Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, has come a long way since 1986's "License to Ill," the obnoxious, wildly juvenile album that launched the careers of the punk-turned-hip-hop trio from New York. And not just musically. He's become one of the voices of a worldwide political movement, one heard in Tokyo for the second time last Sunday with the staging of the eighth Tibetan Freedom Concert.
On a 1992 trek in the Himalayas, Yauch witnessed firsthand the hardships of the Tibetan people under Chinese occupation and learned of their nonviolent struggle for freedom spearheaded by their beloved leader-in-exile, the Dalai Lama. Yauch, whose rap lyrics have at times expressed the same spirit of nonviolence and compassion, was moved by their steadfastness and decided to act. He soon established the Milarepa Fund, the New York-based lobbying and activist organization that forms the heart of the American movement for a Tibet free of Chinese or foreign rule.
Eight benefit concerts followed, beginning in San Francisco in 1996 and culminating in four shows on the same day two years ago -- in Amsterdam, Sydney, Chicago and here in Tokyo. (Next stop? Possibly London this fall.)
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