On May 4th, the one year passing of Adam “MCA” Yauch, Palmetto Playground, a small Brooklyn Park located close to his childhood home, was renamed Adam Yauch Park. Below is a transcript of Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz speech, given just before the unveiling of the park’s new, renamed plaque.

“Seeing Marty Markowitz rap – it was great, but not as great as Adam’s parents rapping at Adam and Dechen’s wedding. If you were at the wedding, you know that was pretty great.

“In life you don’t really get to chose your family, your siblings – you get what you’re given. I got lucky cause I got two great sisters and two great brothers, but I got extra lucky because around 1982, I got the chance to choose two other brothers: Mike Diamond and Adam Yauch. And together our families have grown. I’d like to thank the New York Parks Department and the people of Brooklyn for honoring my friend and brother, and recognizing how cool it is to have an Adam Yauch park for other crazy New York kids.”

Rest In Peace, MCA!

The New York Times reports that the two remaining Beastie Boys, Mike D and Ad-Rock, are planning on penning a memoir of the group’s story, in collaboration with hip-hop scribe Sasha Jenkins, due 2015.

The as-of-yet untitled project (No Sleep Til Brooklyn? Rhymin’ & Stealin’?) will not be a straight-forward autobiography, but will instead be a loose-knit narrative, told in their voices, alongside other contributors and other media, as the duo are “interested in challenging the form and making the book a multidimensional experience. “There is a kaleidoscopic frame of reference, and it asks a reader to keep up,” according to Julie Grau, the publisher of Spiegel & Grau, the house which also published Jay-Z’s Decoded.

The book will reportedly be presented in a similar fashion to their long-defunct magazine, Grand Royal, according to their agent Luke Janklow. “The first words out of Mike’s mouth were, ‘I don’t want to do a straight memoir,’” Janklow told the New York Times. The idea for the project was initially hatched many years ago, before Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer.

We started on this idea long before MCA’s passing and in no way want this to be seen as “cashing in” on it. We took a lyric from the original “Root Down” acapella to end the song, which now takes on new meaning: “Enough of that, just want to pay some respect. MCA…..”

Free download, for right now. Enjoy.

From DJFood.Com: 3 years in the making, 3 DJs working with over 150 tracks to recreate one of the seminal sampling albums of all time, at last Cheeba, Moneyshot and I can reveal ‘Caught In The Middle Of A 3-Way Mix’. Our tribute to the classic Beastie Boys album ‘Paul’s Boutique’ remixed and re-imagined from all the original samples plus a cappellas, period interviews and the Beasties’ own audio commentary from the reissued release.

Add to this a custom illustration from Paul’s Boutique super-fan and all-round great guy Jim Mahfood, taking time out from recent art duties on Tank Girl, and you have an alternate version of the album. The mix was over half way finished when we heard the tragic news of Adam Yauch‘s passing this May so this is also our nod to his memory, RIP MCA.

Big respect to Cheeba and Moneyshot for all their hard work and for the latter for inspiring the project with his classic mix of their ‘Check Your Head’ three years ago. Obviously massive respect goes out to The Beasties, The Dust Brothers, Mario C. and all involved in the making of the original album.

Shepard was recently asked to participate in a homegrown project to show respect and remembrance to the late Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys, by taking out a few memorial billboards around Los Angeles. Here is Shepard’s contribution that will be featured on 2 billboards for the next couple of weeks – one is on Sunset at Las Palmas and another on Fairfax just south of Santa Monica Boulevard. Other memorial billboards are also around town featuring the art of KAVES. Enjoy and RIP MCA.

Cee-Lo and company perform their new track “Fight To Win”, along side a cover of The Beasties’ “Fight For Your Right To Party”.

Back at the All Points West music festival in Jersey City in 2009, the Beastie Boys were forced to pull out of their headlining performance. Adam Yauch had just announced that he’d been diagnosed with cancer. Jay-Z stepped up to fill in and dedicated his entire performance to Yauch. Here is his cover of “No Sleep till Brooklyn“. RIP MCA.

During their performance at The Hollywood Bowl last night, Chris Martin paid tribute to Adam Yauch aka MCA, in honor of his passing, by covering The Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right To Party” in the Coldplay style.

First seen on the “Alive” 10″ single cover and more recently in the “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” video, the official Beastie Boys action figures are available now via the group’s website. However don’t expect to get off easy – they come at a hefty price tag of $750 (there’s no missing decimal point there), in which proceeds go to the Pablove Foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand, two organizations that specialize in fighting childhood cancer.

