RIP MCA

I usually feel very little when a celebrity or musician passes away.  But something about MCA aka Adam Yauch's recent death hit home with me.  Perhaps this is why...

There was some sort of skate demo happening at my elementary school one weekend in what must have been 1986. What I remember more than the skating was the various punk and rap that was blasting to compliment the 80's skateboard shredding.  It was so different than anything I had heard at that early age of 8 or 9; I thought music stopped at Hall & Oates and Michael Jackson.  I clearly remember one song that stood out in particular because the obnoxious vocals kept repeating the word "girls" over a funky xylophone and drum beat.  I had never heard anything like it (and still haven't) and I wanted to know more. MTV actually focused on music at that time (imagine that!) and informed me that the Beastie Boys were about to be huge. Huge in popularity as well as a huge influence on my passion for music.  My older brother and I bought "License to Ill" with chore money and the doors to punk, hiphop, and even metal (Led Zeppelin & Slayer riffs appear on that album) were opened.  In retrospect, this might have been the most influential album for us musically...at least one of them. 

Despite all that, I sort of lost interest in the Beastie Boys when "Paul's Boutique" came out (but learned to love that album later). It wasn't until 1992 that they caught my attention once again.  "Check Your Head" showed maturity and a reconnection to their punk rock roots; they even played their own instruments on that record.  I was hooked all over again.  I bought the "Check Your Head" album cover t-shirt at Rasputin's and wore it until it had holes in it.  In '94 I saw them at Lollapalooza and in '95 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (Bad Brains opened!), and in those same years they released the acclaimed "Ill Communications" and the hardcore punk EP "Aglio e Olio".  Their music became an integral part of my high school soundtrack and some of their songs were the first I'd ever learned on guitar.

MCA always seemed like the mellowest, most mature Beastie Boy, especially since he turned Buddhist and incorporated it into his music.  Monks were even sampled on the song "Bodisattva Vow".  That album, "Ill Communication" was somewhat of a turning point for him.  Sure his lyrics continued to diss whack MCs, but he rapped much less about partying and more about peace & love.  One of my favorite lines of his is from "Sure Shot" in which he says, "I want to say a little something that's long overdue/that disrespect to women has got to be through/to all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends/I want to offer my love and respect til the end." It was also around that time that he helped open our eyes to the troubles of Tibet and became one of the organizers of the Tibetan Freedom Concert held in 1996.  I was lucky enough to attend that concert in Golden Gate Park, and the experience inspired my Religious Studies final project in college a few months later.  Not only did MCA make great music, he raised awareness and millions of dollars for his Milarepa Fund.

After high school, I didn't listen to The Beasties as much, but they were always a part of my life.  MCA's movie distribution company is responsible for two of my favorite documentaries of the past few years, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" and "The Other F Word".  And the Beastie Boys' latest instrumental album, "The Mix Up", still comes up on my iTunes playlist titled "Work".  But most importantly the voice, lyrics, bass lines, & beats of MCA and the Beastie Boys are ingrained in my memory and immortalized on my iPod.  Thank you, Adam Yauch for 30 years of great music, videos, movies, and activism.  You will be missed.