Word on the street is Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond will be making an appearance at All Points West before Jay-Z's set on Friday night. At this point, we cannot substantiate this rumor with any facts. It is, however, in line with their personalities to want to address the audience and say something about Yauch and their having to back out of the festival.

Photo by Jonathan Alcorn

Adam Yauch is the subject ofa new feature article in the Financial Times. The article focuses on his work with Oscilloscope Pictures. The interview was conducted before he learned of his illness.

From hip hop and hard partying to high art
Matthew Garrahan
July 28, 2009

Adam Yauch is ambling through the lobby of the Landmark cinema, stopping to chat with people attending the Los Angeles Film Festival.

A founder member of the Beastie Boys, Mr Yauch – or MCA as he is known on stage – is on the west coast to talk about his film company, Oscilloscope Laboratories. Watching the besuited, greying 43-year-old hip-hop star at work, it is hard to believe that he was once deemed so serious a threat to British decency that morals campaigner Mary Whitehouse led calls for him to be barred from entering the country.

That was in 1987, when the band he formed with Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock) and Mike Diamond (Mike D) had its first UK tour – a huge, hydraulic penis formed part of their stage show. With a hard-partying reputation and a penchant for dubiously procured Volkswagen badges, the Beastie Boys sparked a tabloid frenzy.

But the New York band shed the bad-boy antics long ago and have become one of hip-hop’s most respected acts. Mr Yauch is still a member of the band but recently embarked on a new phase of his career that has taken him to Hollywood.

Oscilloscope Laboratories has existed for only 18 months but has already made a name for itself in film circles thanks to its acquisition of several highly regarded movies. Privately financed by Mr Yauch, the company buys independently made films and takes them to a wider US audience.

“The vision was to start small and grow incrementally,” explains the teetotal Mr Yauch over an orange juice in the Landmark bar.

Oscilloscope is not a vanity project – Mr Yauch is intimately involved in day-to-day operations. He has enlisted David Fenkel, an executive with Think Film, which specialises in independent movies, as a partner and together the two have crafted Oscilloscope’s acquisitions strategy, buying films at festivals such as Cannes and Sundance.

They have scored several critical successes since starting the company, buying 16 films and, so far, releasing 10 of them. Dear Zachary, a harrowing documentary about the life of a murdered man, won a slew of awards on its release last year while Wendy & Lucy, starring Michelle Williams, was also well received. The company recently acquired The Messenger, starring Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton, and will release it in the autumn.

Oscilloscope’s offices and the 12 people who work there are in the same Manhattan building as the Beastie Boys’ studio, where the band is recording its latest album.

The album’s release and upcoming tour have been postponed, however. Shortly after meeting the Financial Times, Mr Yauch discovered he was suffering from cancer of the salivary gland. The disease is localised and was discovered early, and in a relatively upbeat YouTube message, Mr Yauch describes the cancer and the treatment he will receive as a “pain in the ass …it’s something that’s very treatable and in most cases they’re able to get rid of it completely”.

While he is undergoing treatment in New York he plans to continue working on Oscilloscope.

It is a good time to be involved in independent film in spite of the economic gloom. The sector had become overcrowded in recent years as big Hollywood studios launched their own speciality labels. But in the past 12 months the landscape has changed, with Paramount and Warner Brothers closing niche labels to cut costs and switching their focus back to big-budget blockbusters. This has created opportunities for smaller operators like Oscilloscope.

“Film acquisition costs have come down because there is less competition around,” says Mr Fenkel, who plays basketball with Mr Yauch when the two aren’t working. “So we’re in a good spot.”

He and Mr Yauch decline to comment on what they pay for their films, or how much their releases have generated. The cost of a typical independent film can range from a nominal sum to more than $500,000. Oscilloscope will weigh up the cost of marketing and promoting the film when making an offer to buy a title.

Their deals have been structured in different ways: sometimes their filmmaker partners are promised more of the “back-end”, or profits generated by a film after its release. Other filmmakers prefer a larger upfront payment in return for a smaller share of the profits.

Mr Yauch wants the company to be seen as filmmaker-friendly. “There’s a real stigma attached to film distribution,” he says. “The assumption is that if you produce a movie you will never get paid on the back-end. That won’t happen here.”

His background as musical artist and performer has helped when dealing with filmmakers. “They know I will identify with what they are trying to do,” he says. “I’ve dealt with companies and been screwed. We won’t do that …we want to do simple, transparent deals and pay people on time.”

The next step is production.

