Henry Rollins: The Column! R.I.P. MCA

Carl

Great tribute. I had the wonderful pleasure in seeing the Beasties open for Rollins Band in Manchester, England in 1992. A memorable night.Rest peacefully MCA.

Vonfrankie

Heartfelt

CLT

Thank you Henry.

We love you.

Fans can also reahttp://henryrollins.com/dis...

Timphill99

Hey Henry-Ditto. thanks for sharing your Heart-felt and very thoughtful feelings about Adam and the B-boys. Being from the NYC, I relate to the energy, passion and goofiness of da boys.

juanvaldezisawesome

I know I am going to be the lone dissenter here but I thought the Beastie Boys TOTALLY sold out towards the end. From the preachy Tibet stuff to the, eminently predictable and ham-fisted political statements they have made over the years, always tacking to the left.

The Beasties actually apologized for the past lyrics of some of their finest songs (because they mentioned guns/violence in a humorous way) . That is a tragically lame thing to do and for me it's unforgiveable. It ruined the rebellious image I once had of them because they actually became the embodiment of modern day political correctness and forgot their punk past as they became - part and parcel- members of the establishment left.

Punk (the roots of the boys, themselves-for anyone who is familiar with Pollywog Stew, on analog cassette, no less) is supposed to transcend politics.

Especially establishment politics. Punk and Rap/Punk-fusion is supposed to say "FUCK YOU" as loudly as possible to everyone within earshot who is a part of that establishment. It's too bad they sold out just like every other phony punk band out there (green day, anyone?). For cash and appearances at political fundraisers. Alas, to be a part of the in-crowd.

Sadly, America is reduced to teeny-boppers buying Che' Guevera T-shirts at Hot Topic in the mall and putting anarchy symbols as their screensavers on their brand new, slave-labor-produced iPads and MacBook pro's.

Swami_Binkinanda

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I have to disagree with you. (I HAVE to! Someone is wrong on the internet!)

First. What could be more anti-communist than trying to get the Chinese Communists out of Tibet? Grind your gears on that for a minute. Anti, that's against, in opposition to, communist China. Anti-communist. As in get the communists out of Tibet. Leftist? Our conservatives are trying to hand over our entire economy and middle class to the Communist Chinese. Leftism is opposing communism. Bzzzt! Like a Star Trek computer, your brain should be shorting out right now. See what thinking does?

Now another thing. Licensed to Ill was cute, I saw that tour (with Madonna, who didn't play) with Murphy's Law and Fishbone in 1986 and was blown away. The world has changed since 1986. There is no excuse to go back to things that in retrospect were wrong and stupid that the permanence granted to media through digitization has given continued immediacy. Fishbone, great band, was all kinds of homophobic back then, so were the Beasties and a lot of others, like Mitt Romney homophobic, and that was a weak and small way to be and it hurt people who didn't deserve it and had it hard enough already. Same with heterosexism-the Girls song was either a heinous stereotype or satire that didn't communicate itself well.Likewise most white folks didn't have to live in an environment of mass gun violence back in the 80s-Dead Homiez wasn't a joke to Ice Cube. So for wealthy, well connected pale flowers to come out with all that gat waving Glock Glock noise was cheezy and pathetic and insensitive to a real problem they were unlikely to face.

The greatest thing the Beasties accomplished was to take people who mindlessly bought the easy frat boy mentality and gave them a path, a not unchallenging path, to new and better and more evolved ways of thinking. I hated Paul's Boutique when it came out. I'm not a hip hop fan in general. But I recognize genius, and it was there. Quit smoking now.

"analog" cassette lol

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u mad

Themcgowan

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Wow! what an asshole thing to say! Is spraying cans of beer and acting like a fratboy on stage rebellion? The Beasties have often said a lot of the ideas on Lisense To Ill were'nt theirs. They also described that period as a joke that went too far. People evolve. I think what we saw from Paul's Boutique and beyond show who The Beasties really were. As for the "preachy Tibet stuff" i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that was all very much from the heart since Yauch lived that way until his untimely death. And yes, i have Pollywog Stew. I have copy of Cookie Puss also!

Matt

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This is easily the best article written about MCA is the past week , but you wouldnt expect and less from Henry , both MCA and Rollins are truely amazing humanatarians pushing the boundries of incredible music and world awareness / relief to the max. You dont stop you keep ON !

Joseph Barclay

The Hobart show was brilliant.

Colorado Bio-geek

Thank you. As usual you have elucidated my feelings with grace and wisdom.

ctmartin

Well said. Thanks for that.

Not to detract from the subject of this tribute (RIP, MCA), I want to express my appreciation for the clear love of MUSIC you convey through your work, both written and on-air.

OregonSlacker

well said!

Peter

Well said!!

Kneatus

Man Rollins, well said.

Dwayne Talkington

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Was blessed to see the Beastie Boys in 1994 and wish I would have seen them more. I have much respect for those who put their heart out for all the public to be seen and not just the BS. Much respect for MCA and much respect for you Henry. Refreshing thing when people just keep it real.

James Hart, CF Major, Ret.

Thanks. Growing up with great, inspiring music is always inspirational to be summed up someone of you insight and fortitude.

Tina Dhamija

Extremely well-put, Henry. Thank you!!

Landspeed

more pearls of wisdom form Mr rollins, couldn't agree more!

Freakofosk

Thats a heavy shit......the best for the beasties...

Patrick Fontes

Thanks for that Henry

Zoe Shaffer

Well said Henry, thank you!

Mr. Universalzensect

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i saw you and the B.boys in frisco... i was blown away by a.. sheer pure force.. i never heard the bass drop so low in my life! .. my head rang for weeks!! RIP

Tim

Thank you Henry, the perfect tribute.

Ashvegas

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I was at a couple of those Rollins, Beasties gigs and all I can say is they were awesome, i've never seen the Beastie's or Henry for that matter do a bad gig and this is a very fitting tribute