Det nye Beastie Boys album, "To the 5 boroughs" kommer for alvor til at være en manifestation af drengenes tilbagevenden til deres rødder i New York City.
Mike D siger til Billboard: " 'Licensed to ill' was where we were at the time - drinking beer and acting silly. 'Pauls Boutique' was moving to L.A.; that was a whole different fantasy. 'Check Your Head' was getting back to three of us. This album is really New York City; all of us living here.".
På en af de nye sange, "An open letter to NYC", bliver der rappet om terrorist-angrebet 11.september 2001: "Since 9/11 we're still livin' / and lovin' life we've been given /ain't nothing gonna take that away from us / we're looking pretty and gritty 'cause in the city we trust" - Beasties har dog også et par ord om Præsident Bush klar: "We've got a president we didn't elect / The Kyoto treaty he decided to neglect / and still the U.S. just wants to flex".