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The Coup: Steal this Album Not many are familiar with the politically aware funked out stylings of East Oakland's militant trio The Coup. The lead rapper, Boots Riley, is an afro sporting, commmunism supporting, highly intelligent gifted rapper who mixes political knowledge and street tales like only Ice Cube has before in the late 80's and early 90's. Their 1998 masterpiece, Steal this Album, is one I would consider a must own. Here's a review of it: The Shipment Kicking things off, this song acts somewhat of an intro. The Coup brings in live musicians, including Dr. Blues, M.D., who plays a harmonica thru the whole song. Think of the breakdown of "Rosa Parks" going for a whole song. The song is comparing the shipment of his music to the stores like that of drugs from overseas. Boots is the producer, their are several live musicians, and Pam the Funkstress does some cuts and scratches near the end of the song. A very good way to start things off. Me and Jesus the Pimp in a 79 Granada Last Night Let's face it, not many rappers have great story telling abilities. Boots proves in 1 song he could be placed in a category with Slick Rick, Biz Markie, and MC Lyte. In a 7 minute jam, live musicians are once again brought in as Boots tells a fictional (I assume) tale of his prostitute mother and her boyfriend/pimp named Jesus, who he looks up to as a father figure. Very deep, very dope. Boots paints a picture, and you can't help but see everything for yourself like you're there in first person. Early in this long 3 part story, Boots breaks down the beginning, "Well since my adolescense, cuz of his pimp lessons/smack my woman in the dental just for asking silly questions/relationship reduction to either rock the box or suction/ain't got no close partna's, socially I can't function/From the pen he would scribe, on how to survive/"Don't be Microsoft be Macintosh with a Hard Drive"/Used to tell me all the time to "Keep a bitch broke"/did I mention that my momma was his number one ho? The hook is George Clinton yelling "Oakland do you wanna ride?" taken from the Parliament live in concert album. The next verse breaks down Jesus abuse and eventual killing of Boots' mother. Peep: "Even when she served for 50 dollars a pop/hardly had enough for rent after Jesus re-copped/That day the landlady got her rent before he got his knot/slammed mama's head against the front bolt lock/Then the pimp with one arm done harm/reached back and plowed into her head like a farm" Very descriptive and chilling, you don't even notice how incredible the beat is. The last verse tells the story of when Boots was an adult and Jesus was released from jail for some other crime, and Boots meets up with him. They're sitting in a Granada remembering old times, but Boots then flips the script: "Pulled into a vacant lot, the road to recovery/pulled out my pistol as we brushed against the shrubbery/Jesus said why the hell you pointin' a gat/So I pulled a piece of game I could use out the hat/I said this trip is over, we ain't fina ride on/this is for my mental and my mama that I cried on/Microsoft motherfuckers might let bygones be bygones/but since I'm Macintosh I'mma double-click your icon." I would easily nominate this as possibly the greatest story rap ever. Boots even brings up some distubing things that make you think thruout the song. 9 and 10 year olds are running around calling themselves pimps, and prostitution seems to be glorified in hip-hop. This cut finishes off with some cutting and scratching from Pam the Funkstess. 20,000 Gun Salute After Beavis and Butthead snippets get scratched up, (that kicked ass, yeah, that was fly) an average beat comes on and Boots warns Newt Gingrich and white America of the revolution. Boots is nice on the mic, but the beat isn't that great, and in comparison to the rest of the CD, this is easily overlooked. Busterismology Once again, live violins and harmonicas are brought in creating one of the funkiest beats I've ever heard. Boots talks about busta's and how they won't be included in the revolution. The hook is "When we start the revolution, all they'll probably do is snitch" I know I've heard that line before, but I can't remember where. "If you ain't talkin bout endin' exploitation/then you just another sambo in syndication" Busterismology is the study of busters and the way they act, as Boots prepares for war, even handing out his McDonald's manager a beatdown on his way out the door. Cars and Shoes Possibly the funniest rap song ever. The beat is ill, with flutes and live bass guitar mixed with wicked scratching and piano's make it very funky. Boots tells the story of just how run-down his ride is. "The radio gets one station on AM/It's chinese but if you listen you can catch what they sayin'" and "See me in my town, might think I'm a star/every 3 months in a different car/like the other day in a 81 Datsun/with my alternator rolling shotgun" Very rarely am I laughing hysterically at something I hear on a hip-hop CD, but this song had me rolling. A funny cut to break up the serious subject matter that fills the rest of the CD. Breathing Aparatus "Paging Dr. Kevorkian" is how this song set in a hospital starts off. The beat is decent, not outstanding, and E-Rocc, the group's 3rd member joins for his only