Boots Riley
Encyclopedia
Boots Riley is an American
musician, vocalist, writer, and public speaker most known for being the front man and producer of The Coup
as well as the front man for Street Sweeper Social Club
.
. The family later moved to Detroit and then to Oakland. His interest in politics began at a young age, inspiring him to join the Progressive Labor Party and the International Committee Against Racism
.
In 1991 Riley founded the political hip hop
group The Coup
with fellow United Parcel Service
worker E-roc. Pam the Funkstress, DJ for the group, joined in 1992. Boots was chief lyric writer and produced the music on the albums. They released a song on a 1991 compilation album called Dope Like A Pound Or A Key along with fellow former UPS worker Spice-1 and future Thug Life
member Mopreme Shakur, then known as Mocedes. The album was released on Wax That Azz Records, which was owned by Pierre "The Beat Fixer" James, Too Short's DJ.
In 1991, he and other Hip-Hop artists created the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective. They put on "Hip-Hop Edutainment Concerts" which allied with and promoted the campaigns of community based organizations like Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP), Copwatch
, International Campaign To Free Geronimo Pratt
, and the Black Panther
Alumni Association. The Mau Mau Rhythm Collective was actively involved in the campaign to stop the FBI's "Weed And Seed" program (which was used in the '60s in conjunction with CoIntelPro
) from coming to Oakland. They used the growing popularity of their concerts to bring a large number of youth to take over a closed Oakland city council meeting and hold a public meeting.
In 1992, The Coup signed to Wild Pitch Records
/EMI
. The group released their debut album Kill My Landlord
in 1993. Two singles from that album, "Dig It" and "Not Yet Free", received play on BET
, Yo! MTV Raps
, and mix shows on national Black radio.
Also, in 1993, E-40
released the video for "Practice Lookin' Hard". It was a song based around Boots's lyric, "I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard" from the song "Not Yet Free" on Kill My Landlord. The video featured Boots Riley singing the chorus while he, Tupac Shakur
, and E-40 reflected light into the camera from a handheld mirror while dancing around.
In 1994, The Coup released their second album, Genocide & Juice
. It featured guest appearances by E-40 and Spice-1. Fueled by video play and some radio play for the single "Fat Cats And Bigga Fish", the album shot up the charts, but stalled when EMI suddenly absorbed Wild Pitch. At this point, E-roc left The Coup on amicable terms.
At this time, Boots decided to stop making music in favor of forming an organization called The Young Comrades, with a few other radical, black community organizers. The organization mounted a few important campaigns in Oakland which yielded some minor victories, such as the campaign against Oakland's "no cruising" ordinance. The organization folded and Boots went back to music.
1998's Steal This Album, released on indie label Dogday Records, was called "a masterpiece" by Rolling Stone
magazine. The single from that album “Me And Jesus The Pimp In a ‘79 Granada Last Night” was an 8-minute song about the grown-up son of a prostitute driving his mother’s killer to a secluded place in which to murder him. A novel, Too Beautiful For Words by Monique W. Morris, based on the story characters and \ descriptions in the song, was published by HarperCollins
in 2000. The album also featured a guest appearance by Del The Funky Homosapien.
In 2000, Boots, through his workshop on Art and Organizing at La Peña Cultural Center, led a group of young artists to create “Guerilla Hip-Hop Concerts” on a flatbed truck which traveled throughout Oakland to protest California’s Proposition 21. The workshop also distributed tens of thousands free cassettes of “The Rumble”, which he called "newspapers on tape".
The group's fourth album, Party Music
, was released on 75 Ark Records in 2001. It was re-released in 2005 by Epitaph Records
. Its cover art depicted group members standing in front of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as they explode. Riley is depicted pushing a button on a bass guitar tuner and DJ Pam the Funkstress is shown holding conductor's wands. The photo was taken in May 2001. The album was scheduled to be released just after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In response to the uncanny similarity of the artwork with the attacks, the album release was held back until alternative cover art could be prepared. The album hit #8 in the 2001 Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll- the most important year-end critic's list, was named “Pop Album Of The Year” by the Washington Post, and "Hip-Hop Album Of The Year" by Rolling Stone. The album included a guest appearance by dead prez
on the song "Get Up". Boots Riley released a controversial press release one week after the 9/11 events, which was later published in the book, Another World Is Possible. The press release stated that "last week's events were symptomatic of a larger backlash against U.S. corporate imperialism." The controversy surrounding the cover art, press release, and the lyrics from Party Music (specifically the song "5 Million Ways To Kill A CEO") led to Boots appearing on local network news affiliates all over the U.S. He also appeared on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes and ABC
's Politically Incorrect
with Bill Maher
. During this time, syndicated right-wing columnist and sometimes Fox News host Michelle Malkin
called Boots's lyrics “a stomach-turning example of anti-Americanism disguised as highbrow intellectual expression.”
