The Beasties

It’s really fun remembering what it was like living during the same time as the Beastie Boys. Life was amazing in It’s obscurity, and I was at a moment where my intellect and my awareness were reaching that point of self realization.

In simple terms, I was finally starting to recognize art that I liked. Art that I’d find for myself. The Beasties were among the first I loved, although, I had no idea they existed long before I ever discovered them that one day, when I was maybe about 11 years old.

Maybe sooner. Who really knows. I assume it was around 11 or 12 years old because it was during the time I was really into skateboarding, and their style played a huge part into who I found myself wanting to be.

I just knew they were something different, and that was enough for me.

The first song I heard from the Beastie Boys was ‘Watcha Want’. A crazy mix of punk, rap, rock, and all kinds of other styles that I don’t think were even invented yet. Right out of the gate they were blowing my fucking mind.

I couldn’t believe it. I remember I waited days, maybe weeks to finally have the chance to record it off my radio that hung above my bed, onto a tape, so I could ride around the neighborhood and jam this new track by this new band I never heard of before. It’s amazing how little I still knew.

It was back when we still lived right off Western Skies, and before my father used his Navy Pension to buy his big house on the West Side. The new house was nice and all but I estimate I lived in that giant one no more than two total years, and never all at once. Moving around constantly.

Western Skies I lived at for more nearly five years straight, and although the neighborhood was rough, I always felt comfortable there. I’d ride around on my skateboard that I decorated with stickers from 107.9 The Edge, and I’d say what’s up to the homies and the ese’s as they hung out doing their thing, and I just didn’t give two shits about anything else.

I had my music, my skateboard, and the road. I suppose not much will ever change for some of us.

From there my connection to the Beastie Boys grew as their musical abilities were on full display, with what I believe is their best track, ‘Sabatoge’.

The Guitar Riff, the way they shout out at you, even the attitude in their tone. I’m still amazed listening now in the middle of the night as an old man.

One thing that always remained with the Beastie Boys is you could always hear their attitude and you could always feel their power. ‘Sabatoge’ has as much power as any track I’ve ever listened to. And don’t even get me started on the video.

From there they went futuristic with Intergalactic, and again, they asked me to change, and evolve with them.

By the time this one came out they had returned to their Hip hop ways, but with their own ability to progress, and I was going through a bit of a change as well.

I had outgrown the skater life, and was now fully immersed in all things Hip Hop. The Wu Tang Clan, Tupac, the Notorious BIG, Snoop. It was such a golden age that Jay Z was still just an afterthought. A side player.

Rap and Hip Hop culture exploded in the nineties and I was in love with it. I still am. Which is why I’m up writing about it at 2:30 in the morning, while a beautiful naked woman lays in bed, waiting just for me to join her. The culture has given me so much, and I must do my best to give back to it.

The Beasties are such a unique part of Hip Hop Culture simply because there is no one version of them. No one style. No one answer. In this new day and age we must be many things, to many people, at many different times.

I still subscribe to that state of mind to this day. The only good style is the one that can be any style.

I see now that my early relationship with Hip Hop would end up being the catalyst for what I now apply to my studies and commitment to Rave Culture. Before I ever found a rave I was deeply connected to the MC and the DJ.

Which brings me to my forever favorite track by the Beastie Boys, Three MCS and One DJ. The ultimate example of not just their ability, but also an inclusion of the fourth member of the group, Mixmaster Mike.

The way the three wordsmiths flowed with each other naturally and organically can also be shown in the way they flowed with their DJ. The simplicity of this track and the video that goes with it shows not just what hip hop will always be about, but also the Beastie Boys as well.

Three guys on the mic, dropping their rhymes, expressing their style, and a DJ using his skill to cut and twist the track to match their vocals in such a way that it’s different every single time. The nature of a true DJ can never be ignored nor denied. I know that just like the Beasties did as well.

For every good MC, there’s always a good DJ that has their back. Nothing will change that one.

These few words I share with you about the Beastie Boys are not meant to be my only words, but rather a start to what I wish to say to Hip Hop and how it’s molded me more than perhaps I realized when I first began to write words onto a pad.

The culture of it still lives with me now, and I owe the Beastie Boys a bit of credit for that. For me, a brown boy from New Mexico cruising on his skateboard alone into the sunset, they answered a call I didn’t even know I was making.

I’ll never have that feeling back, and I suppose I know I don’t have to. Living it once is enough sometimes. Most times.

Not mentioned is their legendary album Licensed to Ill, their inclusion in the beginning of Def Jam Records and their work with producer Rick Rubin.

I could go on and on about what they’ve done and what they’ve changed, but for now I just want to share how the music changed me.

How the music still affects me now. So as I write these final words, and I return to bed, with the woman who may save or destroy me, I just wish to say thanks. Thanks to the Beasties for encouraging me to always be something new.

I don’t feel that’s a rhyme I’ll ever forget.