Happy 20th Anniversary to The Coup’s fourth studio album Party Music, originally released November 6, 2001.
I can think of few groups that spoke to the working-class poor as well as The Coup did. It’s been a constant theme through many of the tributes that I’ve written celebrating albums in the group’s discography. The duo of Raymond “Boots” Riley and DJ Pam “The Funkstress” Warren (R.I.P.) walked the walk as well as talking the talk. Boots has been on the ground level as an activist and organizer for decades, and even now, as a successful film director and screenwriter, he has never lost sight of the people he seeks to help nor compromised his values and message.
Boots began recording and releasing music as a revolutionary, and that doesn’t change on Party Music, the group’s fourth album. Released 20 years ago, it’s an album that’s only gotten better with age. With Genocide and Juice (1994) and Steal This Album (1998), the group portrayed how grim life could be in the United States if you’re poor and Black. The Coup conceived Party Music as a triumphant statement. Tales of lives being crushed by the system are replaced by messages designed to inspire the people to action.
Party Music was The Coup’s first and only album to be released through 75 Ark, Dan the Automator’s imprint. The genius of the project wasn’t properly acknowledged when it was first released, as The Coup had the unfortunate luck of releasing their most vocally revolutionary album during a point in time when the socio-political climate was dominated by faux-patriotic fervor and shrieking “America first!” jingoism. I maintain that Party Music should have made the group household names on the basis of Boots’ and Pam’s talent.
Party Music was the source of controversy due to its original cover artwork. The intended image, which the group shot and designed between mid-May and June, certainly grabs one’s attention. It depicts a smirking Boots and Pam standing in front of an exploding World Trade Center. Boots wields a digital guitar tuner, pressing a button on it likes it’s a detonator, while Pam wields a pair of conductor batons.
The album’s cover was literally going to be printed on September 11th itself and was halted by an actual “Stop the presses!” call. However, the image was available on 75 Ark’s website, and had to be used in advance press for the album’s impending release for numerous publications that had already reviewed the project. The cover quickly became fodder for saber-rattling media personalities to decry in the post-attack fervor.
As Boots said in multiple interviews, the cover was designed to represent capitalism being destroyed by revolutionary music. Of course, the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred just weeks before the album’s intended release. Elektra Records, who distributed 75 Ark, told the group to change the cover image in the wake of the attacks. Instead, they opted for an image that depicts a Martini repurposed as a Molotov cocktail.
In an interview with The Bay Guardian, Boots said he was in favor of keeping the cover as he had original conceived it. He believed that the post-September 11th press coverage was white-washing the U.S. Government’s past atrocities and enabling increased militarism, and he thought that by using the cover, he could continue that conversation.
“My condolences go to the families of the victims and all their friends and anybody affected at all by the catastrophe,” Riley later said in an interview with Wired. “But they can’t sidestep that the reason this is being censored is a political one, not a sympathetic one. It’s not out of respect to the victims.”
Though Party Music’s cover image was altered, the music it contained is as incendiary as anything The Coup ever released. Boots’ revolutionary zeal did not ebb four albums into his career, as he remained a staunch communist and anti-capitalist champion, advocating for the working class. He also retained his gift for storytelling and his ability to craft heart-felt rhymes dealing with complex feelings and ideas.
Party Music features Boots’ best production work. The group continue to use live instrumentation, but this time forgoes any replaying of well-known songs. The album features lush and dense back-drops, spawned from an interesting stew of funk, R&B, soul, electro, and rock. The music sounds equally inspired by Funkadelic, Cybotron, Graham Central Station, the Staple Singers, and Jesse Johnson.
Party Music starts off going full throttle. “Everythang” is a rowdy revolutionary anthem, built around a rousing hook and pulsating keys. “5 Million Ways to Kill a C.E.O.,” the album’s only single, turns disdain for the bourgeois into soul-sonic dance floor material. Over dense, swirling synths, Boots envisions ways to eliminate wealthy heads of corporations, expressing extreme disdain for the rich who continue to get richer as the poor suffer. “I'm from the land where the Panthers grew,” Boots raps. “You know the city and the avenue / If you the boss we’ll be smabbin’ through, and we’ll be grabbin’ you / To say, ‘Whassup with the revenue?’”
