As NYC continues to celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary that passed this August, a gigantic new Beastie Boys mural was just unveiled on the corner of 14th and Ave. A.
Titled ‘POSSE IN EFFECT,’ the colorful mural by Shepard Fairey and LISA Project NYC stretches eight stories. It encapsulates a photo by Glen E. Friedman (the same photographer for Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head album cover) in the group’s Licensed to Ill era.
Not only does the location of the mural pay homage to the area that Fairey originally began putting up street art, but it’s also where the Beastie Boys recored their first E.P.
“The Beasties blew the doors open for me to embrace other hip-hop and they kept evolving musically and spiritually while redefining what was possible within the genre,” said Fairey on his website. “I’m forever grateful to the Beasties for their contribution to culture and the soundtrack of my life… and for their embrace of, and contribution to, this mural project!”
Earlier this year, the hip-hop group was also honored with the renaming of the corner of Ludlow and Rivington as ‘Beastie Boys Square.’