The Coup, an Oakland based hip-hop group, have been releasing politically radical music since Kill My Landlord in 1993. I, however, had never heard anything from The Coup other than the rants and raves their music has caused from friends and critics alike. And after seeing their unique brand of fresh, smooth, jocular, and dare I say sexy activist hip-hop – I have a lot of good music to catch up on from Boots Riley and Pam the Funkstress, the two permanent members of The Coup, including the recently released Pick a Bigger Weapon.

On June 20th I had the opportunity to see The Coup live at The Parish at The House of Blues in New Orleans. I had complimentary tickets. As it turns out, the majority of those in attendance did as well. The Coup had provided free tickets for any and all volunteers with Common Ground Collective! (Common Ground is a community-initiated hurricane relief and community rebuilding volunteer organization.)

Many days after the show, and after becoming a fan of The Coup, I had a short phone conversation with Boots. I had intended for the interview to focus primarily on The Coups music and live show; however most of it delved into the message behind the music, and issues surrounding post-Katrina New Orleans.

AudioMonger: My first real exposure to The Coup came at your recent show in New Orleans. Your music and message came across very well in your live performance. It had a certain smoothness…Do you think touring is important?

Boots: Yes. Absolutely. We’re doing this for 2 months and 10 weeks.

AM: There were a lot of people from Common Ground, I heard you gave any volunteers from there free admission to the show. Did you do anything else with Common Ground while in New Orleans?

Boots: We took a tour… The fucking shit that their doing, sacrificing so much of themselves, it makes you want to step up your own game. There doing a free medical clinic, legal aid, gutting houses…

AM: Is this your first time in New Orleans since the hurricane?

Boots: Yeah.

AM: Has your understanding of Post-Katrina New Orleans changed at all?

Boots: I knew it was bad. I theoretically understood – people are trying to live in shells of houses – it is something else to see it.

AM: Um…Lets talk more about your music. As I said, I’m a newcomer to the Coup. Nevertheless, seeing you live it seems like your musical influences extend beyond just hip-hop.

Boots: It’s a further development. Our music has funk, soul, rock, blues, jazz – all of which hip-hop has in it. You can’t have solely hip-hop influence, since hip-hop is all of those styles rolled into one. So in a way you’re wrong. Though, we do lean to funk.

AM: I noticed that a lot of your lyrics are involved in turning images we find in mainstream rap and other music on its head…

Boots: Yeah. You know that’s what makes writing fun: pointing to the ironies of life, finding juxtapositions.

AM: I also noticed that even in your more romantic songs you never really depart from socio-political issues. Do you have a hard time separating or do you just not think you should?

Boots: You’re not supposed to separate. We are not separated. We all function as one. We are fighting for love, for relationships with humans. It is about how we treat each other.

AM: You know I’m glad to hear you say that, because I look at other politically oriented musicians who seem to drop their politics at seemingly convenient times and I wonder. It often times sets them up for attacks by skeptics, Tom Morello with Audioslave for example.

Boots: But, Tom is not the lyricist. On his own project, the Night Watchmen, he continues to be political. Its like this, if you’re a tile layer and you get the opportunity to lay tile for a rich person then you’ll do it, while the rest of the time you lay tile for other people, and when you can you lay tile at the community center you lay tile there.

AM: Well that about wraps it up. One more thing, though, before you go. My friend, MC Homeless…Do you remember him?

Boots: Yeah. That dude almost started a fight at one of my shows.

AM: (Laugh) He wanted me to ask you why you’re not an anarchist?

Boots: Anarchist. OK. I think the goal is for people to have control. An Anarchist would agree, so would a Communist or a Socialist. I think a lot of people are Anarchist in order to disassociate with certain stigmas. There is nothing wrong with that. I think any anarchist doesn’t want fascist. I don’t want fascist. It is phrases about style. I have disagreements with Marx, Lenin, Mao, and I have disagreements with Anarchists. People have criticisms. I think many Anarchists don’t want to be red baited. I know I don’t want to be like the Soviet Union. It is all semantics; we can’t get caught up in that. We have to figure out how to organize. People want to have absolute control. All we can keep doing is trying.

AM: Thank you.
Boots: Thank you.

If you live in or around one of the following areas, get out there and support the Coup. Their music and live show will have you smiling and dancing with one arm around your significant other and the other a raised fist in the air.

7/19 Space Gallery – Portland, ME
7/20 Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
7/21 Phoenix – Toronto, ON
7/22 Wicker Park Festival – Chicago, IL
7/23 Stonefly Brewery – Milwaukee, WI
7/26 Casbah – San Diego, CA
7/28 Knitting Factory – Los Angeles, CA
7/29 Slo Brew – San Luis Obespo, CA
8/2 Berbatis Pan – Portland, OR
8/3 Nightlight – Bellingham, WA
8/4 Richards on Richards – Vancouver, BC
8/5 Sugar – Victoria, BC
8/6 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
8/12 The Independent – San Francisco, CA