"Me And Jesus The Pimp In A '79 Granada Last Night" is somewhat of an epic hip-hop joint similar to the epic feel of "Fat Cats, Bigga Fish".. but this is much more serious. It's the story of a young boy whose mother is a hooker and Jesus,  his poppa, is a pimp.. This is a story.. I do not want to tell how it ends but the song changes in a cool way. First, the sounds of a Black Panther march is sampled yelling "Do you wanna ride? Oakland! Do you wanna ride tonight!" There's also a part which is sung by a woman through the mother's eyes : "You're too beautiful for words, You're too beautiful for words..." The beat very cool and the backing melodies via vocals are extremely flowing. This is a classic song...

"20,000 Gun Salute" sounds like typical west coast song at first but the sentiments are more revolutionary. The beat pumps and the orchestrations of the melody give it a real West coast feel. Boots raps the wild chorus: "20,000 guns salute- get rowdy like you gotta substitute - this slug's for Newt- Shut your mouth, don't pollute- Army of muthaf*ckas- we trying to recruit..." Though this song is inspired on the book "Negroes And Guns", it doesn't shine as bright and cool as the other joints.

"Busterismology" is another song which doesn't shine either but it has the revolutionary sentiments and it keeps the funk flowing... by no means is it corny... The chorus is not very musical however: "When we start the revolution all they'll probably do is snitch!", Boots repeats. This song is about the managerial class and Boots rhymes about working at a fast food and being forced to quite so he could not get unemployment.

"Cars & Shoes" is a wonderful track. Boots sounds like Too $hort with his voice all high. Instead of rappers flossing and boasting about how cool and expensive their cars are, Boots rhymes about how falling apart and junky his car is.. "..Stick your hand out and signal for a right- My window's stuck plus I got a broken turn light-.Naw, I ain't dippin, sometimes I get a stuck brake - Got a rearview attached with some duct tape..." This song is hilarious and incredibly funky as Boots exclaims, "My car is better than your shoes!" The hook is sung by the 2 Sistas: "If you get in my bucket, baby - you gotta sit on the flo' - and I ain't got no licence you know, I'm trying to duck the po-po!" . This is another modern hip-hop classic.. funny as a satire but brutally honest and realistic. E-Roc makes his appearance on the next song called

"Breathing Apparatus". Pam uses an old-skool beatmixed with some new stuff including Toni Braxton singing "Breathe Again... Oh, I'll never breathe again!" as Boots shouts: "Please don't let them f*ck with my breathing apparatus!" and E-Rock replies: "I ain't gonna let them f*ck with your breathing apparatus..." The scene has Boots in the hospital, on a respirator because he got shot but he's more scared of the doctors because he doesn't have insurance.  This is a cool song with a message.. It's fun yet sickly disturbing displaying the Coup's weird sense of humor mixed in with their social commentary. You'll never hear a song like this on any other hip-hop album....

"U.C.P.A.S." is the next song which stands for "Undas, Cops, Pigs and Sh*t" and features F.T.S. This is an alright song with three emcees and a typical Coup chorus: "Undas, Cops, Pigs and Sh*t. They be getting on my nerves, I'm about to have a fit. I need land, a place where no money spent. I kick back and live life immaculate..."   The piano loop is very cool.

The next skit is called "Pizza Man" who is played by Del The Funkiehomosapian. He's a repo man who poses as a Domino Pizza man. This sets up the next song called, "The Repo Man Sings For You" featuring Del The Funkie Homosapian. This a wild song... not the usual song you would find Del in... The beat is funky while it feels very glamorous and shiny though the subject matter is gritty. Del kicks it off with a dope rhyme in the character as the repo man: "...I'm just doing my job - Collecting on your debts, now you're losing a wad- cruisin' your wallet, whatever in your pocket book- all get took to my agency - now they payin me..." Del also sings the chorus in a menacing tone: "La-la la-la la-la-la la-la-la la-la, La-la la-la la-la-la la-la-la la-la..." This is an extremely unique song both funny, violent, dramatic, and realistic. The truth of it makes it so great. It's unlike any rap song out there. Del has been one of my favorite emcees since "No Need For Alarm" and I was stoked that he popped up on The Coup album.. It was like it was meant to be..

