Samples

• "Public Enemy No. 1" by Public Enemy from their debut album Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987)
• "The O.J. Chronicles" - an episode of "The Joe Frank Show" by Joe Frank and David Cross

References

• Blimpie Bluffin - a breakfast sandwiches from Blimpie's, a sub sandwich franchise; also referenced in the lyrics of Too Many Rappers (New Reactionaries Version)
• Yosi - a common male Jewish name
• Batten down the hatches - a nautical term meaning to secure tarpaulins over a hatch by means of battens
• Baked Alaska - a dessert consisting of ice cream and browned meringue on a cake base
• Manhattan - a borough of New York City
• E.F. Hutton (1875-1962) - an American financier and founder of E.F. Hutton & Company, a brokerage house which later grew into a conglomerate of companies, best known for its commercials based on the phrase "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen."

Sample & Reference Breakdown

• "Well..." - a sample from "Public Enemy No. 1" by Public Enemy
• "I could sing, rap, dance in just one show" - similar to lyrics in UTFO's "Roxanne, Roxanne" ("She was walking down the street so I said 'Hello, I'm Kangol from UTFO'/She said 'So?'/I said 'So? Baby don't you know/I could sing, rap, dance in just one show'")
• "Simmer in the pan 'cause I ain't a flash in" - refers to the expression "flash in the pan," which is a person, thing, or action that shows brilliant promise for a short time then turns out to be a dismal failure
• "Went to the top and never went pop and came back down but still not stopping" - refers to the BBC's long-running music chart show "Top of the Pops"
• "Shhh...you heard me like I'm E.F. Hutton" - In the 1980's, E.F. Hutton & Co. ran a series of TV commercials in which one person would be talking to another in a bustling, crowded area with a lot of noise. Once the person stopped talking to the other about their stock options and investments, they would say "My broker is E.F. Hutton and E.F. Hutton says..." At that moment, everything in the scene would stop and become silent, presumably to hear what E.F. Hutton had to say about stock tips.
• "And I was trying on the Batgirl costume, what's wrong with that? Now, now I was the Catwoman." - a sample from "The O.J. Chronicles," an episode of "The Joe Frank Show" by Joe Frank and David Cross
• "Hey, Adam, it's Felicia. Hey, Mike, it's Felicia. Hey, Adam, it's Felicia" - Formerly Mike D's personal assistant, Felicia works for the Beastie Boys' management company. She runs the merch, handles a lot of the tour promotional materials, and deals with packaging designs. Felicia is known to give a familiar message on one's voice mail, "Hi, ____. It's Felicia."

Beastie Boys

"Enunciate. Make sure they hear you in the very last row. Or, don't enunciate, wear gold fronts and just make sure no-one can understand anything you say." - Beastie Boys, 2004

Press

"Each member shines [in Rhyme the Rhyme Well], a trade-off track in the vein of 'Pass the Mic.'" - Jonathan Cohen Billboard, April 2004

"...the booming bottom ends of [Rhyme the Rhyme Well] evokes shades of the group's classics like 'Shake Your Rump' and 'Root Down.'" - Jonathan Cohen Billboard, April 2004

"[Rhyme the Rhyme Well isn't a] bad track. [It's] tight, intricate and listenable, but not the compelling music of the great Beastie Boys albums that demanded repeat listening." - Chloe Sasson, Sydney Morning Herald, June 23, 2004