“Ghetto Manifesto” moves things from the disco to the Friday night house party, as the song sports heavy funk grooves, highlighted by a deep and resonant bassline. Boots lays down two of the best verses of his career, mixing humor with inventive imagery and wordplay. When not writing his “lyrics on parking tickets and summons to the court,” Boots continues to be ahead of the curve in antagonizing the future 45th president, g-checking the orange baboon while standing on his Bentley. Boots paints revolution as a celebratory experience, in lines like “The trees we got lifted by made our feet dangle / So when I say burn one, I mean the Star-Spangled / Let’s all get high from the income angle / Bump this at the party even if it ain’t the single.”
On the narrative side, “Wear Clean Draws” is Boots’ sincere letter to his daughter, offering her valuable life advice and encouraging her to excel. It’s heart-warming to see Boots work to impart her with feminist and progressive wisdom at such a young age, informing her that “tell your teacher I said princesses are evil / How they got all they money was they killed people” and “Life is a challenge and you gotta team up / If you play house, pretend that the man clean up.”
He also doesn’t shy away from warning her about the harsh realities of life, particularly imbalance of power in this country and the tyranny of “rich, white scary males.” But he’s sure to hammer home that “The revolution take time and space / But you as a woman gotta know your place / That’s in the front, baby, I’m being blunt, baby / If they get mad, say it’s they time of the month baby.” Musically, it’s the most outright soulful track on the album, as it’s perfect to lounge to or take to the dance floor and do the Cha Cha.
“Nowalaters” has Boots taking the perspective of a young man new to sexual relations with his more “experienced” girlfriend. The narrative feels lived in, as he describes what it’s like to be young and in lust living in Oakland. When he finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant, he vows to raise the child with her.
The “twist” comes when he discovers he’s not the father, as the baby “was four months early and around 10 pounds.” However, though he was “supposed to let my pants fall down and show my ass,” he demonstrates understanding towards the young woman who misled him. He recognizes the charade was born of fear and loneliness on her part, rather than malice or greed, and respectfully moves on.
Not everything on Party Music works completely, as there’s a few minor misfires. “Get Up,” featuring fellow hip-hop revolutionaries M1 and Stic.Man of dead prez, is perfectly fine on its own, but it doesn’t really fit in on the middle of Party Music. It sounds like a dead prez song featuring The Coup, rather than vice versa. Much of that is due to the fact that it’s the only song on Party Music not produced by Boots, but rather Tahir, who produced much of dead prez’s Let’s Get Free (2000). I wouldn’t be surprised if the track was originally an outtake from that project.
The album’s DJ cut, “Tight,” is a bit messier. Even though the track is designed to showcase Pam the Funkstress’ abilities behind the turntables, her scratches are mixed so soft that they’re all but drowned out by keyboards and vocalists. This is a shame, especially considering Pam’s presence behind the turntables is relatively lite throughout this project.
Party Music rights itself pretty quickly. On “Heven Tonite,” Boots details his thoughts on religious institutions based on their connection to the poor and downtrodden. He advocates for the churches to save lives rather than just save souls, declaring, “I ain’t sitting in your pews ’less you helping me resist and refuse.” Over an almost gospel-like guitar groove, he describes revolution as a spiritual end, portraying a society where those who lead the struggle achieve secular sainthood. He envisions a heaven on Earth where everyone has a home and garden, there’s “health care centers on every block,” and kids go to well-funded schools with 10 students per class.
“Thought About It 2” would sound at home on a mid-1980s Prince album, or at least on the back end of OutKast’s Stankonia (2001). Bay Area singer Martin Luther McCoy takes lead vocal, pouring his soul into the track, seeking salvation in this unforgiving world through the company of the object of his affection. The album ends with the apocalyptic “Lazymuthafucka,” where Boots rhymes from the perspective of an exploited worker, railing against the ruling class of United States, who make their billions off the sweat of the backs of millions like him.
Regardless of the initial controversial cover image, Boots’ content on the album is absolutely unimpeachable. These days, many people recognize that CEOs and billionaires often aren’t very good people, and that the disparity of wealth in this country continues to be a bad thing. The fact that Boots’ raps were decried as “un-American” by blithering talking heads demonstrated how pathetic meaningful politic discourse was during the early to mid ’00s. Fortunately, the group weathered the storm and continued to excel. As Boots continues to enjoy a new phase of his career, he can marvel at how he hit the nail squarely on the head with Party Music.
Note: As an Amazon affiliate partner, Albumism may earn commissions from purchases of vinyl records, CDs and digital music featured on our site.
LISTEN via Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube: