The Witzard

It's been 27 years since the world first heard Beck Hansen's Slacker Rap anthem, "Loser." Although, I would have been six at the time, I can vaguely recall hearing it just a few short years later. To be completely honest, Beck was the first White/Jewish rapper I had ever heard, aside from Beastie Boys Adam "MCA" Yauch, Michael "Mike D" Diamond, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, of course. Beck would eventually recruit The Beasties' Paul's Boutique producers, The Dust Brothers, to helm his own cult classic, Odelay (1996) and a couple albums later, 1999's Midnite Vultures. Beck has always managed to effortlessly teeter the lines between Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, Folk, Alt. Country, Dance-Rock/Pop, etc. and even won Album of The Year GRAMMY for his 2014 effort, Morning Phase. Strangely, in stark contrast to Folk-leaning Morning Phase, Beck's two albums released since, Colors & Hyperspace, have been a bit more Mainstream Dance Roc...

Australian DJ, producer, and turntablist Scott Barker , better known as DJ Bacon , is a well-documented Beastie Boys super-fan. Barker has previously released remixes of Beasties fan favorites "Egg Man," "Sure Shot," and "Shake Your Rump," as well as an infamous Run-D.M.C./Beastie Boys mega-mix fittingly titled "RUN-BST." We conducted a comprehensive 2018 interview with DJ Bacon himself, in fact, coinciding with the 7-inch/digital re-releases of both "Back In Hell" (Run-D.M.C. vs. AD/DC) B/W "Sure Shot" Rock Steady Remix and the aforementioned "RUN-BST" mega-mix. So, of course, when it came time to coordinate our full-album 3-part Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique 30th Anniversary All-around Breakdown AKA PB30 , DJ Bacon was amongst the first people we reached out for contributions. He ended up penning a deeply personal blurb for "A Year & A Day" (Suite d.) from "B-Boy Bouillabaisse...

I was pretty bummed out yesterday afternoon when I first heard about the sudden passing of Adam "MCA" Yauch , after three years of fighting cancer. Growing up with four older cousins (I was born in 1987), I've been a huge Beastie Boys fan since I was 10-12... enjoying their music for as long as I can remember! They were the first to do a lot of things: NYC Punk , massive sampling on Paul's Boutique , being the first white Jewish rappers, intricate Pop Culture -referencing rhyme schemes, making music for both frat dudes and Punks , etc. Those of you who just know "Brass Monkey" and "Fight for Your Right" —now, come on, let's get real; The Beastie Boys were so much more than that and those radio hits are merely just the tip of the iceberg! All the teenage debauchery aside, gruff-voiced MCA really seemed to grow into a fine young man, post- License to Ill . Earnestly standing up for what his heart believed in: women's rights, Tibetan ...