NEWS
EVENTS
RIP MCA ( Beastie Boys)
RnB/Hip Hop | Tuesday 15th May 2012 | Osh
The hip-hop community suffered a tragic loss the day MCA or Adam Yauch, musical pioneer and activist, left us at the all-too-early age of 47. Yauch had been quietly battling illness since 2009 when he was diagnosed with cancer which he finally surcumed to on May 4th this year. With a career spanning 33 years that was as vibrant as it was diverse it’s almost futile trying to sum up what made the man the legend in so small a space, but I’d say it’s a task that deserves the effort.
Many may not have known Yauch by name but as soon as you say Beastie Boys they’ll all know exactly who you’re talking about. But his work with the Beastie Boys isn’t all there is to it, his career highlights include directing his own music videos and the 2008 documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot. This was all through his own Oscilloscope Laboratories, a studio responsible for many of the most notable indie film releases of 2008-10, including but not limited to Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop and Tell Them Anything You Want, the documentary on Maurice Sendak, the visionary children’s author who was sadly also lost very recently.
Outside of his professional life Yauch was an outspoken human rights activist, and as a practicing Buddhist he took a significant role in the Tibetan Independence Movement and was responsible for the Tibetan Freedom Concert using the Milarepa Fund (a fund created by Yauch and activist Erin Potts to distribute royalties to the monks featured on the BB’s 1994 record Ill Communication). Later in his career he became a defender of feminist and LGBT rights and tried to make amends for the BB’s earlier more offensive lyrics.
His work with the Beastie Boys could be considered the defining element of his relatively short artistic career, and with good reason. By 2010 they had sold a gargantuan 40 million records internationally, a feat not easily rivaled making them the best selling rap-group since the beginning of the 90’s. As a white punk rock group breaking their way into hip-hop in the 80s the Beastie Boys represented something very different, by refusing to adopt the traditional hip-hop personas they demonstrated that people who weren’t from the streets or the ghettos who wanted to enjoy the culture didn’t need to and in fact probably shouldn’t dress themselves up as the gangsters they’re not.
The death of MCA is not only a huge loss for music, the world has lost an irreplaceable pioneer, and if you’re not yet familiar with his work now is as good a time as any to get enlightened.