In 2002, Riley taught a daily high school class, "Culture and Resistance: Persuasive Lyric Writing", at the School of Social Justice and Community Development in East Oakland.
In 2003, Vibe Magazine named Boots Riley one of the 10 most influential people of 2002.
That same year, Rage Against the Machine
and Audioslave
guitarist Tom Morello
invited Riley to be part of the "Tell Us the Truth Tour". The tour was meant to shed light on alleged monopolization of the media and the coming FTAA agreements. It featured acoustic performances by Riley, Morello, Billy Bragg
, Steve Earle
, Mike Mills
and Jill Sobule
. It was hosted by Janeane Garofalo
and Naomi Klein
.
Boots Riley was invited in Paris to play and record with Ursus Minor and Jeff Beck (on the Zugzwang album)
At around that time, he founded ShoYoAss Words, Sounds, & Pictures, a media company specializing in music and art that he calls "relevant to social change."
An episode of The Simpsons
called "Pranksta Rap
", with the score and music produced by Boots Riley aired in 2005.
In 2006, The Coup released Pick a Bigger Weapon
on Epitaph Records. The album was named "Album Of The Year" by Associated Press. It featured guest appearances by Tom Morello, Talib Kweli, Black Thought from The Roots, and Jello Biafra.
In 2007 and 2008, Riley toured heavily with New Orleans-based band Galactic
. The band performed Coup songs behind Riley's vocals and they also performed their collaboration, "Hustle Up". In 2008, while performing with Galactic in Norfolk, VA, police interrupted the concert and Riley was charged with "public profanity"- a charge that had, until then, never been used in its 26 years of existence. The case was thrown out of court, with the judge citing that the law itself was unconstitutional. At their next meeting, the Norfolk city council voted to get rid of the law in question.
Back in 2006, Morello approached Riley to form a band together under the name Street Sweeper. The duo who later changed their name to Street Sweeper Social Club
, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2009. They toured in support of it along with Nine Inch Nails and the recently reunited Jane's Addiction. Two songs, "100 Little Curses" and "Promenade", from their self-titled debut received rotation on Rock radio in major markets. On May 24, a press release went out announcing Street Sweeper Social Club as one of the headliners of the 2010 Rock The Bells
tour. Street Sweeper Social Club released "The Ghetto Blaster EP" in late July 2010.
In 2010 and 2011, Boots Riley recorded with Ursus Minor again on I will not take "but" for an answer and toured with the group in France.
Boots is also working on a script for a feature length film.
With Street Sweeper Social Club:
Other appearances:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician, vocalist, writer, and public speaker most known for being the front man and producer of The Coup
The Coup
The Coup is a political hip hop group based in Oakland, California. It formed as a three-member group in 1992 with emcees Raymond "Boots" Riley and E-Roc along with DJ Pam the Funkstress. E-Roc left on amicable terms after the group's second album but appears on the track "Breathing Apparatus" on...
as well as the front man for Street Sweeper Social Club
Street Sweeper Social Club
Street Sweeper Social Club is an American Rap Rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist/emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band has been testing songs out during Tom Morello's...
.
Biography
Boots Riley was born in 1971 into a family of radical organizers in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The family later moved to Detroit and then to Oakland. His interest in politics began at a young age, inspiring him to join the Progressive Labor Party and the International Committee Against Racism
International Committee Against Racism
The International Committee Against Racism was the "mass organization" of the Progressive Labor Party in the United States...
.
In 1991 Riley founded the political hip hop
Political hip hop
Political hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed in the 1980s. Inspired by 1970s political preachers such as The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy were the first political hip hop group...
group The Coup
The Coup
The Coup is a political hip hop group based in Oakland, California. It formed as a three-member group in 1992 with emcees Raymond "Boots" Riley and E-Roc along with DJ Pam the Funkstress. E-Roc left on amicable terms after the group's second album but appears on the track "Breathing Apparatus" on...
with fellow United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...
worker E-roc. Pam the Funkstress, DJ for the group, joined in 1992. Boots was chief lyric writer and produced the music on the albums. They released a song on a 1991 compilation album called Dope Like A Pound Or A Key along with fellow former UPS worker Spice-1 and future Thug Life
Thug Life
Thug Life: Volume 1 is the debut album by the group Thug Life, started by rapper Tupac Shakur, and was released on September 26, 1994. The album was originally released by Shakur's label Out Da Gutta Records. Due to heavy criticism on gangsta rap at the time, the original version of the album was...
member Mopreme Shakur, then known as Mocedes. The album was released on Wax That Azz Records, which was owned by Pierre "The Beat Fixer" James, Too Short's DJ.
