PureVolume

Members: Boots Riley, Pam the Funkstress, E-Roc (ex-member)

The Coup, politically radical and Marxist in their music, align themselves with other radical hip-hop groups like dead prez. Their music is characterized by electronic sounds and bass-driven backbeats overlaid by humorous, cynical and sometimes violent lyrics criticizing capitalism, American politics, prostitution, and police brutality, among other things.
MC Boots uses a refined, pimp-style flow to deliver calculated social commentary on a broad spectrum of subjects, from the realities of the ghetto to the corruption of the White House. The Coup drop political game and mack poetry for your mind, all with the goal of overthrowing capitalist society one street corner at a time. The music of this revolution is pure Oakland funk, but the band uses unorthodox instrumentation, including violin and harmonica, and the production is richly orchestrated and complex. In fact, if other rappers ever sampled Coup beats, they would probably find three or four tight hooks in each one. Completing the package is DJ Pam the Funktress, world-renowned for her turntable wizardry. The revolution may not be televised, but you can check it out online.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUDGxdeICw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v-rIWUAQuI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq8yZHJq3Bc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMsEDX9IosU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-liNf9GEt8A


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jf_8pHCqf4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6BJeoHilUI


The Coup is a hip-hop group based in Oakland, California. It formed as a three-member group in 1992 with rappers Raymond "Boots" Riley and E-Roc along with DJ Pam the Funkstress. E-Roc left on amicable terms after the group's second album, and The Coup is now a duo.

The Coup's debut album was 1993's Kill My Landlord. In 1994 they released their second album, Genocide and Juice. After a four-year recording hiatus, the group released the critically acclaimed Steal This Album in 1998, with a title reminiscent of anarchist Abbie Hoffman's Steal this Book, and a stand-out single in "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night". The online magazine Dusted called Steal This Album "the best hip-hop album of the 1990s".

On November 15, 2005, Tarus Jackson (AKA Terrance), who had joined the group as a "hype man", was shot dead during a robbery at his home in Oakland.

December 2, 2006 saw another tragedy for The Coup: About two hours following a performance at the San Diego House of Blues, the tour bus in which they were riding drove off the road and flipped over before becoming engulfed in flames. All passengers managed to climb out alive, though some were badly injured. They did, however, lose all of their clothes, computers, cash, identification, house/car keys and cell phones as well as all of their instruments and sound equipment. Since an insurance settlement is potentially a year away, they were forced to cancel the rest of their tour. They have set up a PayPal account on their Myspace page for donations.