Super Bowl: Fight for Your Right to Party
A love letter to the Chiefs and the Beastie Boys for Super Bowl 59
When I made the decision to start a blog to discuss music, especially records, the hardest decision was figuring out what my first post would be about. Do I come right out of the gate and discuss my favorite album? My first purchase? My latest purchase? What is currently on repeat (I will say, Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal has been the household anthem for the last few weeks)? Trust me, it’s a lot of pressure! After ruminating on this for longer than I’d like to admit, the answer came to me via dressing my critters up for a holiday that is incredibly special to me as a lifelong Chiefs fan: Super Bowl Sunday.
As you can probably tell, the above paragraph was written BEFORE the game started. Eagles played a great game, and I’m still proud of my Chiefs.
When Travis Kelce joined the team in the 2010’s, he brought a whole new energy to “Fight for Your Right” by the Beastie Boys. Like, run through a brick wall kind of energy. Hearing him scream
YOU GOTTA FIGHT!!!!!
FOR YOUR RIGHT!!!!!
TO PARTY!!!!!
after winning Super Bowl 58 was probably one of the most patriotic moments I’ve ever felt.
Released in 1986, Licensed to Ill was the first rap LP to top the Billboard 200 chart and was the second rap album to be certified Platinum (Raising Hell by Run-D.M.C. was the first). Almost 40 (!!!) years later, and the album is still an absolute force.
One of the reasons I wanted to start a record blog was to help readers find new albums to listen to and what the perfect environment to listen to would be. Licensed to Ill is an album you listen to with the windows rolled down in your 2008 Ford Explorer with the leather seats ripped up on a sunny summer day with the volume cranked up on speakers that have been blown out for years. This is the record you take to a vinyl listening party at the local bar a few minutes away that still has the smell of stale smoke and your shoes stick to the floor, and when it’s finally your turn to spin at 1am, the crowd goes absolutely wild, bringing them back to their teenage years when they felt like they were the shit when this album played on the boombox.
When I hear “Fight for Your Right”, I’m lucky enough to be transported to the years where Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs were on top of the world. Even when I haven’t lived in my hometown of Olathe, Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City) since 2015, a strong sense of hometown pride twangs my heart. For years, the Chiefs were just… the Chiefs. Nothing to run home about. But now the Chiefs are the team – whether you love us, or hate us, you know about the Kansas City Chiefs.
You can doubt the Chiefs. You can dislike the Chiefs. You can disrespect the Chiefs. You’re gonna have to deal with the Chiefs!
Album: Licensed to Ill
Artist: Beastie Boys
Year: 1986
Genre: Rap, Hip-Hop
Favorite Song: Rhymin and Stealin
Favorite Line: “Your mom busted in and said, ‘What’s that noise?’ Aw, mom, you’re just jealous it’s the Beastie Boys”
Best to Listen to: Sunny days when you’re feeling like a mischievous little shit invincible; a late-night party to get the crowd goin’