In 1991, he and other Hip-Hop artists created the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective. They put on "Hip-Hop Edutainment Concerts" which allied with and promoted the campaigns of community based organizations like Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP), Copwatch
Copwatch
Copwatch is a network of activist organizations in the United States and Canada that observe and document police activity while looking for signs of police misconduct and police brutality...
, International Campaign To Free Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga , also known as Geronimo ji-Jaga Pratt born: Elmer Pratt, was a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party...
, and the Black Panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
Alumni Association. The Mau Mau Rhythm Collective was actively involved in the campaign to stop the FBI's "Weed And Seed" program (which was used in the '60s in conjunction with CoIntelPro
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
) from coming to Oakland. They used the growing popularity of their concerts to bring a large number of youth to take over a closed Oakland city council meeting and hold a public meeting.
In 1992, The Coup signed to Wild Pitch Records
Wild Pitch Records
Wild Pitch Records was a hip hop record label started in the mid 1980s by Stuart Fine and was eventually distributed by EMI and eventually acquired by Jay Faires, who tried to reactivate it as part of his short-lived JCOR Entertainment label...
/EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. The group released their debut album Kill My Landlord
Kill My Landlord
Kill My Landlord is the debut album by political hip hop group the Coup, released May 4, 1993 on Wild Pitch Records. Group leader Boots Riley provides all production and lead vocals, DJ Pam the Funkstress provides scratches, and E-Roc provides backup vocals. Kill My Landlord features the singles...
in 1993. Two singles from that album, "Dig It" and "Not Yet Free", received play on BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
, Yo! MTV Raps
Yo! MTV Raps
Yo! MTV Raps was a two-hour American television music video program, which ran from August 1988 to August 1995 through its original Yo! MTV Raps name and later by Yo! . The program was the first hip hop music show on the network, based on the original MTV Europe show, aired one year earlier. The U.S...
, and mix shows on national Black radio.
Also, in 1993, E-40
E-40
Earl Stevens , better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Vallejo, California. He is also part of the rap group The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. His solo debut album, Federal, was released in November 1992, after The Click's debut...
released the video for "Practice Lookin' Hard". It was a song based around Boots's lyric, "I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard" from the song "Not Yet Free" on Kill My Landlord. The video featured Boots Riley singing the chorus while he, Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, and E-40 reflected light into the camera from a handheld mirror while dancing around.
In 1994, The Coup released their second album, Genocide & Juice
Genocide & Juice
Genocide & Juice is the second studio album by Political hip hop group the Coup, which was released October 13, 1994, on Wild Pitch Records. The album is produced entirely by group leader Boots Riley, and features guest appearances from fellow West Coast hip hop artists Spice 1 and E-40...
. It featured guest appearances by E-40 and Spice-1. Fueled by video play and some radio play for the single "Fat Cats And Bigga Fish", the album shot up the charts, but stalled when EMI suddenly absorbed Wild Pitch. At this point, E-roc left The Coup on amicable terms.
At this time, Boots decided to stop making music in favor of forming an organization called The Young Comrades, with a few other radical, black community organizers. The organization mounted a few important campaigns in Oakland which yielded some minor victories, such as the campaign against Oakland's "no cruising" ordinance. The organization folded and Boots went back to music.
1998's Steal This Album, released on indie label Dogday Records, was called "a masterpiece" by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine. The single from that album “Me And Jesus The Pimp In a ‘79 Granada Last Night” was an 8-minute song about the grown-up son of a prostitute driving his mother’s killer to a secluded place in which to murder him. A novel, Too Beautiful For Words by Monique W. Morris, based on the story characters and \ descriptions in the song, was published by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in 2000. The album also featured a guest appearance by Del The Funky Homosapien.
In 2000, Boots, through his workshop on Art and Organizing at La Peña Cultural Center, led a group of young artists to create “Guerilla Hip-Hop Concerts” on a flatbed truck which traveled throughout Oakland to protest California’s Proposition 21. The workshop also distributed tens of thousands free cassettes of “The Rumble”, which he called "newspapers on tape".
The group's fourth album, Party Music
Party Music
Party Music is the fourth studio album by The Coup, an alternative hip hop group based in Oakland, California.The album was originally released by 75 Ark Records and has since been re-released by Epitaph Records after the group's signing in 2004....
