Sure Shot
Encyclopedia
"Sure Shot" is a song by American hip hop group Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....

, released as the third single from their 1994 album Ill Communication
Ill Communication
Ill Communication is the fourth studio album by the Beastie Boys. It was released on May 24, 1994 via Grand Royal Records. It was remastered and made available on the Beastie Boys' Web site on July 7, 2009....

. The single was released a few days after the release of the album, on May 31, 1994.

Release

The CD and cassette maxi single (with a total of 7 tracks) features three remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es of the title track, one by Large Professor
Large Professor
Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas...

, one by Mike Nardone and Dred Scott, and a third by the Prunes.

It also features 3 new songs, "Mullet Head" (a punk rock style song; the title is a reference to the much-ridiculed mullet
Mullet (haircut)
The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...

 hair-style), "Son of Neck Bone" (an instrumental track) and "The Vibes", a more traditional rap song in the manner of "Sure Shot".

Song structure

The driving force of the track "Sure Shot" is the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

 riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....

, sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 from Jeremy Steig
Jeremy Steig
-Biography:Steig is the son of New Yorker cartoonist William Steig,At age 19 Steig was involved in a motorcycle accident which left him paralyzed on one side...

's "Howlin' for Judy", and hardcore beat. In the booklet for the Beastie Boys anthology, The Sounds of Science (1999), Ad-Rock writes of "Sure Shot":
The Beastie Boys had laid down most of the song, and had put together many of the lyrics, but they were missing a chorus (or hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...

) for the song. They called DJ Hurricane
DJ Hurricane
DJ Hurricane is a hip hop DJ, producer and rapper. He is known for his work as the Beastie Boys' DJ...

 over the phone to see if he had any ideas, and out of his sleep, over the phone, Hurricane improvised the chorus which would become:
"Because you can't, you won't, and you don't stop
When you can't, you won't, and you don't stop
You know you can't, you won't, and you don't stop
[name of a Beastie Boy] .... come and rock the Sure Shot"


The chorus is also a reference to the structure found in the song "Jazz (We've Got)
Jazz (We've Got)
"Jazz " is the second single from A Tribe Called Quest's second album The Low End Theory. A segment of the track "Buggin' Out" appeared in the music video. The sequences from "Jazz " are in black and white, while the "Buggin' Out" sequences are in full color...

" by A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...


Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

27
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 48
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