Which Beastie Boys album became the first rap album to top the Billboard 200?

The Beastie Boys’ 1986 album “Licensed to Ill” became the first rap album to top the Billboard 200.

Released on November 15, 1986, the album was the group’s Def Jam debut and was produced primarily by Rick Rubin and Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz, known as Ad-Rock, Adam Yauch, known as MCA, and Michael Diamond, known as Mike D. Its loud guitar samples, turntable-heavy production, and humorous party-rap approach gave it broad crossover appeal.

The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 in 1987 and eventually became a major commercial success. It included “Fight for Your Right,” “No Sleep till Brooklyn,” and “Paul Revere,” tracks that helped define the group’s early public image.

“Licensed to Ill” is sometimes mixed up with “Paul’s Boutique,” the Beastie Boys’ more sample-dense 1989 follow-up. “Paul’s Boutique” became highly influential, but it was not the album that first gave the group a Billboard 200 number-one record.