Star Wars fans love finding little hidden nuggets inside the movies, especially as the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens approaches this year. But fans of director J.J. Abrams know to look for Beastie Boys nuggets too.
The Star Wars director has created a character in the upcoming film that is inspired by the 90s hip-hop group he loves so dearly. According to io9, the character's name is Ello Asty, an alien X-Wing pilot for the resistance and the official Star Wars Database describes him as "skilled if occasionally reckless."
Take a second look at the name though. Add an "H" and an "N" and you have Hello Nasty, the name of the Beastie Boy's 1998 album. Yakface also points to the made up alien language of Aurebesh painted on the character's helmet, which when translated reads "Born To Ill" a reference to The Beastie Boys debut album Licensed to Ill. You can see a picture of the character below.
Ello Asty was “BORN TO ILL”. He doesn't need a license. #theforceawakens pic.twitter.com/OD9eskD6B9
— Yakface.com (@yak_face) September 11, 2015
This isn't the first time Abrams has shown his deep affection for the hip-hop trio. He made a big splash in the music industry by licensing the group's hit song "Sabotage" for the opening scene of the first Star Trek movie he directed back in 2009, in which nearly the entirety of the song is played as a young Captain Kirk takes a car for a joy ride. It's been heralded as one of the best intros to a movie or character in history, and surely the team paid a huge price for that placement.
Abrams probably went for a more subtle nod to the group this time around, foregoing the expensive and out of place song placement. But, fans of science fiction and 90s hip-hop alike surely appreciate it.
Watch the Star Trek clip below introducing Captain James Tiberius Kirk and head over to io9 for more photos of the new Star Wars character.
