I dropped a mixtape on Friday called 'Keys Over Kanye' and nobody cared. Then, I read the MCA had passed, felt so sad but the hustler in me kept pushing my new tape. After a few hours, I realized promo-ing my shit was selfish, and had to look into maybe doing a Best of Beasties. It’s only right. Mixtapes come together well when you actually love the artist. RIP MCA aka Adam Yauch and much respect to the Beasties. They went from being the most offensive group when I was 2 feet tall to playing tonnes of instruments and having a long career. This group was old school when the word old school didn’t exist – messy but banging production, a tonne of samples, sillyness inserted everywhere, and lots of that old 70s funk. I’ve had little sleep over the past few days because I committed to getting this out, so I’m going to depart from paragraphs and go into bullets…brrrrap. Here’s a few highlights of the Beastie Boys:
•Never recorded one record to be mainstream yet were the biggest thing when they came out: Their debut was the first hip hop album ever to go #1 on the Billboard 200.
•MCA was the freshest in the group – his voice was super ill, and although he wasn’t as energetic as Ad Rock, he delivered that cool but rugged voice nicely everytime. The other 2 occasionally annoy me, but on stage, they hold it down better than MCA in my opinion.
•These guys are humble. They’re legends yet they still talk about having studios to work in as a blessing and that rapping is their dream.
•Paul Revere is Run from Run DMC’s idea. He came late to the studio, so they were waiting outside for him and then he shows up, screaming out the words. What an amazing story.
•They’re the original hipsters, except it’s not a trend, they’re dressing or acting a certain way, because they are grown kids and really don’t give a **** what ppl think.
•When they did 'Get It Together' with Q-Tip (whose favourite album is 'Paul’s Boutique' btw)., nobody could front on them – that was a DJ Premier level beat with a nasty hook…10/10. Turns out the break is real mooged out on some uptempo Dilla shit.
•When DJs were obsolete, they brought out Mix Master Mike at the MTV Awards in 1997 and destroyed it with him – Rappers don’t really support hip-hop culture like this, and usually if they do, they’re soft. They actually killed that gig.
•There’s not enough time, there’s so much I can say about these guys.
•Lastly, even though they haven’t been in their prime for a while, it’s sad to see MCA go, and probably take the band with him. When their music is on, it’s fun, it’s conscious, it’s innovative and always classic still. RIP MCA and enjoy the mix.
•The mix is an hour long, and somehow I got it done in 3 days. I’m kind of a monster with the Macbook, I can’t front, so don’t front.
•Now that I did my due diligence, get my 'Keys Over Kanye' tape that I dropped on Friday. It’s Alicia Keys’ vocals over Kanye beats and together they sound incredible. Trust me, get it.
•Illustration by Dan Santat.
DOWNLOAD The Best of the Beastie Boys
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