ERYKAH BADU, NAS, THE ROOTS, MIGUEL, JHENE AIKO, & MORE TO PERFORM AT SMOKIN GROOVES FESTIVAL IN LOS ANGELES ON MARCH 19, 2022

Mike D was joined by longtime Beastie Boys collaborators Money Mark and Mix Master Mike during his Los Angeles show last night (September 21).

The three came together at The Belasco to play the Beastie Boys’ 1992 single ‘So What’cha Want’ at the end of Mike D’s set.

Money Mark began the song on keyboard before the others joined in. The performance soon had all three jumping across the stage. Watch footage below.

Money Mark worked on Beastie Boys albums released between 1992 and 2011. Mix Master Mike also contributed to several of their records and remains the group’s DJ.

Elsewhere in the set, Mike D played Beastie Boys songs ‘Hello Brooklyn’, ‘Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun’, ‘3-Minute Rule’ and ‘Body Movin”’, alongside material from his debut solo album, ‘Thank You’.

The album came out last month and does not feature his former Beastie Boys bandmate Ad-Rock.

Mike D recently discussed why Ad-Rock is absent from the record. He told Consequence that he waited until he was “really committed” to the project before he “had to call Adam and tell him. It’s almost like I was calling [and] telling him I was in a relationship or something. I guess I was I was in a relationship with making a record.”

Mike D said Ad-Rock “couldn’t have been sweeter” when he heard the news. “He was just very supportive, and then we also joked around and he said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do. I’m playing some drums.’ So it was nice. I’m glad that we had that conversation.”

He explained to Consequence that he had never planned to invite Ad-Rock onto the album: “I would have felt weird about it and I think he would have felt weird about it, and why go there? Let’s just be clear and be honest, it was very important to me that I make my own record.”

Asked about being the first Beastie Boy to release a solo album, Mike D told NME: “To be honest, there was no race to the finish line on that one! I’m still thankfully good friends with Ad-Rock and he’s not racing me on this one. It wasn’t until I had to sit down and do the first interview that I realised that was a thing.”

He also described the balance between the album’s sound and its lyrics: “The way I describe the record is that musically it’s still pretty immature, and lyrically it’s a little bit more mature. I just feel like there’s more of the things I had to tap into. I had to learn how to feel all over again.”

NME gave ‘Thank You’ four stars in its review, concluding: “His true solo potential will be revealed when he goes on to push harder on his extremes, but what you have in ‘Thank You’ is a solid and joyful return to be grateful for. Welcome back."