On March 7, 1987, Beastie Boys' (Adam “MCA” Yauch, Michael “Mike D” Diamond, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz) landmark effort, Licensed to Ill, became the first Hip-Hop album to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The project features classics like "Paul Revere," Brass Monkey," and "Fight for Your Right," and is the result of a decade of music and friendship — the trio first came together in NYC in the late 70s.

“The only way that we could have become the band that we became is because New York at that time had everything going on,” Mike D explained to The Guardian in 2018. “Now, you can get every song that ever influenced us on this phone, but at that time, New York truly was the only place in the world that had this confluence of all this different kind of music. New-wave stuff, no-wave stuff, post-punk, then the beginnings of rap. Dub, jazz, salsa, whatever.”

The acclaimed album, originally released on Def Jam on November 15, 1986, stayed on top of the chart for seven straight weeks. It's currently certified diamond and remains a Hip-Hop staple.