Beastie Boys' Mike D Releases Debut Solo Album 'Thank You'
Mike D (Michael Diamond) of Beastie Boys released his debut solo album Thank You via Capitol on Friday, August 28, 2026. It's his first release under his own name since Beastie Boys effectively stopped operating following Adam "MCA" Yauch's death in 2012. The record was made with 5D, a band he formed with his two sons, Skyler and Davis Diamond, and leans toward electronic and dance-oriented territory. NME reviewed the album the same day, calling it a "solid and joyful" return.
What's on the record
Opener "Switch Up" rides a jungle rhythm with a loose, unhurried flow from Mike D. "What We Got" grapples with uncertainty about his current standing — he calls himself a "retired MC" in the lyrics even as the track itself bangs. "True Colours" recalls early Chemical Brothers, while "Secrets" Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 sit on 808s and LCD Soundsystem-style synth pulses as he probes the limits of self-disclosure. "Make It Stop" is described by NME as a paranoid unraveling with shades of Gorillaz.
NME singles out two tracks in particular: "Crypto," a glitchy, urgent jab at tech-bro greed, and "Back To Start," which carries a lightness comparable to The Avalanches. The title track and closer, "Thank You," looks back on his teenage years figuring things out alongside MCA and Ad-Rock, landing somewhere between tender and bittersweet. On the electro-pop cut "Here We Are," he sings, "Start small, nothing heroic."
From behind the boards to the front
Beastie Boys emerged from hardcore punk and reshaped rap and late-20th-century pop culture through sampling, genre-hopping live setups, and a heavy dose of playfulness. After MCA's death, Mike D largely stayed behind the scenes, producing albums for bands including Soft Play and The Hives, until he grew tired of giving all his ideas away to other people. He began trading ideas at home with his two sons — both members of the independent dance duo Very Nice Person — and that process gradually took shape as 5D.
NME compares 5D's live energy to Turnstile and Death Grips. Mike D's first UK solo show this summer took place at a social club and bingo hall in North Shields. He told NME the album is "still pretty juvenile musically, but a bit more mature lyrically," adding that he's had to relearn how to feel things. NME's review notes that Thank You is neither a Beastie Boys album nor an old-school pastiche, and that his real solo ceiling will only show once he pushes further to the extremes.
Release info
- Album: Thank You
- Release date: Friday, August 28, 2026
- Label: Capitol
- Personnel: Mike D with 5D (Skyler Diamond, Davis Diamond)