Over the weekend, I received what might be the first Important Hip-Hop Album of 2006: The Coup’s Pick a Bigger Weapon (due out April 25 on Epitaph Records). By “important” I don’t mean good (although Pick a Bigger Weapon definitely is that). It’s important in terms of its message.
I hate to get righteous, but Boots Riley is a voice that needs to be heard. Hip-hop is missing the value of activism that made Public Enemy and KRS-One so vital and relevant. Boots Riley is the natural successor.
Pick a Bigger Weapon calls Bush to task (more than once), especially on Head (of State), in which Boots pictures Bush and Hussein as political (and, well, sexual) bedfellows: “War ain’t about one land against the next / it’s po’ people dyin’ so the rich cash checks.” There’s no reason Boots’ lyrical sedition shouldn’t incite the same fervor as Kanye West calling out Bush on national TV.
Guest spots on the album include Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and Black Thought and Talib Kweli (on My Favorite Mutiny).
Peep the Coup on MySpace.
The Coup | My Favorite Mutiny
I won’t lie, I don’t know the first thing about hip-hop. But thanks to your post today for the heads up, those tracks are killer. I’ll definitely be saving some emusic dl’s for April 25th.
this cd sounds really promising. Great post.
Yeah loving that track. I still might favor the new Soul Position as the best hip hop album thus far but its only an opinion. The Coup is a great. That Mutiny song is awesome.
great tracks!