Come Halloween, it will be a Happy (and spooky?) Ad-Rock Birthday. So let’s celebrate Adam Horovitz with a sixer.
My introduction to the Beastie Boys was probably the video for “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” I was around nine years old when it hit MTV, so a lot of it was lost on me. It was silly and hooky enough to make an impression, but not a lasting one. That honor went to the lead single from 1992’s Check Your Head, “Pass the Mic.” Suddenly, the Beasties were cool as hell to 15-year-old me. Skateboarding in the rain, their rapping reflections in the chrome hubcap of a moving car.
And here he comes: “I’m the A-D-R-O…C-K!” Dude opens his verse by namechecking himself and sports a different look with every letter he shouts. His name is Adam, like me! Yeah, I know, MCA‘s name is Adam, too. But Ad-Rock ain’t smooth like the other Adam. He’s brash and loud and a little spastic. As an awkward teen, I could relate. And there he is again, a few months later in the “So What’Cha Want” clip, sporting the same ringer tees and hats that I was wearing back in those days. He became my favorite Beastie, and he’s stayed there ever since.
An Ad-Rock Birthday Six-Pack
So if I may, I’d like to honor the man Adam Horovitz with what I believe to be six of his slickest Beastie tracks. I already shared two of them above; I’ll share the clips below, along with four more. Damn, I’m just now making the connection: Ad-Rock’s birthday is on Halloween. I love Ad-Rock. How have I never dressed like him for Halloween? That might have to change this year. Now, to dig up one of those old ringer tees…
"Pass The Mic"
"So What'Cha Want"
"Sabotage"
"Gratitude"
"Three MC's and One DJ"
"Triple Trouble"
