlantic Antic is a street festival held yearly on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York between 4th Avenue and Hicks Street. It is run and produced by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation (AALDC). The festival features food an ...

'', refers to an annual Brooklyn street festival of that name. The drum beat is a loop from the song “ Hot & Nasty” by

Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970charting ten albums according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Their style is punctuated ...

and played by drummer

Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge (born August 15, 1950) is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesna ...

. Also in the song is a reference to the

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

album ''

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" is a song by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The song was first released on AC/DC's eighth studio album ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You'' in 1981, and later as a single in 1982. The single' ...

'', in the lyrics "For those about to rock we salute you". The video released to promote the Beastie Boys' song 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 his pseudonym Nathaniel Hornblower. Its style and artistic beauty (each frame was painted by hand) resulted in it being included in the 22nd

International Tournée of Animation The ''International Tournée of Animation'' was an annual touring program of animated films that started in 1965 as The First Festival of Animated Film with each selected and assembled from films from many countries around the world and which exist ...

. The video can be seen on the Beastie Boys Criterion Collection DVD set. The music video was designed by famous animation studio

Klasky Csupo Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (stylized as KLaSKY CSUPO INC., doing business as Klasky Csupo, ) is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó (he ...

. Also released on the EP '' An Exciting Evening at Home with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego''.

Track listing

Samples

The sources of the song's samples can be found on

WhoSampled WhoSampled is a website and app database of information about sampled music or sample-based music, cover songs and remixes. History Nadav Poraz founded the site in London, England in 2008, as a way to track musical samples and cover songs. ...

.Beastie Boys
at

*"Say What?" by

Trouble Funk Trouble Funk is an American R&B and funk band from Washington, D.C. The group helped to popularize funk and the subgenre go-go in the Washington metropolitan area. Among the band's well-known songs are the go-go anthem "Hey, Fellas". They rele ...

*"That's the Joint" by

Funky 4+1 Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

*"Do Your Dance" by

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including "Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career Th ...

*"Never Let 'Em Say" by

Ballin' Jack Ballin' Jack (stylised as Ballin'jack) was an American horn rock group formed in Seattle, Washington in 1969 by Luther Rabb (bass and vocals) and Ronnie Hammon (drums). They had a minor hit in 1970 with "Super Highway", which hit #93 on the Bill ...

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a single released by James Brown in 1970. Its drum break, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled music recordings. Recording and composition "Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 1969 ...

" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

*"Hot and Nasty" by

*"Sugarhill Groove" by the

Sugarhill Gang Sugar Hill may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sugar Hill, Georgia, a city * Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, a town * Sugar Hill, Manhattan, New York, a section of Harlem * Sugar Hill (New York), a mountain in Schuyler County * Sugar Hill, P ...

*"Loose Booty" by

Notes

* Produced & arranged by the

& the

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on ...

. * Engineered by Mario Caldato & Allen Abrahamson. * Samples taken from

's "Loose Booty", from his 1974 album ''

Small Talk Small talk is an informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation or any transactions that need to be addressed. In essence, it is polite and standard conversation about unimportant things. The phenomenon ...

''.

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Beastie Boys songs Songs written by Ad-Rock Songs written by Mike D Songs written by Adam Yauch Songs written by John King (record producer) Songs written by Michael Simpson (producer) Capitol Records singles Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Song recordings produced by Mario Caldato Jr. Song recordings produced by Dust Brothers