“Do you wanna ride tonight?” That was the question posed by Boots Riley of the Oakland, California based group The Coup at their show Monday night. The group, along with three other hip hop acts, performed at Washington, DC’s Black Cat. The weird, eclectic, mostly white audience did indeed want “to ride” but, at first, lacked the enthusiasm expected by the performers.
The show, which was part of the The Coup’s “Pick A Bigger Weapon” tour, was not just a gathering for music fans. It was part of the political “Not Your Soldier” campaign, an anti-war and highly anti-Bush movement that is trying to stop military recruiting on college campuses. The sense of activism was in the air. At the merchandise tables there were the standard T-shirts and CDs. But there were also books about anarchy (Emma Goldman’s biography was a favorite), activism and what to do when confronted by the police. Flyers and pamphlets informing on how to get rid of army recruiters on college campuses were also being passed out.
The Coup have already made their political beliefs clear both on their amazing new album, “Pick A Bigger Weapon” as well as in their concert choices. They performed at Operation Ceasefire, an activism-fueled concert that took place on the National Mall back in September, 2005. A year earlier, Boots Riley received the first AFL-CIO Arts and Activism Award for his work on The Coup’s “Tell Us The Truth” Tour. They are favorites among the DC (as well as national) activist circuit.
The show started off with a set from the DC-based Poem-Cees, who were accompanied by the ever awesome (okay, I’m biased) DJ Eurok. They were followed by Oakland artists Iselyfe and T-Kash (who a fellow writer referred to as “The Coup’s ‘weed carriers’”). Towards the end of his set, Iselyfe provided the audience with an impromptu spoken word poem about the trials and tribulations of the urban lifestyle which was well received by the suburban politicos and pseudo activists. T-Kash opened up his set with a song “Lex Luthor,” a political rap about the evils of corporate America. They ended their set with a speech in which they called Kerry a quitter, Cheney the actual president and Bush “Hitler.” This, of course, riled up the crowd a bit, as did the shouts of “we’re keeping it real.” But it was still very much a DC music crowd, fitting the reputation that DC audiences are notoriously underwhelmed by musical acts.
Article comments
1 - Myrna the Minx
Just saw the show in Reno and it was great. On the whole missing Pam thing....she runs a business on the side that prevents her from making some of the tour dates. Also, your show may have seemed tame but, that doesn't mean the lyrics were. In a way, the beauty of The Coup is that they can deliver their fire power and mix it up with humor and sex and everyday living. It may be why some of the songs seem tame--but they aren't. They don't need all that braggadacio gangster rappers seem to require. The words speak for themselves but are part of a bigger everday vibe.