RockLists.com
Cover of Check Your Head by Beastie Boys
Cover: Check Your Head

Song · Beastie Boys

“So What'cha Want” by Beastie Boys

From the album Check Your Head (1992)

“So What'cha Want” by Beastie Boys appears on 72 radio countdowns from 26 stations between 1992 and 2026. It was first released in 1992 on the album Check Your Head. Its best result is #34 on the 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of All-Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #70 alternative song of 1992, #205 alternative song of all time and #418 of the '90s.

72countdowns
26stations
#34best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1992–2026years charted

Watch

Beastie Boys - So What Cha Want

Video from YouTube (BeastieBoysVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"So What'cha Want" came off the Beastie Boys' third album, Check Your Head, as its second single in 1992, and it sounds like a hip-hop record cut in a sweaty rehearsal room. The credits say as much: Ad-Rock on guitar, Mike D behind the drum kit, MCA on bass, and Mark Ramos-Nishita smothering the whole thing in organ, clavichord, Wurlitzer electric piano and keyboards.

Mario Caldato Jr. engineered it and produced it alongside the band, and Ad-Rock, Mike D and Adam Yauch share the writing credit. What they made is a low-slung, stoned-sounding groove, all fuzz and grind, with the rhymes flung back and forth like a shoving match in a parking lot. It's hip-hop with the loose, grubby swagger of a punk band, and it never sounds like it's trying too hard to be either.

Capitol put it out, and years later it turned up in the video game Rock Band 2, where players could bang along on plastic instruments.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1992 39 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1992 107
1992 55 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1992 91
1992 39 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1992 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1994 303 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 350 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 324 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 315 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1999 209 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 340 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 121 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 149 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 124 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 52 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 311 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 1664 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 548 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 264 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 1664 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 265 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 1664 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 419 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 259 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 1656 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 338 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 86 91X 91X Top 91 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 91
2003 194 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 1643 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 114 Q101 Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2004 392 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 1643 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 37 Y100 Y100 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (July 2004) 300
2005 77 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 90s 96
2005 118 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 1640 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 174 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 45 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of the '90s (December 2006) 107
2006 176 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 467 Live 105 Live 105 500 Co-Op Countdown (Memorial Day 2006) 500
2006 181 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 129 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 73 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 229 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 68 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 187 CFNY 102.1 The Edge The Top 200 Songs of the 90's According to 102.1 The Edge 200
2009 161 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 68 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2009 160 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 200 Songs of All-Time (2009) 200
2010 67 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 66 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2012 34 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 New Rock Songs of All-Time 102
2013 68 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 70 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 397 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 358 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2018 632 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2019 499 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 262 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 391 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 126 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 250 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2021 107 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 232 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 462 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 109 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 223 KEXP KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) 491
2022 438 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2023 42 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 119 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 289 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 296 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2024) 400
2026 709 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 472 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: So Whatcha Want; So What'cha Want?; So Watcha Want; So What'Cha Want; So Whatcha' Want.

Charting alongside it in 1992

Best songs of 1992 →
  1. 1Friday I'm in LoveThe Cure
  2. 2Under the BridgeRed Hot Chili Peppers
  3. 3DriveR.E.M.
  4. 4OneU2
  5. 5JeremyPearl Jam
  6. 6TomorrowMorrissey

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "So What'cha Want" by Beastie Boys.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.