"Underdogs" is led in by a woman screaming that she can't take it anymore.. The beat is very slow but cool. Though the lyrics and the voice isn't the coolest, the sentiments are very cool. The chorus goes like this: "This is for my folkers who got bills overdue. This is for my folkers check -one-two- This is for my folkers never live like a hog, me and you, toe to toe, I got love for the underdog..." Boots paints a very vivid picture of poverty with his lyrics.   The only problem the song is too long and the chorus is repeated too much.

"Sneakin In" is a very short joint which is about how he sneaks into concerts, movies, and clubs because he has no money since the Repo man took all his stuff. The beat is quick and funky and there's no real chorus until the end which fades slowly and lightly into the next track which is a skit. Boots has some dope rhymes about trying to get on the guestlist: "...One thing I'll die for is being on the guestlist - I'm talkin bout a pissyfitm saying loud, explicit sh*t,- 'Cain't you read my name name, muthaf*cka! Ain't you literate', I be saying this even if it ain' legitimate..." It's a cool song but way too short...
The next is a skit caled "Do My Thing" which sets up the next song. I don't want to give it away but his thing deals with urine and old white men in graves...hehe.
"Piss On Your Grave" is a funk extravaganza. It's a rage fueled song which extremely quick trumpet and sax melodies and hard beats. The chorus is crazy: "I wanna piss on your grave! Make it feel alright! Yah-yah-yah!" Basically, Boots pisses on the white forefathers who enslaved his African American brothers and sisters. It's a funny song with a cool skit in the middle of it but still, it's too long.

"Fixation" finishes the album off. This is a very tight song.. mellow and very cool with live instrumentation.. Boots uses the ending  "-ion" at the end of each line: "..I was on the verge of ejeculation - police performed a home invasion so I cut off the illumination and jumped up out the ventilation..." The guitar is amazing in this song and it caps the album off well.

Overall, this is one of the best albums of the year and many people will probably never hear it. The beats are all thick for the most part. Though the Coup is from Oakland, their sound on this album doesn't feel too West Coast.  The live instrumentation, though like the Roots, creates a very unique sound along with Boots' lyrics, The Coup sounds like no one else in the industry! The production, mainly by Boots, is top notch. The live instrumentation never gets in the way of the hip-hop and Pam is an excellent DJ who uses enough scracthes to entice the hip-hop lovers. Lyrically, Boots is extremely direct. He's political like Chuck D but funny like The Pharcyde. He's a revolutionary and a communist (ie. Breathing Apparatus). The red star in back of  the logo (The mother with a shotgun on her shoulder as she is holding a baby) is similar to that of the Red Army Faction or the Baader Meinhof Group, the revolutionary terrorists from Germany.. The album never gets too political nor too depressing. It gives hope and acts as a survival guide to living in these crazy times. Boots and Pam are one of the most original and creative groups in hip-hop today. Satires like "Cars And Shoes" are funny and clever while "Piss On Your Grave" is so out there that The Coup's individuality is a major reason I love them. E-Roc is one emcee who sounds like "every other rapper".. His absence makes this album great because it lets Boots have full control. Though he does well on "Breathing Apparatus",  if you remember the older Coup songs, the best ones are the ones where Boots is on his own like "Fat Cats, Bigga Fish", "The Last Blunt", and "Funk".  The album flows nice too. The second side, (starting with the "Repo Man Sings..." has many hidden skits in between each song which tells the story. Boots gets his stuff repoed, he has no money so he has to sneak in but he sneaks into a funeral for food and ends up pissing on the corpse of a major businessman. Now, what album has something like that? Though all the songs stand alone, some like "Busterismology" and "Underdogs" are too long. Still, the album is tight.   Boots is hardcore not because he wants to murder people but he is a revolutionary and is willing to piss on graves, and gather up an army of 20,000 gun-toting revolutionaries to get rowdy. He's hardcore for the inspiration of revolution and not for selling drugs and slapping women. He comments on the world as well as the hip-hop industry and he does not hold back. Overall, "Steal This Album" by The Coup is an excellent product. Though I do not listen to much west coast stuff (except for Pharcyde, Del, Hieroglyphics...), The Coup has a universal appeal while maintaining their Oakland origin. Their message is important so if you can, support the Coup, but if you don't have the skrilla, Steal it to support the revolution.

Beats: 9/10.
Production: 9/10.
Lyrics: 9.5/10.
Creativity/Originality: 9.8/10.
Album Flow: 9/10.
Hardcore Rating: 9.8/10.
[ Overall Rating: 9.4 / 10 ]