Earlier this week, sharp-eared music fans noticed a slight mistake in KRS-One’s latest song, with the rapper including the Beastie Boys’ Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz on his new track “Hip Hop Speaks From Heaven.” The trouble was, Ad-Rock’s still alive, and thus unavailable for celestial speaking engagements; now, KRS-One has apologized, saying he meant to pay tribute to Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died of cancer in 2012, instead.
“I mistakably paid respect and condolences to the wrong Beastie Boy member King Ad-Rock when it should have been MCA,” the rapper wrote in a statement on Twitter. And, because there are few things as important as historical accuracy in rap songs, he’s announced that he’s pulling the song from his digital release, and replacing it with one that name-checks the correct Boy.
KRS-One explained that the error was due to the speed with which he writes, records, and releases material, saying, “These songs are fresh from studio sessions where my lyrics are mostly freestyle and ‘off the top of the head.’” Still, he acknowledged, that was no excuse for confusing two of hip hop’s most famous Adams, and he apologized again to Ad-Rock who is, he noted, “alive and well.”