There's a reason why Boots Riley, the mastermind behind The Coup, is sometimes called the Michael Moore of funk. While his music borrows direct inspiration from Parliament, Funkadelic, George Clinton and all the P-Funk golden years to create vibrant sounds, lyrics such as "I’m here to laugh, love, fuck and drink liquor / And help the damn revolution come quicker" or "Bush and Hussein together in bed / Giving ‘h-e-a-d’ head / Ya'll muthafuckers heard what we said / Billions made and millions dead" and songs like "Babyletshaveababybeforebushdosomethin'crazy" or "Ass-Breath Killers" ("you've been kissing ass too much") remind us that even the most upbeat and addictive music can have a strong interventive power. Pick A Bigger Weapon manages to be excellent in all levels. And considering the times we're living in, records like this don't deserve to be small curiosities or fait divers only. They should be given free at schools.
1 comment:
great album. i like what you're doing with your blog... we're on the same page. the coup is from my hometown and it's great to see them getting some recognition slowly but surely. check out their first album 'kill my landlord' if you can (and if you haven't already.) it is tough to find... maybe i'll post a song or two from it in the future. not as timely and 'relevant' cause it is older, but pretty intelligent music. i like seeing hip-hop breaking out of it's stupid narcissistic self indulgent phase and getting back to sticking it to the man. rock on.
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