“So far, the films we’ve released have been picked up from festivals. But now we’re being approached by filmmakers – directors with scripts,” says Mr Yauch who has already directed and produced a film for Oscilloscope, a basketball documentary called Gunnin’ for that Number One Spot.

But producing films is expensive and requires fresh capital. He and Mr Fenkel are considering several scripts and are talking to producers but say there is no rush.

The longer-term aim is to turn Oscilloscope into a creative force. “Part of the idea is that if we continue to put out great films people will recognise the brand.”

It is easy to lose money in the film business but Mr Yauch and Mr Fenkel say they are content to build the business slowly. They also have little interest in becoming fixtures on the Hollywood circuit.

“Some people are really passionate about film and some just want to be stars,” explains Mr Yauch, who has little to prove in the star stakes. “I’m more interested in film.”

Related to the article is a blog post by photographer Jonathan Alcorn, who photographed Yauch for the Financial Times article.

The a cappella of "Too Many Rappers," which is included on the 12" single, greatly aided the Beastiemania.com crew's transcription of the song lyrics. Listen along to the audio HERE and let us know if we got it right or wrong.

Too Many Rappers

Mic check, mic check

One, two, three
Too many rappers and there's still not enough emcees
It goes three, two, one
MCA, Adrock, Mike D, that's how we get it done
Like ladies and gents, attention
Nas in the house with Beastie Boys
We can turn it out
Perpetrators, we can point 'em out
So if you got something on your mind, let it out

Yo! I've been in the game since before you was born
I might still be emceeing even after you're gone
Strange start, I know, but my skills still grow
The 80s, the 90s, 2000s, and so
On and on until the crack of dawn
Until the year 3000 and beyond
Stay up all night, I emcee
And never die 'cause death is the cousin of sleep

Because I'm back with a bang, boogie oogie oogie
Strawberry Letter 23 like Shuggie
Oh my god, just look at me
Grandpa been rappin' since '83
I'm supersonic like J.J. Fad
Crazy-ass shit pullin' out the bag
Don't forget the tartar sauce, yo! 'cause it's sad
All these crab rappers, they're rapping like crabs

I have carte blanche, the vagabond
Nas is the narcissist
My pockets are rotund
I'm no killer
But compared to you, I'm more realer
You ain't a shotta mobster or a drug dealer
A slug peeler, you're not
Mafioso, no
You ain't got the cut-throat in ya, beginner
I ain't tryin' to hear your racket
You work a police dog, you snitch, you rat
You wear that jacket

How many rappers must get dissed?
Gimme eight bars and watch me blast this
I'll start to reminisce when I miss
The real hip hop with which I persist
Like rum in mojitos
Bullets and banditos
Matzo balls in soup
Jackets and troop
Yes, y'all! This is one is for the history books
Nasty Nas, what's the word?
Count it off in the hook

One, two, three
Too many rappers and there's still not enough emcees
It goes three, two, one
MCA, Adrock, Mike D, that's how we get it done
Like ladies and gents, attention
Nas in the house with Beastie Boys
We can turn it out
Perpetrators, we can point 'em out
So if you got something on your mind, let it out

'Cause this the type of lyric that goes inside your brain
To blow you bullshit rappers straight out the frame
My lyrics spin 'round like a hurricane twister
So get your hologram on off of Wolf Blitzer
Too many rappers to shake a stick at
I ought to charge a tax for every weak rap I had to listen to
'Cause we've been makin' stacks like Stax Records
My squad, we got a pack
We never coming wack

To all you crab rappers, and hackers, and circuit-benders
Tweaked on Splenda
I take the cake, I stole the mould
The golden microphone, well that's mine to hold
And why all these biters all up in my crotchspace
Sniffin', buffin', huffin'
And mean muggin' with the Blimpie Bluffin
Back up off me, suckers! You ain't sayin' nothin'!

I broader than Broadway
I was the project hallway
Dual tape recorder
Lacing oratorials all day
I'm just gettin' started on this beat, this is foreplay
And when the song's finished, I can sing along with this
By the way, I have a strong fetish for Christian Louboutin steppers
I hear Russian blondes the wettest
But anyway I better pay homage to my fellas
And that's what's on my mind
And the rhyme, who's next up?

