"Intergalactic" is a song by the American hip hop group

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

. "Intergalactic" was released as the first single from their fifth studio album, '' Hello Nasty'', on June 2, 1998. The single reached number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it the band's third top-40 single, and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, where it remains the band's biggest hit. It received a

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was awarded between 1991 and 2011, alongside the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Previously a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. The award was discontinue ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Music video

The "Intergalactic" video was directed by

Adam Yauch Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), also known by the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker and a founding member of the Hip-hop, hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed m ...

under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Nathanial Hörnblowér. The storyline revolves around a giant robot causing destruction by fighting a giant octopus-headed creature in a city while

popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance), boogaloo cultural movement in Oakland, California. As boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as "robottin'" in Richmond, California; strutting movements in San Francis ...

, a parody of, or tribute to, Japanese

Kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

films (specifically the series finale of ''

Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot , also known as ''Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot'' in the United States, is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to Yokoyama's ''Tetsujin 28-go'' (known as ''Gigantor'' in the U.S.), but ''Giant Robo'' has ...

''). Various scenes are filmed in the

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

and

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

train stations in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

; the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building The , also referred to as the for short, is the seat of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs the special wards, cities, towns, and villages that constitute the Tokyo Metropolis. Located in Shinjuku ward, the building was designed ...

No. 1 makes a brief appearance. Throughout the video, the band wear bright uniforms of (Koji) Japanese street construction workers. The opening excerpt from Mussorgsky's

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian s:St. John's Eve (Gogol, unsourced), literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed ...

is played during the beginning of the video. The music video was added to

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

on the week ending June 14, 1998. The video was a regular on ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'' and won the award for Best Hip-Hop Video at the

1999 MTV Video Music Awards The 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, which took place on September 9, 1999 (informally known as the 9/9/99 MTV Video Music Awards), honored the best music videos released between June 13, 1998, and June 11, 1999. The ceremony was hosted by Chris Roc ...

. Beastie Boys performed " Three MC's and One DJ" and "Intergalactic" at the

1998 MTV Video Music Awards The 1998 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 10, 1998, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1997, to June 12, 1998. The show was hosted by Ben Stiller at Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Madonna was the most successful winn ...

. The music video also somewhat parodies Japanese

Super Sentai The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...

shows, which are the basis for ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...

'' and ranked number 64 on

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

's 100 Best Videos. ''

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'' wrote that, "We get the feeling Godzilla creator

Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, best known as the creator of Godzilla. He produced most of the installments in the ''Godzilla'' series, beginning in 1954 with ''Godzilla'' and ending in 1995 with '' Godzilla vs. Destoroyah''. He was one of the mo ...

, who passed the year before the 'Intergalactic' single was released, would be proud."

Track listings

CD single 1 CD single 2 Vinyl single

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other versions

The Japanese girl group

Atarashii Gakko! Atarashii Gakko!, known in Japan as , is a Japanese girl group formed in 2015. The group is jointly managed with Asobisystem, Twin Planet and TV Asahi Music. It made its Japanese debut in June 2017 under Victor Entertainment with the single "D ...

produced a Japanese-language version of "Intergalactic" with a music video shot in

, emulating the original music video.

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 1998 singles Beastie Boys songs Capitol Records singles Grand Royal singles Japan in non-Japanese culture Music videos directed by Adam Yauch Science fiction music Song recordings produced by Mario Caldato Jr. Songs written by Ad-Rock Songs written by Adam Yauch Songs written by Mario Caldato Jr. Songs written by Mike D