Although the portents were not good when MCA was unable to attend the band’s induction to the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in April, there was still hope that this essential part of one of the most influential and beloved bands of the past three decades would beat the disease that afflicted him.
Yauch’s gravelly rasp counterpointed Diamond’s pally vibe and Horowitz’s amped craziness on the mic. Their skills combined to create a unique bouillabaisse – a Beastie Boys record was instantly recognisable, not only because of their rhyme styles, but because you felt that their personalities were right there on the track.
Every record, which never sold less than a million copies on release, was a new adventure in sound – the Beasties took the influences of their world, mashing up Japanese pop, Jamaican dub, old-school hip-hop, soul grooves and hard-rock riffs, and made something uniquely their own.
At the same time, they wrote some of the most memorable, quotable, referential and – don’t forget or underestimate this – fun rhymes in rap.
The fact that they seemed like a band of brothers, transmitting a genuine enjoyment in what they did, never appearing po-faced or serious, even in the face of serious illness in the last three years, defines why the Beastie Boys meant so much to so many people.
They loved what they did, and they wanted you to be a part of the party they fought for the right to throw. You were invited, and welcome – the door was open and theirs was not a closed world of gangsta shapes or outrageous bling that you had no access to.
They opened a whole new world of music to this impressionable teen – the Beasties were my link to Run-DMC, to Public Enemy, to NWA, to Boogie Down Productions, and on, and on…
The door was opened not only to their contemporaries, but also to the artists they sampled on their tracks, too innumerable to mention, especially on their best album, Paul’s Boutique.
Creating some of the most memorable moments in music video history – Intergalactic, Body Movin’, So What’cha Want – was another of Yauch’s talents that was most immediately on display in the public domain, but his activism and charitable work for Tibetan freedom and the recovery of New York in the wake of 9/11 were other aspects of the work he did, which underlined his humanity and humanitarianism.
Everyone who met Adam Yauch speaks about a humble, down-to-earth and genuine man whose calm intelligence radiated peace and love. That everyone remembers so clearly their encounters speaks volumes about the mark he left on the world he has left.
There has been nothing but the Beasties finest moments on the playlist since last Friday, and they will always be one of of my most dearly loved, and missed, musical heroes.
Thank you, Boys. Thank you, Adam. Namaste.
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