Between May Day and Cinco De Mayo this was a good week to both celebrate and reflect. Although I think I did more celebrating than reflecting, because my head is still throbbing. But before we get into this week’s best releases, I want to give a big Rest In Peace to Adam “MCA” Yauch from The Beastie Boys. His contribution to hip-hop is legendary, and he’s of specific importance to the history of Bay Area Hip-Hop because in 1998 The Beasties hired San Francisco’s mythical, Mix Master Mike, to be their official DJ. And one last thought that a lot of rappers could learn from MCA, is that despite being known for making strictly party music, a huge portion of the Beasties continued relevance and admiration today is becaue they chose to spend their money and personal lives helping the people of Tibet and other under resourced people around the globe. Folks can speak negatively about rap all they want, but when artists chooses to give back like that in their personal lives, it’s the best way to silence the critics.
