The Beastie Boys recorded “Get It Together” with Q-Tip for their fourth album Ill Communication. They used influences from punk rock, jazz and funk to create the sounds. “Get It Together” was built on the famously used piano sample from the Moog Machine’s “Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In.” Their camraderie on the microphone made Q-Tip come across as the fourth member instead of a guest. The album version included his verses but they were omitted when “Get It Together” was released as the second single. The difference did not stop any fan of the song from forgetting Q-Tip because his vocals were first and he memorably opened with “One-two-one-two keep it on.” The steady-rhyming and funky production also had samples from Grand Funk Railroad, Yusef Lateef and Fred Wesley with Horny Horns. The song was one of the best moments of Ill Communication and it also appears on the compilation albums The Sounds Of Science and Beastie Boys Music.
The Beastie Boys released their last album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two in 2011. This was the same year they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They did not attend because memeber Adam “MCA” Yauch was hospitalized with the cancer that would take his life in 2012. In 2020, the Spike Jonze-directed documentary Beastie Boys Story was released to the AppleTV+ streaming service after a limited cinematic run.
