Most days, I don’t think about death, not in a personal way at least, but I’m old enough now that people within a few years of my age are dying more regularly. Today, a celebrity, Adam Yauch has died at 47. While that’s a little older than me, I definitely consider him a peer.
As one of the founding members of the Beastie Boys he helped bring rap to greater suburbia as a generation fought for their right to party. You could tell they were mainstream when “No Sleep til Brooklyn” was parodied in “Stutter Rap (No Sleep til Bedtime)”1.
Their next album, Paul’s Boutique was ahead of its time and remains one of my favourite albums. I picked it up as an over-run CD in the discard bins at A&B sound and I played it a lot. “Hey Ladies” and “Shake your Rump” are my favourite tracks but “Eggman,” “High Plains Drifter” and “Sounds of Science” also get plenty of play even now, after more than 20 years. The samples they used introduced me to some of funk’s greatest and I still manage to find a sample I’d overlooked before.
Unlike many rap acts, the Beastie Boys routinely topped the charts without violent or misogynist lyrics. They had some fun with songs like “Girls” and “Hey Ladies” but there was never any ill will. In “Sure Shot” from 1994’s Ill Communication, MCA specifically spoke out on the topic,
I want to say a little something that’s long overdue
The disrespect to women has got to be through
To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends
I want to offer my love and respect to the end
Around the time they released that album they started to show signs of growing up; they reference grey hair and get political. To the 5 Burroughs, released in 2004, includes “An Open Letter to NYC” which is a perfect love letter to New York City and “It Takes Time To Build” which is anti-Bush and anti-war. I also love that as they aged, the band started to suit up, as in this performance from 2007:
Yauch was also a film enthusiast and director; he directed the star-studded, cameo-filled homage to their beginnings, “Fight For Your Right (Revisited)” from their most recent album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 (2011).
It’s worth watching the full extended version:
And if that’s not enough, check out the Annotated Beastie Boys where you can learn a little more about the references they pack into their lyrics.
I have no idea if the two remaining original members will continue to release albums or not. If not, we have seven great albums of music. I have spent chunks of today immersed in Beasties tunes, feeling nostalgic and, yes, mortal. This tweet put it all in perspective:
Rob Sheridan @rob_sheridan
RIP MCA, but don’t forget the 19,999 other people who will die of cancer today. Good time to learn more and donate: cancer.org
(in Canada, check cancer.ca)
I do get annoyed about cancer-related fundraising (see Pink Ribbons) but getting informed is always a good idea. Following Pink Ribbons, we started to make a concerted effort to get rid of the remaining BPA in our kitchenware and start to really think about the kinds of ingredients we ingest. Cancer isn’t going away any time soon so we need to take some responsibility to filter through the news reports and decide what we can do to improve our odds.
1 Morris Minor and the Majors released Stutter Rap (No Sleep til Bedtime) in 1988, two years after No Sleep til Brooklyn. It also references the Paul Hardcastle song 19.
Photo Credit: “the beastie boys – sonar day 2” CC-BY michael morel, on Flickr