Hip-Hop Artists Foresaw Attack On U.S.

The Black World Today ^ | 9/18/01 | Yemi Toure

[LarryLied]

They say, life imitates art. I say, if you want to see what the future holds, look within the progressive Black community.

Well, this is scary: A progressive hip-hop group produced a CD cover months ago that pictures the Sept. 11 explosions at the World Trade Center. The CD cover shows the two members of the group The Coup in front of the exploding twin towers. The picture shows the blasts at about the same floor level as the real explosions! The cover art was produced in July. The album, "Party Music", is due Nov. 6.

Coup member Boots Riley said in a statement: "All life is precious and this tremendous tragedy is by no means taken lightly by The Coup. This is a very unfortunate coincidence and my condolences go out to the families and friends of the victims."

The intent, he said, was to use the World Trade Center to symbolize the exploitation inherent in capitalism. The work was pulled and will not be on the album, but copies of the art had already been released to the media. It is flying around the Net and is printed in the October issue of the magazine Wired. I was able to get a copy before it was pulled.

The Coup's first album, "Kill My Landlord", got good play and sold well. The band holds forth with a nice mix of politics, culture and art.

No one knew that a progressive group like The Coup could predict the future. But the progressive Black community has always been a place to see signs of what is to come. Example: Back in the early 1970s, we were the first to use the term "African-Americans," back when that term was considered radical.

The Coup carries on the tradition. Maybe we can call them "Prophets of Rage."

[LarryLied]

CD cover is HERE.

[FReethesheeples]

Arrest them & hol them for a couple of years just for the hell of it!

They are vermin.

[Temple Drake]

"the progressive Black community has always been a place to see signs of what is to come.
Yeah, yeah, and they invented math, too. Please.

[Snuffington]

"Foresaw" the attack? That's a bit of a stretch. "Advocated" is more like it.

[BurkeanCyclist]

The intent, he said, was to use the World Trade Center to symbolize the exploitation inherent in capitalism.

That was at least part of the "progressive" terrorists' intent as well.

[DouglasKC]

[blam]

More low IQ dips#it's.

[JeremyM]

They're proud they coined the term African-American? Myself, I'm proud to just be an American....of course, I guess I could call myself a German-Polish-Welsh-Austrian American, if they so desire.

[Steve_Seattle]

"the exploitation inherent in capitalism"

These people must be morons if they can't see that capitalism brings prosperity. If they want to retreat to some Third World hell-hole, lets give them a reparations check and let them walk their talk - right out of the country.

[LarryLied]

Tech question: How did you grab the URL for the graphic? It would not show when I tried. This is occuring for me more often. Was it on "page source"?

[Paul Atreides]

How thoroughly irrelevant these "artists" have become. Never heard of them before, don't care to hear them now, and I don't ever wish to hear them in the future.

I posted the first thread about this group. They are rabidly anti-capitalist, hence the image of the WTC being blown up by one of the group members. Don't you know these staunch anti-capitalists give away their CDs?!

[tm22721]

I am thinking that their album cover gave Mr. bin Laden an idea.

BUMP

[Steve_Seattle]

Perhaps they more than "foresaw" the attack, perhaps they had actual knowledge of it. The government should investigate these pigs.

[seamus]

Don't you know these staunch anti-capitalists give away their CDs?!

Oh, really?

The Coup's first album, "Kill My Landlord", got good play and sold well.

[Paul Atreides]

I was being sarcastic about an anti-capitalist group who sells its product rather than give it away.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

"Kill My Landlord" was part of an Eddie Murphy sketch on Sat. Night Live years ago about a prison poet. Not only are these guys tasteless morons, they plagarize too!

[Mr.E]

The more I hear about this coincedence the more I smell someone trying to make some cash off of 9/11/01

[537 Votes]

We might be seeing a significant cultural change, in that the label pulled the album cover rather than blather about 'free speech' and 'artistic expression.' Middle America is mad as hell and isn't going to take it any more, and the Left is talking quietly and looking at its shoes.