"Too Many Rappers" is a song by American hip hop group the

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 ...

, released as the second single from their eighth studio album ''

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two ''Hot Sauce Committee Part Two'' is the eighth and final studio album by American Hip hop music, hip hop band Beastie Boys, released on May 3, 2011, through Capitol Records. The project was originally planned to be released in two parts, with ''H ...

''. It features fellow American rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

. The song was nominated 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 ...

at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Pe ...

. The song was released digitally to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

, as well as on 12" vinyl, on July 21, 2009, about two years prior to the release of the album. The version featured on ''Hot Sauce Committee Part Two'' is an alternate version, known as the "New Reactionaries" version.

Music video

The four-and-a-half-minute video for "Too Many Rappers" was directed by

Roman Coppola Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965) is an American director, screenwriter, producer and the son of Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola. For the 2012 film ''Moonrise Kingdom'', he and co-writer Wes Anderson were nominated for the A ...

but, for undisclosed reasons, never got an official premiere. The clip intercuts seemingly raw footage of

Ad-Rock Adam Keefe Horovitz (born October 31, 1966), popularly known as Ad-Rock, is an American rapper, guitarist and actor. He was a member of the hip-hop group Beastie Boys. While Beastie Boys were active, Horovitz performed with a side project, BS ...

Mike D Michael Louis Diamond (born November 20, 1965), better known as Mike D, is an American rapper, musician, and music producer. He is best known as a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Early life Diamond was born in New York City ...

, MCA and

rolling through various vignettes—

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

's Centennial Park, a bridge, a store—with live and studio footage. In January 2015, a contributor to the BeastieBoys.com message board discovered and posted the clip, which had been hosted on the website of film editor Neal Usatin. News of the discovery made headlines internationally; the Beastie Boys' official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account would begin to host the videoclip a short time later.

Track listing

Charts

References

2009 singles Beastie Boys songs Nas songs Songs written by Nas 2009 songs Capitol Records singles Songs written by Ad-Rock Songs written by Mike D Songs written by Adam Yauch Music videos directed by Roman Coppola {{2000s-single-stub