Sad to hear about the passing of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Few bands left actually seem to stand for anything these days. They did that and more. At times, their causes were bigger than their music. It’s one of the things I always respected about them. That they weren’t afraid of scaring off fans by taking on political issues they believed in. And in the end, actually educated their fans by doing it.

I know it sounds like crazy talk, but MTV actually use to play music videos. And the Beastie Boys ruled this domain. They completely revolutionized music videos. As a kid, I always remember when MTV had a Beastie Boys video premiere. Everyone watched. Whether it was the Pulp fiction like “Sabotageâ€, or the trippy “So What’cha Wantâ€. It was always THE event to see. They were the trend setters. And everyone followed.

I feel very fortunate and blessed to have worked on one of their albums. It’s one of the credits that I’m most proud of having and always will be.

They were true pioneers of hip hop. Showed you could be from any street. That it didn’t matter. It was just about the music.

Below is my all time favorite Beastie Boys video. “Sabotage”.