RIP Adam Yauch.
Im not sure what to say or how I want to say it. A man is dead. Should I eulogize him? Talk about how he grew up in Brooklyn and helped form the Beastie Boys (originally a hardcore punk group) at age 17? How he became a Buddhist, and towards the end of his life, a vegan at the recommendation of his buddhist doctors? It all seems too sterile and distant for me. Music is a personal thing, it's not something to be read out of an encyclopedia. To understand the way somebody loves a song or artist, you need to understand what that song or artist means to them.
You couldn't have grown up when I did, and not be influenced or effected by the Beastie Boys. They were everywhere. They were definitely a part of some facet of pop culture, yet they were still edgy and counter culture. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but somehow they were able to go mainstream, without selling out, or seeming like they were another fad. They weren't. They were electric, they were controversial, and they were a big part of the beginnings of the hip hop scene as we know it. Their music video's were amazing, I remember taping them with a VHS player so I could replay them over and over. Their songs pissed off parents and infuriated teachers, so naturally they were some of the most beloved stuff. And their look scared the authority, which is always a desired effect in teen and pre-teen years.
I can't say I was or am a devout fan who would die to see them. I never saw them live. But I knew their effect, and when I was young, I found myself very drawn to them and their style. They were really my first foray into the rap world. I continued playing them through college, they were always a party staple, and even to this day, from time to time songs like this one will come on my Ipod and i'll listen to them and love every second of it. Sometimes they're the perfect dose of "get up off your ass." Liscensed to Ill, their first album, was incredible. You heard it, and you knew it was relavent. And I didn't even hear it until probably five years after it came out. Ill Communication came out in 1994 (their fourth album), and that was the first one I heard in "real time." I think there was an entire summer when all I listened to was that album, Pearl Jam's Ten and Aerosmith's Get A Grip. Ah, the good old days.
But after Ill Communication was the album that probably effected me the most upon it's release. That would be 1998's Hello Nasty. I had just turned 15 when the album came out, and it was almost as if the Beastie Boys personally wanted me to raise some hell. Mix Master Mike was introduced to the group for the first time on that album, and the sound was something totally fresh. It blew my mind, and my parents car speakers. "Body Movin" and "Intergalactic" would be played on loop. Constantly. For about a week my answer to every question was, "I'll stir-fry ou in my wok." Tracks like "Remote Control" were like nothing I had ever heard. They were old sound meets new school, my first introduction to thinking I was cool. I still hum that chorus in my head from time to time. And "The Negotiation Limerick File" was simply the most badass thing I had ever heard. If you can listen to that song without moving along to it your a fucking robot. It was a serious groove. Cliche as it may be, it was the sound of a generation. For a time at least.
"No Sleep till Brooklyn" I found fitting for today though. I needed to revisit something from their first album, and the video is too good to pass up. Like them or not, the Beastie Boys are relevant. I felt like if a bunch of Jewish white boys could make it in the Rap game, maybe I really could do anything. Though I learned that's not true, The Beastie Boys still get a hell of a lot of credit in my book, for being some of the craziest but innovative performers of their time. Bear witness to the end of an era.
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