I tried to think of some clever way to wish MCA of the Beastie Boys a speedy recovery after hearing about his recent cancer diagnosis.
MCA, aka Adam Yauch
According to news reports, MCA (also known as Adam Yauch) is being treated for a malignant tumor found in his salivary gland.
Apparently, his cancer is highly curable and isn’t likely to damage his voice. That means that after his bout with the beast, he’ll still be able to perform and continue making music.
As a big-time Beastie Boys fan, I figure what better way to celebrate the good news and send well wishes to our boy than by paying tribute to Licensed to Ill, a rap classic that is helping me get through my own battle with cancer.
Without a doubt, Licensed is among my top fav rap albums of all time. It’s the kind of joint I can play from beginning to end. Twenty-plus years after its release, the singles “Paul Revere,” “The New Style,” and “Hold it Now, Hit it” bring out my inner B-gyrl with a vengeance. I’m talking break out the Adidas warm-up jacket and the shell toes with the fat laces.
The Beastie Boys’ second album, Paul’s Boutique, is widely considered the group’s best work, but Licensed brought a whole new flavor to the rap scene with its grimy lyrics and punk-inspired hip-hop beats.
Licensed to Ill, a hip-hop classic
I’ve listened to it repeatedly during my chemotherapy sessions, which are generally a few hours long and involve a lot of needles, plenty of sterilized tubing, and more chemo juice “than Picasso got paint.” So when I roll up to the cancer center, I have iPod in tow. And when it’s time for me to get hooked up to my meds, I throw on my earphones, sit back, and rock out for a while.
Needless to say, since I started treatment last year, there’s been a scruffy rap trio that has stayed in this slayer gyrl’s rotation. Rhyming along with the Beastie Boys definitely makes the time at the chemo suite go by faster, but there’s something deeper to it, too. Music is a balm for the soul. It triggers good memories and helps you escape the not-so-pleasant ones, like what led you to chemo in the first place. For me, Licensed does both.
As one-third of the crew that got me to pledge my allegiance to early hip-hop — and decades later is supplying the score to my cancer recovery — MCA holds a special place in my heart and on my MP3 player. I thought I’d return the favor by writing him this get-well ode. Just trying to be crafty (in the truest sense of the word, not the Beastie definition), from one newbie to another.
Now here’s a little story I love so well,
to hear that MCA will have another rhyme to tell.
For someone who loves the hip hop I couldn’t bare to see,
The Beastie Boys with MCA, Ad Rock and Mike D.
*I’m sorry, I had to do it. Love your post. You know I’m Old School*
CORRECTION: …without MCA, Ad Rock and Mike D
I too love this post and have every Beastie album (in heavy rotation) on my ipod!
Chana,
I would love to know what else is on your ipod.
I was out of town when your column on the King of Pop came out. It was a poignant way to remember my boy, regardless of his idiosyncrasies.
Wow, great post Chana. I think I might still have that 20 year old “License to Ill” cassette somewhere. You really dug deep into the stack for that one. Haven’t kept up with the Beasties since that first release but my prayers definitely go out to MCA.
Tim: You’re a crafty lyricist man.
Chana,
now that I am a faithful reader of your blogs, I hear about more and more people that are being stricken. I was just given the news one week ago that one of my friends was diagnosed with brain cancer. This guy ate healthy, didn’t smoke, drink or do drugs, was in shape and was super intelligent. One day he woke up and could barely see, couldn’t speak and couldn’t walk. My heart sank!
I had to re-read some of your post just to feel what a cancer survivor deals with and goes through. I wanted to read the comments left by others. Why? I wanted to be able to at least share positive information and comments and your site is full of both.
Chana, you are a true warrior, a “SHE”ro, a rock, a pillar of strength and a beacon of light for many folk that have reached out to you and many that sit back a simply read what you are doing and have done.
I can tell you that I pray for continued good health to you, but I’m sure that you already know that. I truly hope that in my lifetime, many forms of this dreaded disease is eradicated. With people like you working it…I have no doubt that that day will come.
As always, big hugs to you and continued success. Your print is still waiting for you. Don’t forget to pick it out.
http://www.watchdudesite.com/martysart.
Marty E.