appearence on this CD. Boots has been shot, but due to no medical insurance the doctors want to disconnect the machine keeping him alive. A dope song about how poor people are treated in the hospital. "If you ain't got insurance that be costin G's/they be actin' hands off like you got a disease" The hook is from Toni Braxton's "Breathe Again", (I will never Breathe Again) and Boots even manages to throw some dark humor into this one. "My medical plan was to not get shot" The song ends with Boots going flatline, and the doctor saying "I've been looking at the patients stats and it seems like he's lost his will to pay." "See I'm a communist, I tell your mama the truth," couldn't sum up Boots style better. U.C.P.A.S. "We don't make no damn Mickey Mouse music" is what's yelled out as another funky beat comes in. FTS, another underground East Oakland rap group joins, but this song is a typical Fuck the Police anthem, nothing special. "Undas, Cops, Pigs and Shit/They be gettin' on my nerves, I'm bout to have a fit" Not bad, but again, it's easily outdone by many other tracks. I'm really feeling this CD so far, but all of a sudden it shifts from 1st gear to 5th gear in the blink of an eye. Pizza Man (skit) Normally skits become fast forward material after a couple plays, but the skits in here tie in so well to the cuts that you don't even notice them. Here, Del tha Funkee Homosapian plays a repo man acting as pizza man to get into an old lady's house to reposess her TV. Real short and kind of funny. The Repo Man sings for you Del once again kicks a verse from the perspective of a Repo Man, "you missed a few increments/now we got to come and get your shit/if you slip on the payments/I get paid to make sure you pay rent" After a "la-la-la" hook over a wicked piano, Boots steals the show talking about busting the repo man in the mouth and then breaks down how banks operate and discriminate against minorities. Again, a clever idea that shows that Boots is a very intelligent person. Underdogs The Repo Man ends with a woman crying after finding out all her stuff had been repossessed, and that leads into one of the most heartfelt songs I've ever heard. This one could honestly bring a tear to your eye. Even Boots says "If this was fiction it'd be easier to write this." This is Boots' shout out to all those living in extreme poverty, very discriptive, and really makes you grateful for everything you have. "Heapin' spoons of peanut butter, big ass glass of water/make the hunger subside, save the real food for your daughter" Boots is rapping slow, almost speaking, over a dark beat with a somewhat gospel-like feel to it. "They say this generation made the harmony break/but crime rise is consistant with the poverty rate/You take the workers from jobs, you gonna have murders and mobs/A gang of preachers screamin sermons over murmurs and sobs/Sayin' pray for a change from the lord above you/They'd tear this motherfucker up if they really loved you" Boots basically says keep your head up, but doesn't lie and say it's going to get better. Again, this hits you hard and makes you think. One of the most moving rap songs I've ever heard. Sneakin' In Underdogs ends with a dude talkin' to his partner on the phone talking about sneakin' into an unnamed fucntion. Then things lighten up a bit as Boots tells a short story about things he's snuck into and methods he's used. Nothing special, but it's kind of funny and really breaks up the negative feel that the disc was on before it. Do My Thing (skit) This skit starts with Boots and his boy getting kicked out of a movie they snuck into. Then, while looking for free food, they come across a funeral of Filthy Richbags, a man who made millions paying his workers 6 bucks and hour. They sneak in and Boots does his thing. Pisses on the corpse... Piss on Your Grave ...which leads to the funkiest beat I've heard since Parliament themselves. Over live organs and horns and a funky ass hook, Boots gets politically incorrect. In the middle of this self-explanatory cut, Boots has a skit where he's visiting the grave of George Washington in D.C. Guess what he does? Yup. "That bitch ass on the front of the buck, never gave a fuck/forced his black woman slaves to give him dick sucks" This song has some funny moments, but once again it makes you think about how rich the business owners are getting off the working class. Fixation Somehow they saved the best for last. Over a guitar loop, Boots kicks 2 lengthy verses ending every line with a word that ends in "ation" Not just rhyming to rhyme, the song makes sense. "I was on the verge of ejaculation/police performed a home invasion/so I cut off the illumination/and jumped out the ventilation" 2 whole verses like that. Then the guitar gets cut and scratched up by Pam the Funkstess to close the song. The dopest beat, and the dopest lyrics saved for the end. "Spell the Coup with capitalization" Overall: This was the most thought provoking music I've heard since Death Certificate. 2 average tracks, and the rest was mindblowing. Even the skits fit in with the music and keep you entertained. Overall, I would call it a must have and recommend it to anyone. The production is as funky and well done as The Chronic, and the lyricism is better as Boots has become one of my favorite rappers. Too ill. I give it 5 out of 5. | |