May 07, 2012

MCA Passes the Mic

"I want to offer my love and respect to the end." Adam "MCA" Yauch (1964--2012)

  Adam "MCA" Yauch, who dropped science like Galileo dropped the orange, has left the Earth and two Beastie Boys behind after battling throat cancer for three years. He was the voice of gravel to Mike Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz's whine and yelp. He was always the steadiest one, leaning in the back chewing bubblegum and moving with a calibrated ease. I always took a personal liking to Mike D, but it was the lyrics of MCA that rattled most in my brain. "All you Trekkies and TV addicts/Don't mean to diss, don't mean to bring static," or, “I’m cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce,” or, "I'll stir-fry you in my wok," and who knows what else, all of it.
     Once at a job interview for Blockbuster I was asked how I prepare myself mentally before going to work. In a moment of hesitation I wondered if I should give them the professional answer, or the truth. "Well...I put on the Beastie Boys and that pretty much gets me ready," I answered. The two employers had smiles that turned into laughs and I was hired.
    This is the absolute beauty of MCA, Adrock and Mike D: When the Beastie Boys play all the problems of the world fall away. Everything loosens up and suddenly it's the first day of summer vacation. Dance, shout, jump, throw shit around and have some fun. The Beasties unlock the part of your brain where all the happiness hides. They instantly achieve pure wild positivity and reflect it back to the listener. No other group does this. Many come close, many have tried, but only the B-Boys can truly make it happen again and again. Just think of the opening seconds of “Intergalactic” or “Sure Shot” and you’ll start to feel that spazzed-out energy. It’s hard not to jump out a window or swing from the ceiling fan when it comes on.
    They've given the world something magical that will last forever. It's heartbreaking to think it’s over, but hard to imagine the Beastie Boys as a duo. They've always been and always will be a trio, but this ends not with a slouching sadness, but of a joyful gratitude. MCA’s soul now may be divided up amongst the rest of us so that a sliver of him will melt inside us always. He now travels by the sound waves of his own creation. He now is the music.

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