Musiq House

Led by the current single "Ch-Check It Out," To the 5 Boroughs is the Beastie Boys' sixth album, the first produced by the rap trio, and their first new studio album since 1998's quadruple-platinum Hello Nasty. The disc was recorded at the Beasties' new NYC studio and features many references to their hometown, as on "An Open Letter to NYC," which includes the lines, "Dear New York, I hope you're doing well / I know a lot's happened and you've been through hell / So we give thanks for providing a home / Through your gates at Ellis Island we passed in droves." As always, the Boys stuff their rhymes with pop cultural references, although this time around they match them with equally savvy political couplets, such as "We've got a president we didn't elect / The Kyoto Treaty he decided to neglect" ("Time to Build").