In the world according to Boots Riley, hip-hop fans dump thugged-out booty grinds in favor of revolutionary rhetoric.
Call it backlash, but this Oakland rapper says the Disneyfied fare that dominated entertainment in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, gave way to a climate in which kids clamor for music with a message.
That’s what “Boots” of The Coup has been waiting for. Beginning Saturday, his group plays three Colorado dates, reflecting its ever-broadening audience.
“People are tired of music that’s not even trying to be relevant to them,” said the lyricist, who is one-half of a Parliament- meets-Public Enemy rap outfit.
“It has to do with the times,” Boots said from the road. “People are hungry for music that touches their soul.”
Soul music is what makes The Coup’s politics so palatable. “Party Music” opens with “Everythang,” a streetwise call to action that slams capitalism and corporate corruption with new-wave samples and melodic, marching-band drums. Throughout the album, Boots spits anti-establishment verse over disco grooves woven by DJ Pam the Funkstress.
The music world largely didn’t get The Coup’s Black Power hip-hop in the 1990s. Boots was catapulted into mainstream consciousness in 2001 when his label at the time, 75 Ark, scrapped pre-Sept. 11 plans to release The Coup’s last album, “Party Music,” with cover art featuring the World Trade Center engulfed in flames. That coincidental image aimed at reflecting The Coup’s anti-capitalist politics became Boots Riley’s defining moment.
“If anybody had to get press for something like that, I’m glad it was me,” said the entertainer, who grew up in the shadow of the Black Panther Party. “I was able to be one of the few voices at the time speaking out against (war in) Afghanistan.”
But Boots is far from one dimensional. The rapper takes on a sweeter tone during “Wear Clean Draws,” a song crafted from a series of lessons one revolutionary-minded daddy imparts on his young daughter. Boots says:
“Life is a challenge and you gotta team up
if you play house, pretend that man clean up…”
The entertainer found activism long before getting into the rap game. He joined his first demonstration at age 15, supporting cannery workers in Southern California.
Boots carried that grassroots agenda into his music. Two years ago, he joined such celebs as Brad Wilk of Audioslave, Serj Tankian of System of a Down and Janeane Garofalo for a concert benefiting striking grocery workers in Los Angeles. Last year, The Coup was part of the “Tell Us the Truth” tour in which acts used the stage to challenge global trade and media consolidation.
That tour resulted in a documentary that screened at the Fourth Annual D.C. Labor Filmfest, where Boots appeared.
In this rapper’s world, the anti-war movement is becoming more organized, more vocal and more savvy. Artists who rarely revealed personal politics before – Kanye West, Mary J. Blige – now slip social commentary onto Top 40 radio.
“For a lot of years people thought quietly that they were against the way things were going, against bombing Afghanistan and attacking Iraq,” Boots said. “But things have gotten so blatant – the government’s power grab and thirst to dominate the world economy – that it’s obvious to the average person.”
Boots uses The Coup’s fan base to draw attention to networks like Worldcantwait.org, a group staging nationwide war protests in November.
“People can get involved,” he said. “There are movements taking direct action against some of the corporations and arms manufacturers.”
The Coup’s fourth album, “Pick a Bigger Weapon,” is due early next year.
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
The Coup
The hip-hop duo, composed of rapper Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funkstress, is enjoying a wider audience for its anti-establishment rap. Here are details on their area shows with Lifesavas:
DENVER|Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St; 9 p.m. Saturday|$15-$17; 303-544-5875, 303-297-1772, cervantesmaster piece.com
BOULDER|Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St.; 8 p.m. Sunday|$14-$16; 303-443-3399, foxtheatre.com.
FORT COLLINS|Aggie Theatre, 204 S. College Ave.; 8 p.m. Monday |$15; aggietheatre.com.
