The Coup
Pick a Bigger Weapon
Led by Oakland, Calif., rapper and political activist Raymond "Boots" Riley, the Coup has made witty agit-pop since 1993's Kill My Landlord, updating Parliament-Funkadelic's ethos of funk music as social satire. Happily, Pick a Bigger Weapon is more of the same. On "Head (Of State)," Boots remembers America's participation in the Iran-Iraq War and that relationship's reverberating effects with the sing-songy chorus, "Bush and Hussein, together in bed/Giving h-e-a-d head/Y'all motherfuckers heard what we said/Billions made and millions dead." More typically, he explains how revolution begins at home, rapping songs like "Laugh/Love/Fuck and drink liquor/And help make the revolution come quicker" on "Laugh/Love/Fuck," and "If your job ain't payin' right, shut it down/If your car got 18's, let it pound" on "Shoyoass." The presence of longtime DJ partner Pam the Funkstress and several funky, live musicians keeps things popping without getting preachy. 4 Stars.
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The Coup plays Fri., June 16, at the Earl with T-Kash, Iselyfe and Zano.