On Rememberance (MCA, RIP)

If anybody remembers the first time they heard the Beastie Boys, good for them. I don't. I do remember a general constant presence of their tracks in the soundscape of my life over the last 15 years.I probably got started with Check Your Head - in the 7th grade, making videos where my friends and I jumped around and lipsynched, throwing cardboard boxes at each other, smashing shit - our school let us broadcast it on the Friday video announcements, forever casting us as the raw funky fresh crew that tore up the middle school flow with unashamed idolization of hip hop heroes.Hello Nasty dropped and we were all like "so it is possible to stay fresh, FOREVER." Something to strive for. To The 5 Boroughs hit and made me feel like even DC was getting better after 9/11.With so much heartbreaking music out there to turn on when some girl was playing me, so much angry music to flip out on when "the man" was keeping me down, the B-Boys were always on deck when it was just time to kick it. They were so clutch. They were the flyest most hype most ill.Not long after 5 Boroughs, they came through, finally, just the Beastie Boys on their own bill - not a bunch of festival filler to patiently tolerate before they took their 45 minute headlining set - just a straight up, 2 hour jam. It was like no other show. It sent me back to every time I screamed through Fight for Your Right while cruising in somebody's car, took me back to every crafty girl I ever kicked lyrics back and forth with - "How you gonna kick it?" - "Root down, Brian, I'm gonna kick it root down," she would say back.Just a year ago, the Hot Sauce kept me on my training grind when I decided running 10 mile races was going to keep my head from exploding - When I think of the B-Boys, I'll always remember the stress that preceded putting on the album - and the way it fucking disappeared immediately when the beat dropped.

remember MCA by donating to the American Cancer society:  https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate/donateonlinenow/index