, was released on 75 Ark Records in 2001. It was re-released in 2005 by Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
. Its cover art depicted group members standing in front of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as they explode. Riley is depicted pushing a button on a bass guitar tuner and DJ Pam the Funkstress is shown holding conductor's wands. The photo was taken in May 2001. The album was scheduled to be released just after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In response to the uncanny similarity of the artwork with the attacks, the album release was held back until alternative cover art could be prepared. The album hit #8 in the 2001 Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll- the most important year-end critic's list, was named “Pop Album Of The Year” by the Washington Post, and "Hip-Hop Album Of The Year" by Rolling Stone. The album included a guest appearance by dead prez
Dead Prez
Dead Prez stylized as dead prez is a hip hop duo from the United States, composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City, New York. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with socialist lyrics focused on both militant social justice and Pan-Africanism...
on the song "Get Up". Boots Riley released a controversial press release one week after the 9/11 events, which was later published in the book, Another World Is Possible. The press release stated that "last week's events were symptomatic of a larger backlash against U.S. corporate imperialism." The controversy surrounding the cover art, press release, and the lyrics from Party Music (specifically the song "5 Million Ways To Kill A CEO") led to Boots appearing on local network news affiliates all over the U.S. He also appeared on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect
Politically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
with Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
. During this time, syndicated right-wing columnist and sometimes Fox News host Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, and author. Her weekly syndicated column appears in a number of newspapers and websites. She is a Fox News Channel contributor and has been a guest on MSNBC, C-SPAN, and national radio programs...
called Boots's lyrics “a stomach-turning example of anti-Americanism disguised as highbrow intellectual expression.”
In 2002, Riley taught a daily high school class, "Culture and Resistance: Persuasive Lyric Writing", at the School of Social Justice and Community Development in East Oakland.
In 2003, Vibe Magazine named Boots Riley one of the 10 most influential people of 2002.
That same year, Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
and Audioslave
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello , Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk...
guitarist Tom Morello
Tom Morello
Thomas Baptiste "Tom" Morello is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act The Nightwatchman, and his newest group, Street Sweeper Social Club...
invited Riley to be part of the "Tell Us the Truth Tour". The tour was meant to shed light on alleged monopolization of the media and the coming FTAA agreements. It featured acoustic performances by Riley, Morello, Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Mike Mills
Mike Mills
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
and Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless...
. It was hosted by Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
and Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein is a Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization.-Family:...
.
Boots Riley was invited in Paris to play and record with Ursus Minor and Jeff Beck (on the Zugzwang album)
At around that time, he founded ShoYoAss Words, Sounds, & Pictures, a media company specializing in music and art that he calls "relevant to social change."
An episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
called "Pranksta Rap
Pranksta Rap
"Pranksta Rap" is the ninth episode of the The Simpsons sixteenth season, which originally aired February 13, 2005. It guest stars 50 Cent as himself, and Dana Gould as Barney Fife.-Plot:...
", with the score and music produced by Boots Riley aired in 2005.
In 2006, The Coup released Pick a Bigger Weapon
Pick a Bigger Weapon
Pick a Bigger Weapon is the fifth studio album by American rap group The Coup, released April 25, 2006 on Epitaph Records. Rolling Stone included the album at 49 in its list of the top 50 albums of 2006...
on Epitaph Records. The album was named "Album Of The Year" by Associated Press. It featured guest appearances by Tom Morello, Talib Kweli, Black Thought from The Roots, and Jello Biafra.
In 2007 and 2008, Riley toured heavily with New Orleans-based band Galactic
Galactic
Galactic is a funk and jazz jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.-Origins and background:Originally formed in 1994 as an octet and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a sextet of: guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio,...
. The band performed Coup songs behind Riley's vocals and they also performed their collaboration, "Hustle Up". In 2008, while performing with Galactic in Norfolk, VA, police interrupted the concert and Riley was charged with "public profanity"- a charge that had, until then, never been used in its 26 years of existence. The case was thrown out of court, with the judge citing that the law itself was unconstitutional. At their next meeting, the Norfolk city council voted to get rid of the law in question.
Back in 2006, Morello approached Riley to form a band together under the name Street Sweeper. The duo who later changed their name to Street Sweeper Social Club
Street Sweeper Social Club
Street Sweeper Social Club is an American Rap Rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist/emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band has been testing songs out during Tom Morello's...
, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2009. They toured in support of it along with Nine Inch Nails and the recently reunited Jane's Addiction. Two songs, "100 Little Curses" and "Promenade", from their self-titled debut received rotation on Rock radio in major markets. On May 24, a press release went out announcing Street Sweeper Social Club as one of the headliners of the 2010 Rock The Bells
Rock The Bells
Rock the Bells is an annual hip hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert features a lineup of high-profile alternative hip hop artists, often headlined by a more mainstream artist...
tour. Street Sweeper Social Club released "The Ghetto Blaster EP" in late July 2010.
In 2010 and 2011, Boots Riley recorded with Ursus Minor again on I will not take "but" for an answer and toured with the group in France.
Boots is also working on a script for a feature length film.
Discography
With The Coup:- 1991 - "The EP"
- 1993 - Kill My LandlordKill My LandlordKill My Landlord is the debut album by political hip hop group the Coup, released May 4, 1993 on Wild Pitch Records. Group leader Boots Riley provides all production and lead vocals, DJ Pam the Funkstress provides scratches, and E-Roc provides backup vocals. Kill My Landlord features the singles...
- 1994 - Genocide & JuiceGenocide & JuiceGenocide & Juice is the second studio album by Political hip hop group the Coup, which was released October 13, 1994, on Wild Pitch Records. The album is produced entirely by group leader Boots Riley, and features guest appearances from fellow West Coast hip hop artists Spice 1 and E-40...
- 1998 - Steal This Album
- 2001 - Party MusicParty MusicParty Music is the fourth studio album by The Coup, an alternative hip hop group based in Oakland, California.The album was originally released by 75 Ark Records and has since been re-released by Epitaph Records after the group's signing in 2004....
- 2006 - Pick a Bigger WeaponPick a Bigger WeaponPick a Bigger Weapon is the fifth studio album by American rap group The Coup, released April 25, 2006 on Epitaph Records. Rolling Stone included the album at 49 in its list of the top 50 albums of 2006...
With Street Sweeper Social Club:
- 2009 - NINJA 2009 Tour SamplerNINJA 2009 Tour Sampler-External links:*...
- 2009 - Street Sweeper Social ClubStreet Sweeper Social Club (album)-Chart performance:-Personnel:*Tom Morello - guitars, bass, background vocals*Boots Riley - vocals, lyrics*Stanton Moore - drums, percussion-Additional personnel:*Eric Gardner - additional drums on 100 Little Curses...
- 2010 - The Ghetto Blaster EPThe Ghetto Blaster EPThe Ghetto Blaster EP is the first EP from the rap rock supergroup Street Sweeper Social Club, released on August 10, 2010. It features covers of "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. and "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J as well a remix of the band's second single "Promenade." They also cover The Coup...
Other appearances:
- 1991 Dope Like A Pound Or A Key (Compilation)
- 1994 "Practice Lookin' Hard" from The Mailman by E-40E-40Earl Stevens , better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Vallejo, California. He is also part of the rap group The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. His solo debut album, Federal, was released in November 1992, after The Click's debut...
- 1994 "Streets Of Oakland" from The Big Bad Ass by Ant BanksAnt BanksAnthony Banks, known simply as Ant Banks, is a producer and rapper from Oakland, California.-Biography:As a child he took part in a band at school and from there learned to play a variety of instruments along the way. At school he only learned Classical, but at home he taught himself to play Funk...
- 1994 Zugzwang by Ursus Minor
- 2004 - Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume 1
- 2007 - "Hustle Up" from From the Corner to the BlockFrom the Corner to the BlockFrom the Corner to the Block is the fifth studio album by the New Orleans-based jazz fusion/funk group Galactic. Unlike the group's other albums, From the Corner to the Block is a collaboration with various alternative hip hop musicians. It was produced by Count, Ben Ellman and Galactic.-Track...
by GalacticGalacticGalactic is a funk and jazz jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.-Origins and background:Originally formed in 1994 as an octet and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a sextet of: guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio,... - 2011 I will not take "but" for an answer by Ursus Minor
- 2011 - "9/11 'til Infinity" from From the Dumpster to the GraveFrom the Dumpster to the GraveFrom the Dumpster to the Grave is the third studio album by ska-punk/anarcho-punk band Star Fucking Hipsters. It was released in 2011 on Fat Wreck Chords.-Background:...
by Star Fucking HipstersStar Fucking HipstersStar Fucking Hipsters is a punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands including Leftöver Crack, Ensign, and The Ergs!-Initial formation...
External links
- Boots Riley Twitter
- Street Sweeper Social Club Website
- Street Sweeper Social Club MySpace
- "Revolutionary Party Music" - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...