In the two days since the shocking news of the sudden death on May 4th of Adam Yauch - aka MCA of the Beastie Boys - everyone has been sharing how much the artist and his group influenced their lives. On my WFMU radio show on Friday guest/longtime emcee Azeem recalled how when he first heard the Beasties he didn't even realize they they were not black and then recalled how in the early 90's during Lollapalooza he "went on tour a long time ago with the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, George Clinton" and how he had a debate with members of fellow touring act The Pharcyde on the merits of the Beastie Boys as "hip-hop artists."

"At the time hip-hop still had its racial sensitivities and I had to argue on the Beastie Boys' side been from the East Coast, or been from New Jersey, hearing Licensed to Ill. When we [first] heard that record we didn't know if they were white kids. We just heard good hip-hop." recalled Azeem noting that the fact that the group never stopped creating and evolving & consistently making good music for well over a quarter of a decade is a testament to the greatness of the Beastie Boys.  

1) Brother Ali The Truth Is Here (Rhymesayers)

2) Zion I The TakeOver (Gold Dust Media)

3) Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique (Capitol/Reissue)

4) V/A Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge Of The Super Female Rappers! (Soul Jazz)

5) K'NAAN Troubadour (A&M/Octone Records)
 
Thanks to Tunde at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store for this week's hip-hop top five chart. All of the same five titles are likewise selling very well at all the Amoeba stores. On the list is Bay Area duo Zion I's critically acclaimed sixth release The TakeOver; the wonderful Soul Jazz female rap retrospective Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge Of The Super Female Rappers!; the Rhymesayers collective's Brother Ali's tight new CD/DVD set The Truth Is Here; Somalian artist K'NAAN, who plays at Winter Music Conference this weekend (details below); and the reissue of the Beastie Boys' landmark hip-hop album Paul's Boutique.

Recently re-released to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of its initial 1989 release, the reissue of the Beatie Boys' acclaimed Paul's Boutique by Capitol Records comes in both CD and vinyl versions. The LP reissue version is on 180 gram vinyl, which comes in a two-sided, four-panel gatefold sleeve. It also includes a digital download card to access bonus audio band commentary. The album, which was produced by the Dust Brothers and recorded in both Los Angeles and Brooklyn, may not have been as commercially successful as Licensed To Ill, but it was a far greater quality recording and one that truly stands the test of time as proven by such tracks as "High Plains Drifter," "Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun," "Car Thief," "Shadrach," and "Get On The Mic."

Meanwhile, the track "59 Chrystie Street" was titled in a nod to an early residence of the Beastie Boys, back earlier in the 80's when they were young punkers about to morph into fulltime hip-hoppers. That early collective living/recording space address in the Lower East Side of Manhattan was what Mike D once described in an interview as "a floor in this Chinese Sweatshop building on Chrystie Street."