Rick Rubin: Roddy Piper Was an Influence on the Beastie Boys

– Rick Rubin recently spoke with Rolling Stone talking about the influence that Roddy Piper and wrestling had on the Beastie Boys. Check out the highlights:

On group being influenced by pro wrestling: “There’s no question that, early on, the Beastie Boys were very influenced by pro wrestling. One-hundred percent. The idea of being bad-guy rappers, saying really outlandish things in interviews, that all came from a love of pro wrestling. We didn’t say it because it was true – we said it because it was entertaining. To me, it was performance art; we were as inspired by pro wrestling and Monty Python as we were music. I remember showing them videotapes of old matches, because I was the fan, and we’d laugh about the stuff on there.”

On being influenced by Roddy Piper in particular: “And at that time, there was a wrestling hotline, and we’d call and listen to prerecorded messages from Roddy Piper and get inspired by the crazy things he’d say. Kerry King [from Slayer] was really into wrestling, too. Later, I worked with Andrew Dice Clay, and he was a perfect heel.”