Beastie Boys' Anthem 'Girls' Gets a Feminist Remake

Even if you’re a longtime fan of the Beastie Boys, the lyrics to song “Girls” can be cause for a good eye-rolling cringe when it pops up on a playlist. As the Beastie Boys started embracing more progressive causes, they distanced themselves from the songs’ lyrics (and much of the lyrical content on some of their early work.) Yes, it’s a damn catchy song but lyrics like “Girls – to do the dishes/Girls – to clean up my room/Girls – to do the laundry/Girls – and in the bathroom” aren’t necessarily what you want to remember about the band that gave us “The disrespect to women has got to be through/ To all the mothers and sisters and wives and friends/ I want to offer my love and respect to the end.”

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Rocket, 22, describes what motivated her to take the song and reclaim it as a feminist anthem:

I was in the shower and I was singing “Girls” by the Beastie Boys, because I love the Beastie Boys, and I kept saying “All they really want is girls,” instead of “all we really want is girls.” I thought, I could really flip this with a strong and really empowering angle for a young girls. So, I called Matt Squire, who produced it -– he’s done stuff for “Panic At The Disco” and is an amazing producer -– and I was like, “We have to do this Beastie Boys cover.”

[…]

The message behind the song … it’s just a really fun way for girls to feel like they can be sexy in any way that they want to be. There is a fine line between saying “I want to be empowering” and “I want to be sexy,” but I think it’s important to realize that you can be both in any way that you choose.

Rocket also has thoughts about media depictions of other female pop stars, but she’s not interested in slamming other performers for what they choose to do on stage:

We could talk about female pop artists all day and how they’re being strong women in a male dominated industry, because the music industry is male dominated, but I do want to stand out as doing it in my own way. I’m not an over-sexualized artist. I don’t wear leotards on stage … but I’m not putting down artists who do, because that’s what makes them feel powerful, and I feel powerful in a suit.

For more info on Rocket and her music, you can check out her website here.