Samples:

a. 59 Chrystie St.
• Drum beat from "The Jungle Line" by Joni Mitchell on her 1975 album "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns"
• "Are You Experienced?" by Jimi Hendrix
• "Aah yeah!" - "Here We Go" by Run DMC
• "Fresh!" - "Change le Beat/B-side" by Fab 5 Freddy
• "Wick-Wick-Wack" - "My Philosophy" by BDP
• "You know it." from the track "Buffalo Gals" on Malcom McLaren & The World Famous Supreme Team's album "Duck Rock"
• "Rocket in the Pocket" by Cerrone

b. Get on the Mic
• The song alternates between a human beat box and a recored one, called "At the Fever", by Lovebug Starski.

c. Stop That Train
• "Stop that Train, I wanna get off" - From "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty, also on The Harder They Come soundtrack.
• Bass drum, horns and chimes from "Save the World" by All The People

d. A Year and a Day
• Begins with Tower of Power's, "Ebony Jam"
• Isley Brothers - "Who's That Lady"
• Led Zeppelin's, "When The Levee Breaks" beat sped up

e. Hello Brooklyn
• "Shot a man in Brooklyn..." part is from the classic blues song "Train Kept a Rollin" by legendary blues man Tiny Bradshaw. The original lyric is "Shot a man in Reno . . ."
• "...just to watch him die" - Johnny Cash, in Folsom Prison Blues

f. Dropping Names
• Sweet - "Into the Night", from Desolation Blvd.
• The quote at the end "you explain to a musician...." is taken from an interview with Bob Marley
• The piano and drums before "He thrusts his fist..." is the Meters' "Hey A-Pocky Way" on the album "Rejuvenation"
• The music right after the "He thrusts his fist..." is from the Crusader's "The Well's Gone Dry" off the Southern Comfort album
• "Ebony Jam" by Tower of Power - guitar picking that slows down

g. Lay It On Me
• Kool and the Gang's - "Let the Music Take Your Mind"

h. Mike on the Mic
• "At The Fever" by LoveBug Starski is cut-up at the beginning and then allowed to play through to the end, providing for the whole track
• "It's a trip, it's got a funky beat, and I can bug out to it" - Lloyd Lindsey

i. A.W.O.L.
• "Good Times" by Chic
• During the climax Trouble Funky's "Good To Go" is heard on the left channel

a. 59 Chrystie St.
• 59 Christie St. is where the Beastie Boys first started practicing together

b. Get on the Mic
• Dick Butkus - former player for the Chicago Bears
• Jelly Roll Morton - late jazz artist
• Rolos - chocolate candy with caramel center

c. Stop That Train
• New York Post - New York newspaper
• Bernard Goetz (shot muggers on subway)
• Dunkin' Donuts - chain of donut shops
• El Diario (Spanish newspaper in NYC)
• Orange Julius - Chain of fast drinks
• George Drakolius - Producer (The Cult, Black Crowes) and a protege of Rick Rubin
• Captain Kirk - Star Trek
• "Rhymes...about the hard times" from the song "Hard Times" by Run-DMC
• "Jamacia Queens funkin'" refers to "Funkin' For Jamacia" by Tom Browne
• Dr. Hfuhruhurr ale - potent 40 oz bottled ale, also Steve Martin's character in The Man With Two Brains
• "I got nothin' to lose, so I'm pissin' on the third rail" - the third rail being the one that supplied the car with electricity
• Lees - Lee jeans

d. A Year and a Day
• "Mix the Bass Ale with the Guinness Stout" - a drink, otherwise known as a Black and Tan

e. Hello Brooklyn
• "The Bronx is up amp; I'm Brooklyn Down" - lyrics from to the song "New York, New York" (actual lyrics are "the Bronx is up and the Battery's down.")
• "Buffalo Soldier" reggae song by Bob Marley
• "Broader than Broadway" reggae song by Barrington Levy
• "Keep keepin' on, I don't care what they say" - a reference to the line "The only thing I knew how to do was keep on keepin' on" from Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan

f. Dropping Names
• "He thrusts his fist against the post and still insists he sees a ghost" - popular tongue twister, also used to try to correct suttering problems, as used in Steven King's "It."

g. Lay It On Me
• Hawthorne Wingo - Ex-New York Knick
• Napolean Bonaparte - French General
• Fruit Stripe Gum
• "Peepin' out the colors I be buggin' on Cezanne" is a reference to 19th century French impressionist painter Cezanne, known for his revolutionary use of color.
• Shamus - a 1970's private eye movie staring Burt Reynolds

h. Mike on the Mic
• Red Lobster - seafood restaurant
• Raymond Burr - played Ironside, a detective who used a wheelchair to "ride around town"

i. A.W.O.L.
• Jazzy Jay - old skool New York DJ
• Bad Brains - influential punk band made up of Rastafarians, formed in 1978
• Mike G. - member of the innovative rap group the Jungle Brothers
• Hollis Crew - the posse of Run-DMC, based out of Hollis, Queens
• Whoudini - new school rap group that had a series of successful singles in the mid eighties
• Original Concept - Band, their DJ was Dr. Dre, the "Yo! MTV Raps" host and former Beastie Boys D.J.