Mike D, the man of mystery
History in the making and now we're taking
Titles, awards, and accolades
Scare the competition as I sharpen my blades
We come together like peanut butter and sandwiches
Like pen and paper, like Picasso and canvases
Rockin' stadiums to shitty bars
Go back in time, send a fax from my car

One, two, three
Too many rappers and there's still not enough emcees
It goes three, two, one
MCA, Adrock, Mike D, that's how we get it done
Like ladies and gents, attention
Nas in the house with Beastie Boys
We can turn it out
Perpetrators, we can point 'em out
So if you got something on your mind, let it out

Photo by Ari Marcopoulos, from Pass the Mic: Beastie Boys 1991-1996

Adam Yauch will be undergoing surgery today to remove a cancerous growth. Let's all think about him and send positive, healing vibes his way. Here's some Best of Yauch for y'all to enjoy.

1. Yauch, the prank mastermind [video]
2. Yauch, fashion icon [photo]
   From Oh Snap! The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell
3. If Yauch were a chicken...[mp3] [DEAD LINK]
   From "Gratitude (Live at Budokan)" on Check Your Head (remastered edition)
4. Yauch, the actor who can't keep a straight face [video]
   A scene from A Day in the Life of Nathanial Hörnblowér, directed by Adam Yauch
5. Yauch, martial arts enthusiast [video] [DEAD LINK]

Photo by Ricky Powell, from Oh Snap! The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell

6. Yauch performs "The Update" live for the first time [video] [DEAD LINK]
7. Fun with fruit [photo]
   Photo taken during the Pageant Tour, published at Beastieboys.com
8. Leader of goofy routines: "Bong-bong!" [mp3] [DEAD LINK]
   From Live at Heineken Open'er Festival, June 30, 2007
9. Dad and birthday boy [photo]
10. Yauch as Bill Swenson, the Money Man [video]
    "Money makes you feel good."

11. Yauch, the dog lover [video]
12. Bunny slippers! [photo]
    From the "Body Movin'" video
13. Yauch comments on who Beastie Boys fans are [mp3] [DEAD LINK]
    From an interview with NPR Fresh Air, March 29, 2006
14. Yauch in Oscilloscope Laboratories [photo]
15. Buddhist buddies [photo]
    Yauch and the Dalai Lama

Photo by Ari Marcopoulos, originally published at Beastieboys.com

16. Solo rapper [mp3] [DEAD LINK]
    "Drum Machine," MCA and Burzootie
17. Big-time movie director on the red carpet, with unidentified companions [photo]
18. Emotive actor [photo]
    From the "Ch-Check It Out" video
19. Yauch skateboards inside G-Son [video]
    From Rappin with the Rickster TV show
20. Yauch with his "baby" [photo]
    From Oh Snap! The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell

Photo by Ricky Powell

Photo by Xavier (via Twitpic)

Today is the official release date of the new Beastie Boys single "Too Many Rappers" featuring Nas. An mp3 of the song is available to purchase and download at Amazon and iTunes. You can listen to a full stream of the song HERE.

Yay, nay, or what the hay? Share what you think of the new single in the comments.

Beastie Boys will be delaying the release of their forthcoming album and canceling all their upcoming performance dates due to Adam Yauch having a health issue, which he explains in the above video. On behalf of the fan community, we wish Yauch a speedy recovery and good health.

Several concert dates for the Beastie Boys are now posted at Ticketmaster.com. Treat these dates as rumors until confirmed by an official source.

Sept 19 Santa Barbara Bowl - Santa Barbara, CA (on sale 7/25)
Sept 20 Santa Barbara Bowl - Santa Barbara, CA (on sale 7/25)
Sept 27 Red Rocks - Morrison, CO (on sale 7/18)*
Oct 8 Bayfront Park Amphitheater - Miami, FL

*Listing removed from Ticketmaster.com

It seems that Beastie Boys and Nas have made a video for "Too Many Rappers." The what, where, and when behind the video is a mystery. The above still is from the listing of the "Too Many Rappers" mp3 download at Amazon.

Beastie Boys will be headlining the San Diego Street Scene Festival, which takes place August 28 and 29. Tickets are available Frontgatetickets.com. This festival announcement explains the mysterious booked date of August 29 on Mix Master Mike's schedule.

An update of Mix Master Mike's tour schedule reveals some clues about what the Beastie Boys 2009 tour plans will be. Clearly, the month of September has been reserved for the Beastie Boys tour of North America.

Most interesting is the booking on August 29, the day before the Beastie Boys will play the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco. A betting person would put money on the Beastie Boys playing a club show in San Francisco or Los Angeles on August 29.

What the band will be doing in October is unknown — perhaps more shows in North America? In November, Beastie Boys will travel to Europe. Adam Horovitz confirmed the European tour plans when the Beastie Boys were doing a press tour in England, Germany, and France recently.