The sun may have been shining Thursday afternoon, but hip-hop lovers in the know were gathered inside a dimly-lit Jack Adams Hall to see one of the Bay Area’s most influential bands play.
Most of the seats were empty, but about 60 fans rushed the stage once Boots Riley, Pam the Funkstress and their three-piece band, otherwise known as the Coup took the stage. From the looks on each band members’ faces, they may as well have been playing for a sold-out arena.
“They have politically-conscious music and undeniably funky beats that appeal to all genres, not just people who like hip-hop,” said Jen Vaughn, a BECA lecturer who was dancing throughout the show. “But they’re still underground.”
Boots Riley, the MC and former SF State student appeared laidback and cool, with a full Afro, long manicured side-burns and a t-shirt that read Hyde Street Blunt Co.
“I used to go to SF State. I think I’m a junior or something,” Boots said to the audience, drawing some laughs.
Boots attended SF State from 1989 to 1992, but never graduated because his music career started taking off.
The Coup's unique sound is a blend of late-80s Too Short, “Dirty Mind’-era Prince, and the hyphy sonics of the new Bay Area movement, according to their MySpace page.
Boot’s lyrics are political, but humorous. His DJ, Pam the Funkstress, provides beats that are groovy, yet hard-core. Their new album, “Pick a Bigger Weapon,” has raised their profile thanks to collaborations with well-known artists like Talib Kweli. Yet the band has never compromised their 14-year-old career by trying to be mainstream.
Everyone started clapping their hands and shaking their hips to the latest single, “Laugh, Love, Fuck.”
“I’m here to laugh, love, fuck and drink liquor, and help the damn revolution come quicker,” Boots said as he stretched the microphone out to the crowd letting them sing along.
The band played dynamically, while putting on their best “thizz” face, frowning with attitude to the beat of the song.
They brought out a special guest for several songs named Silk- E, an attractive young woman with a raspy, soulful voice. She provided the back-up vocals for several songs and performed a solo ballad that gave a woman’s perspective on how the current political climate affects love.
“Baby, let’s make a baby,” she crooned. “Before Bush do something crazy…”
The band’s direct and uncensored approach to politics and social strife is something their fans can directly relate to.
“I love their music, their message,” said Chaka Smith, a health education major and ex-neighbor of Boots. “I really wish this were down in the quad. Conscious hip-hop should be heard by everybody, not just people in-the-know.”
Muata Kenyatta, the director of Performing Arts and Lecture, which sponsors the event, says that he knew Boots when he was a student here, so it was easy to have him come back to his old stomping grounds.
“I just had to ask them to put out some ‘funny’ incense,” he said with a knowing smile. “I’m not the police but y’know.”
