Mike D

Mike Diamond, aka Mike D, grew up a precocious and highly opinionated young man on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, thieving 7" records by The Jackson Five, The Beatles, and Motown artists from his older brothers against the backdrop of New York City’s fiscal crisis and the lawlessness that came with it. After saving up to purchase Steve Miller’s Fly Like An Eagle, Diamond began learning drums. Soon after he discovered punk rock and it was game over—until he heard a rap mixtape and it was game over again. Then came reggae through bands like The Clash and The Slits—game over a third time. In the early ’80s he formed Beastie Boys with Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz. Inspired by hardcore but listening to every new rap 12", they began rapping themselves, merging influences into a multi-platinum, multi-decade career. The group earned Grammys and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock oversaw all aspects of their output, from production to videos with Spike Jonze and Nathaniel Hörnblowér. In the early ’90s they founded Grand Royal, extending their visual and musical world. Diamond later applied this same (non)sense to design and curated Transmission LA: AV Club at MOCA with Jeffrey Deitch, featuring art, music, and food by Roy Choi. In 2018, Diamond and Horovitz co-authored Beastie Boys Book, a #1 New York Times bestseller, later adapted into the 2020 film Beastie Boys Story, directed by Jonze.