Inspiration can come from anywhere, even rap music

Adam Yauch, or more commonly known by his stage-name MCA from the Beastie Boys, died last week at the age of 47. The Beastie Boys helped bring rap music into the mainstream in the 1980s and continued to produce energetic and often hilarious rap songs up through the present.

I grew up listening to their music. I’m going to show my (lack of) age a bit here by saying much of it was released before I was born, so I consider some of their work to be classics.

I have a bit of an obsession of music, memorizing lyrics of the songs that played almost nonstop in my parent’s house was almost second nature. Everything from Chris LeDoux to Michael Jackson to Nirvana and Guns and Roses could be heard in our living room. My parents were a part of the “Brat Pack” generation, so the Beastie Boys came right along with the rest.

Having a large variety of music at home as a kid expanded my vocabulary, showed me a few things about the world, and got me thinking about the world beyond the cornfields of Iowa. And, as a hyperactive kid, the Beastie Boys were one of my favorites because of their fast-paced rhythm.

“Gratitude” was released in 1992, I first heard it in kindergarten thanks to my older cousins and the word entered my vocabulary before I could ride a bike without training wheels.

Much to my parents’ dismay, “gratitude” wasn’t the only word I learned from their albums. But, their lyrics had more than just swear words, they also had some pretty heavy social and political commentary. Bear in mind, this is written retrospecitively and through the warped filters my childhood memories bring with them.

“The Update” was released in 1994 with lyrics such as “And at the end of the wars, what was the cost/It’s clear that the earth was the one who lost.” As a kid, I didn’t think about what these lyrics meant, but over years of hearing them it became a big part of who I grew up to be.

Another part of that song says “I dream and I hope and I won’t forget/Someday I’m going to visit on a free Tibet.”

MCA was involved with the Tibetan independence movement. I didn’t know what that was at the time, but I eventually found out and became interested in what other countries were doing.

“Sabotage” was released that same year, so I first listened to it when I was about seven or eight years old. I didn’t know what that word meant either. Just like before, it soon entered my vocabulary and every lost game in Cub Scout softball was a result of “sabotage” in my warped child mind.

One part of that song stuck out to me because I thought it was about a water park. “I can’t stand it, I know you planned it/But I’m gonna set it straight this Watergate.” Keep in mind I wasn’t born until 1987, I didn’t know what Watergate or Tibet was, so I asked my teacher.

Elementary school social studies probably shouldn’t delve into Watergate or Tibet’s independence movement, but thanks to the Beastie Boys, it did.

Their music inspired curiosity since a lot of it was about concepts I knew nothing about. And memorizing their lyrics lead to equal amounts of finger wagging from my teachers and high marks in class for an expanded vocabulary.

It wasn’t until I started high school in 2001 that their lyrics started to resonate with what I was learning in school, hidden amongst the lines about partying were concerns about social issues.

In 2004, when I was 16 years old, “An Open Letter to NYC” was released and spoke about New York City’s ability to pull together and unify after 9-11, a far cry from their previous album’s more light-hearted vibe which included lyrics like “When it comes to beats well I’m a fiend/I like my sugar with coffee and cream” from their 1998 hit “Intergalactic.”

That same album also had “It Takes Time To Build,” where the rap trio more or less shouted about how rebuilding after 9-11 takes time and that not all people from the Middle East were terrorists.

Lyrics such as “Why you hating people that you never met/Didn’t your mama teach you to show some respect?” blasted from the stereo in my old and rusty F-150 and I had to stop and think about it.

As a kid from Iowa, this was a novel concept to me. Once again, their music got me thinking.

Fast-forward a few years to college where one of my roommates was Muslim. But, he was also one of the kindest guys on campus and another set of Beastie Boys lyrics gained meaning.

“If it don’t hurt nobody else than/Don’t be afraid to be yourself and/Special dedication and so on/To all lifestyles, sizes, shapes and forms/We gotta keep the party going on”

Maybe their songs sound like rapid gibberish when played to anyone that isn’t a hyperactive kid or a hyperactive kid at heart, but their music struck a cord, their lyrics made me think and ask questions and MCA is a musician that will be missed.