In Memoriam: "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" The Beastie Boys

After a long battle with cancer, the hip-hop community lost an important member today with the passing of Adam "MCA" Yauch at the age of 47. As a member of the Beastie Boys, Yauch helped pioneer the use of sampling in rap music, expanding the notion of what the genre could be—not only sonically, but racially as well. The group's breakthrough was the 1986 album License to Ill, featuring their biggest career hit, "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)," a rollicking hard rock anthem that reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Though not the Beasties' greatest or most sophisticated work, its hammering guitar riff and crude rhymes offer their own rebellious charms, particularly the screamo titular refrain. So party on, MCA! Your influence will not be forgotten. B