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The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, best known the world over as the thoughtful, witty, in-your-face rapper MCA, died Friday. Yauch, who had been battling cancer for the last three years, was part of a trio of New York rappers whose music starting in the 1980s <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/05/the-beastie-boys-adam-yauch-dies-after-long-battle-with-cancer.html">transformed the budding genre and helped take hip-hop nationwide</a>. Though he achieved fame with the Beastie Boys, as their fame grew, he directed his energy toward his lifelong passion: Buddhism and Tibetan independence.

Adam Yauch dies

( Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times / May 4, 2012 )

The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, best known the world over as the thoughtful, witty, in-your-face rapper MCA, died Friday. Yauch, who had been battling cancer for the last three years, was part of a trio of New York rappers whose music starting in the 1980s transformed the budding genre and helped take hip-hop nationwide. Though he achieved fame with the Beastie Boys, as their fame grew, he directed his energy toward his lifelong passion: Buddhism and Tibetan independence.

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Hollywood Headlines: A crazy week in review

Adam Yauch dies