The Coup’s Boots Riley Was Charged of Using “Abusive Language”
Yup, the title says it all. This Epitaph’s hip hop artist, Boots Riley of the coup, has been charged of using “abusive language” during his performance at the Bayou Boogaloo & Cajun Food Festival. However, Riley said that the charges were racially motivated.
City Officials claim that they are making the statement that profanity will not be tolerated. Obviously, since no one has been charged with this in 26 years, profanity IS tolerated. The statement they are making is that the culture and the people they feel I represent won’t be tolerated. I was already off stage; the man they asked to leave the stage was Trombone Shorty, another Black man who looks nothing like me. This happened at 10:00PM
I stayed and debated the validity of the charge with police and festival promoters. It is clear that this is part of a larger debate that has nothing to do with profanity, one that is being dealt with nationwide. That debate is about racism, gentrification and the ownership of public space.
The coup released their last album in 2006 titled “Pick Up A Bigger Weapon” under Epitaph recording.
Tags: Boots riley, Epitaph, the cuop
Powered by FireStats