When you’re a Jewish kid growing up in the suburbs, your choices are pretty slim. You like Billy Joel, you go to Hebrew School, you get braces, and you practice for your Bar Mitzvah. That’s pretty much all you get ’til you head off to college. For me, such was life. And it wasn’t a bad life by any means, but I found it kind of hard to look up to musicians that seemed to have nothing to do with me — except of course for Billy Joel. Those’re the rules for Jewish boys and girls.
Then I found the Beastie Boys. Things got a LOT more exciting.
For me, rap was scary stuff. It all seemed violent, I couldn’t relate, and honestly, I didn’t want to try. Can you imagine a 14 year old me standing next to the guys in NWA? It just seemed like something that wasn’t for me. I let it go. But when I first heard Licensed to Ill (as a 12 year old), it was the coolest thing I’ve ever ever heard. I got it. It made sense. And yeah, I wanted to fight for my right to, etc. etc. etc. This stuff was awesomely un-PC, tighter than tight, and holy fuck … those guys’re Jewish? Maybe there’s some hope for the Hebrew peoples!
The Beasties released “Paul’s Boutique” right as I started high school. It was weird — that album “matured” the band. It was smart. It was cool. It was cool smart. This wasn’t about havin’ your parents find your porno mag. This was like the Miles Davis of rap. It was so intense. I listened to it NON-STOP on my yellow Sony Sports Walkman.
Later on, the guys started taking a stand on stuff. Adam Yauch was all about Tibet. That was my intro to “cause marketing.” If you have a voice, you can take a stand — and people will listen! Oh man. I was glued to MTV when they covered the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. I was hooked on all of it. It was my own little Woodstock.
Later in life, I got to see the Beastie Boys in concert — once from the front row. They didn’t disappoint. But for today, man, I’m bummed. RIP Adam — a little bit of my soul just died.
