The Beastie Boys album "Licensed to Ill" was released in the eighties. It arrived on November 15, 1986, as the New York trio's debut studio album on Def Jam and Columbia Records.
Produced largely by Rick Rubin, the record fused hard-rock guitar samples, heavy beats, shouted hooks, and irreverent humor. Songs such as "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" and "No Sleep till Brooklyn" helped bring hip hop to a much larger mainstream audience.
The album was historically important because it became the first rap album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. It eventually earned Diamond certification from the RIAA for U.S. shipments exceeding 10 million copies. A common mix-up is placing it in the 1990s because the Beastie Boys remained highly influential during that decade, but their breakthrough record belongs firmly to the 1980s.