Pick A Bigger Weapon

Every so often, you come across a musician who not only produces great music, but has great substance and politics behind their music. The Coup are one of these artists. California based socially conscious hip-hoppers Boots Riley (vocals) and Pam the Funktress (tables) amazed me from the first time I heard their 06' release 'Pick A Bigger Weapon.' Then I read the liner notes. They state....

We are in a daily struggle against a soulless system. For many of us, that struggle is a solitary one- with the never ending rent race as a tactic, daily survival as strategy, and guaranteed food, clothes, and shelter as a long-term goal. Our weapons in this war are usually pitiful paycheques, hope-drenched hustles, mind-numbing medications, or frustrated fury that crashes and burns. We wage these battles indiviudually, all the while undertsanding that most of the human beings in the known universe are going through this struggle and have a common enemy- The Ruling Class: That group of wealth-and-power-mongers who are able to command decisions on such varied things as how many people the U.S. Military will kill in the Middle East, the price of coffee beans in South America, to how many hours you're going to have to work to put food in your family's bellies.

We all have to up the ante. These indiviudal daily struggles need to be fought collectively. Then we can win. Until then we will choose inadequate weapons, tactics, and strategies.

The name of this album (Pick a Bigger Weapon) came about while me and my woman were at a restaurant with the poet/publisher/all-around-bad-ass Jessica Care Moore. Dawnelissa was on her 3rd Grey Goose Martini and trying to order a 4th one when Jessica stopped her, saying "C'mon girl, pick a bigger weapon." Yeah, there it is. That's what we need to do. Pick a bigger weapon.

Pick up this CD if you haven't already. Good lyrics, good beats, great politics.