The scenario: The smarty-pants hip-hoppers seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable with their party band image, however 1998's Hello Nasty reconciled the group's irreverence with a more mature worldview.

The party line: Capitol Records said that there are currently no Beastie projects on its calendar.

The bottom line: Although Mix Master Mike told us the intergalactic rappers would be in the studio last spring, there have been no further interplanetary transmissions from the Beasties. We're not holding our breath.