Dem Vinyl Boyz EP 15 - Licensed to Ill

Dem Vinyl Boyz are back again and this week they're scratching 'Licensed to Ill' a classic record from the eighties by Rock n Roll Hall of Famers The Beastie Boys. This album was a pioneer for hip-hop history as it was the first hip-hop album to ever top the Billboard 200, was certified Platinum, and it sold over 10 million copies. Licensed To Ill was a pun based on a 1965 imitation James Bond film, Licensed To Kill. Strangely, the album pre-dated a real James Bond movie entitled License To Kill by three years. The album’s cover artwork which has gone down in infamy was created by collage artist World B Omes and illustrated an airplane crashing into the side of a cliff. Held up to a mirror, the plane’s serial number, 3MTA3, reads like “EATME”, which was on purpose of course. The inspiration for the songs on this album came from 'Run-DMC', whose “Rock Box” had combined rap and rock elements two years prior. Make sure to subscribe and follow for our latest reviews. If you think our podcast sucks leave us a review to let us know.

DEM VINYL BOYZ

Before music lived in the cloud, it lived in our hands.

It came wrapped in artwork big enough to study, tucked inside a paper sleeve, and carried the faint smell of cardboard, dust, and time. You lowered the needle, heard that first warm crackle, and for the next forty minutes, the album had your complete attention.

For years, vinyl lovers were told they were stuck in the past. While the world raced toward CDs, downloads, and endless digital playlists, Dem Vinyl Boyz kept moving at 33⅓ RPM—saving the records, protecting the sleeves, and never forgetting that music was meant to be experienced, not skipped.

Turns out, vinyl never died. It was only waiting for the rest of the world to slow down and listen again.

Each week, Dem Vinyl Boyz pull a classic album from the crates and take you back to the moment it entered the world. From the opening note of Side A to the final groove of Side B, they explore the songs, the artists, the studio stories, the cultural impact, and the little-known details that transformed a collection of tracks into a legendary album.

This isn’t just a review. It’s a musical time machine.

It’s the sound of sliding a record from its jacket. The anticipation before the needle drops. The lost art of listening to an album in the order the artist intended. And the memories that return the moment an old song begins to play.

So put on your headphones, pull up a seat beside the turntable, and rediscover the greatest music ever pressed into wax.

DEM VINYL BOYZ. DROP THE NEEDLE. HEAR THE HISTORY. RESPECT THE TECHNIQUE.