The Coup

The Coup
The Coup in 2012
The Coup in 2012
Background information
OriginOakland, California, United States
Genres
Years active1991–present
LabelsWild Pitch, EMI, Dogday, 75 Ark, Tommy Boy, Warner Bros., Epitaph, ANTI-
MembersBoots Riley
Silk-E
B'nai Rebelfront
Hassan Hurd
J.J. Jungle
L.J. Holoman
Past membersE-Roc
T-K.A.S.H.
Latoya London
Grego Simmons
Pam the Funkstress (deceased)
DJO

The Coup is an American hip hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned political hip hop band aligned to radical music groups such as Crass, Dead Prez and Rage Against the Machine.

The Coup's music is driven by assertive and danceable bass-driven backbeats overlaid by critical, hopeful, and witty lyrics, often with a bent towards the literary. The Coup's songs critique, observe, and lampoon capitalism, American politics, white patriarchal exploitation, police brutality, marijuana addiction, romance, and disparities among races and social classes.