]]> http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/08/04/beastie-boys-action-figures-now-available-for-a-price/feed/ 3 http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/07/19/the-beastie-boys-f-santigold-dont-play-no-game-that-i-cant-win-video/ http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/07/19/the-beastie-boys-f-santigold-dont-play-no-game-that-i-cant-win-video/#comments Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:41:28 +0000 http://www.hiphopsite.com/?p=36435

New video from the Beasties Directed by none other than Spike Jonze, off their album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.

Z-Trip tells us:

The Beastie Boys had many people remix this song. Only Major Lazer and I got the thumbs up. Happy to be a part of it! Look for it on Itunes soon. In the meantime let’s imagine what the other remixes sounded like…….. Enjoy.

Video for Zach’s Beastie Boys tribute mix made for the release of Hot Sauce Committee Vol. 2. This is a 4 minute edit of the full-length 23 minute mix. Yeeeeeeah, you can’t front on that…..
]]> http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/05/27/z-trip-beastie-boys-all-access-megamix-video/feed/ 0 http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/05/09/beastie-boys-hot-sauce-committee-vol-2-12-review/ http://www.hiphopsite.com/2011/05/09/beastie-boys-hot-sauce-committee-vol-2-12-review/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 23:38:52 +0000 http://www.hiphopsite.com/?p=34016 [cont.]]]> The Beastie Boys’ eighth studio album is actually their ninth, if the legend of Hot Sauce Committee Vol. 2 is to be believed. As the story goes, Hot Sauce Committee Vol. One was to be released in September of 2010, but was delayed after Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer. This led to the cancellation of several tour dates, as well as of the release of Vol. One. So as it stands, Vol. One was delayed indefinitely, while Vol. Two was released “on schedule”. So now, all of the original songs recorded for part one are on part two, and the songs recorded for part two will eventually be released as part one. So that eighth LP is as mysterious and elusive as the age-old question of “who is the official fourth Beastie Boy.” [cont.]

We are well beyond the era of The Beastie Boys dropping classic albums with each release, but that’s not to say they haven’t remained consistent. It’s safe to say that 1996′s Ill Communication was their last “classic” album, while Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs were both undeniably strong, despite both having their own unique sound. Hot Sauce Committee Vol. 2 is a bit of an amalgamation of all of their works, and a few new sounds as well.

No strangers to being experimental, HSCV2 finds them trying on several different styles on for size, some that fit, some that don’t. “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” sounds more like a Santigold song featuring The Beastie Boys, rather than the reverse, but works regardless. “Too Many Rappers” (feat. Nas) sounded much better in it’s original incarnation than this LP’s “New Reactionaries Version”, which is an over-produced mess. The cheesy “Funky Donkey” channels a bit of Funkadelic, of course with the Beasties’ own spin put on it, but this is something that’s run it’s course in hip-hop over the last 30 years.

Despite a few minor shortcomings, much of the rest of the LP is more or less satisfying and what you’d come to expect from a B-Boys LP. The groovy lead single “Make Some Noise” incorporates all the best parts of 90′s hip-hop and 70′s funk into a sure shot smash, while it’s follow-up “Nonstop Disco Powerpack” finds them right at home with Cold Crush delivery styles. Meanwhile, both “Say It” and “Long Burn The Fire” find them channeling their more abrasive alternative styles found on Ill Communication and Check Your Head, both with excellent results.

But while “Lee Majors Come Again” and “Multilateral Nuclear Disarment” finds them doing the requisite punk-rock and instrumental tracks, it almost seems like they are just filling out a checklist. While the band’s last six vocal albums seemed to each have a clear direction, HSCV2 comes off more like a collection of songs and styles with less of a defined sound. For what it’s worth, Sauce does have some hot moments, but in comparison to their historic catalog, it has a few mild ones as well.

Beastie Boys made the radio rounds in L.A. yesterday, hitting both Power 106 and Kiis FM. They speak with both DJ Reflex and DJ Skee.

DJ Reflex of Power 106 Los Angeles gets a visit from Ad-Rock and Mike D of music icons The Beastie Boys to discuss their new album Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 along with an candid discussion on their current sound, longevity as artists, and passion for world causes. They also promise Reflex that he can join the group as the fourth “Beastie Boy” if he can get the group a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

And….
DJ Skee sits down with the Beastie Boys at KIIS FM to talk about their new album titled “Hot Sauce Committee Part 2″, the sound of their album & the death of Osama Bin Laden.

The Beastie Boys have served up numerous pre-order packages for their latest LP, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2, with varying price points and goodies. Head on over to BeastieBoys.Com and take a look.
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