upworthy

rap music

Pop Culture

Beastie Boy MCA's 15-year-long 'haunted ring' prank on bandmate was sinister and hilarious

He waited 15 years for it to pay off. And it did.

via Artiquities/Wikimedia Commons and Beastie Boys/YouTube

Adam "MCA" Yauch and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz.

The Beastie Boys are one of the most unique bands in the history of hip-hop and rock. They created a hybrid sound that mixed old-school hip-hop, hardcore punk, and buttery funk instrumentals that shouldn’t make sense together but still sound fresh to this day. They were also hilarious, as seen in their music video "Sabotage" where they dressed as ‘70s cops, and in their unhinged interviews where they never gave a straight answer.

Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, Adam “MCA” Yauch, and Michael “Mike D” Diamond were able to create memorable music, groundbreaking videos, and great live performances because, at the band's root, was a great friendship forged in the hardcore punk record shops of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s New York City. Given their goofy, subversive image, it’s no surprise that they loved making each other laugh—and a story that Horovitz tells in the bonus material of 2020's Beastie Boys Story documentary proves that Yauch would go to the ends of the Earth to prank his friend.

youtu.be

The story starts in 1992 when the Beasties were performing as part of their Check Your Head tour in San Francisco. After the show, Horovitz was approached by a “super creepy dude” backstage who insisted that he take his ring. To get out of the situation, Horovitz took it. Weeks later when he got home to New York, he found the ring in his bag and, fearing it had a “hex” on it, Horovitz placed it on a little shelf in his bedroom.

The next day, the band was on a train to Washington, D.C., and Horovitz found the ring in his bag again. He was sure he had left the ring at his home and, confused, he began to replay the situation in his head. "I stood up from my train seat and I told Mike, Adam, and everyone about the ring. They started making fun of me," Horovitz said. So, he took the ring and threw it to the other end of the train car. “And I moved on with my life,” Horovitz said.


Fifteen years later, in 2007, the band was on tour in Santiago, Chile. While leaving their hotel, Horovitz reached into his backpack, and there it was: THE RING. “I f****** froze, I ran down to the lobby in full panic mode and told everybody, ‘The ring, I got the ring!” Horovitz exclaimed. But the band didn’t seem to care."

“Stop doing this to me,” Horovitz told the ring as he stood before a fountain in front of the hotel. He threw the ring in the fountain, and the band left Chile. “The next night, we’re all on the side of the stage, ready to play a show, and Yauch pulls me aside: 'Hey man, I put the ring in your bag.'" Horovitz couldn’t believe his ears. In 1992, Yauch picked up the ring Horovitz had thrown across the train car and waited for the perfect time to slip it back into Horovitz’s bag.

Yauch had since brought the ring with him every time they went on tour and waited for the perfect time to “sneak it into" Horovitz's bag. Yauch wasn’t ever going to tell Horovitz it was him, but because he seemed so “genuinely freaked out,” he let him in on the joke.

www.youtube.com

“Who has the prank stamina to hold it back for 15 years?” Horovitz asked the crowd. “I am not only impressed by this, but I am proud to have a friend with such practical and tactical joke skills. Thank you, Adam, for elevating the team that coach built around you.”

Adam Yauch passed away at the age of 47 in 2012 from cancer. After his passing, the band broke up, vowing to never play again without their founding member and friend.

www.youtube.com

From Your Site Articles
beastie boys
Pop CultureMusic
Pop Culture

As people mourn the death of Coolio, a video resurfaced showing just how cool he was

Not many college kids get to say Coolio performed 'Gangsta's Paradise' in their dorm room.

es.m.wikipedia.org

As people mourn the death of Coolio, resurfaced video show how cool he was.

There aren't too many people who haven't heard the song "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio. It quickly climbed the charts after it was used in the soundtrack of the movie "Dangerous Minds" and brings nostalgia anytime it comes on the radio. Following Coolio's unexpected death, it's no wonder the song is being played again. But one user had a unique experience with the late rapper, and his 2013 video has resurfaced on YouTube showing Coolio hanging out with the group of England's University of Central Lancashire students in their dorm room.

In the video, you can hear the group of college kids giggling as they attempt to learn the beginning of the song as one of them plays the guitar. Coolio, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., sat on the couch directing the group on the vocals and the pace of the tune. The whole interaction appeared to be a college experience to definitely call home about. I'm sure most of them talked about it for years afterward, and while participating in an a capella rendition of "Gangsta's Paradise" with the actual artist was likely a very cool experience, it didn't stop there. In the caption of the video it says that Coolio shopped with them and cooked the kids a three-course meal and shared stories about his life.

This just goes to show that Coolio definitely lived up to his name on the stage and off because these students certainly have one of the coolest stories to carry with them. Check out the amazing interaction below.

From Your Site Articles
coolio
Pop CultureCelebrity
Heroes

6-year-old's 'alphabet rap' about jobs is seriously sweet and incredibly impressive

Bobby White/Facebook

Sam White may only be six years old, but he's got skills that surpass most adults.

The Tennessee youngster and his dad, Robert White, have swept social media and stolen people's hearts in their "YouCanBeABCs" rap collaboration. With dad beat boxing in the background, 6-year-old Sam expertly takes us through the entire alphabet in order, naming careers kids can aspire to with short, clever, rhyming descriptions of each one.

You can be a "A"—You can be an ARCHITECT

Catch a building to kiss the sky

You can be a "B"—You can be a BIOCHEMIST

Makes medicines, save lives

You can be a "C"—COMPUTER SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

With programs and systems and files

You can be a "D"—You can be a DENTIST

Cuz everybody loves to smile

Sam's ease in front of the camera, skill in rapping the lyrics, and obvious joy in performing are a delight to witness. And dad in the background, backing him up with a beat, makes for both a sweet backdrop and a metaphor for strong, steady, supportive parenting.

It's all the more impressive when you learn that Sam memorized the whole thing. Robert shared on Facebook that the kiddo is looking at the camera, not a teleprompter, while he raps. He added that Sam also did his own choreography.

Just watch:

It's common for young kids to explore careers in school, but this list is much more specific than many kid lists of jobs. From gastroenterologist to mobile app developer to quantum physicist, the careers they include and their simple descriptions are both entertaining and educational. The list is diverse, from highly academic jobs like quantum physicist to hands-on skilled jobs like truck mechanic. They even include "YOUR OWN BOSS" for "Y" and wrap it up with "ZEALOUSLY STRIVE" for "Z," since no matter what a kid decides to be or do they'll need to work hard and do their best. Finally, "Don't be a ZOMBIE and let the world pass you by" is the perfect ending to darn near perfect video.

Seeing dad's burst of joy when they finish and Sam's sweet smiling face is almost too much to take. So dang sweet. So dang cute. So much respect for this family.

The video has gotten huge reach, with 275,000 people sharing it in just three days. The son and dad have a YouTube channel and an Instagram account, which Robert White wrote on Facebook that they "are just starting to build it out with content that reflects why Sam has kept us smiling and full of joy since the day he was born."

Hopefully we'll see more from this dynamic duo. Thanks for the smile, White family!

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
best of humanity
HeroesEducation & Information
Trending Stories