Boots Riley

Early life

Raymond Lawrence Riley was born in Chicago on April 1, 1971, the son of Anitra Patterson and attorney Walter Riley. Anitra's mother was a Russian-Jewish refugee from Königsberg whose family fled the Nazis, while her father had mixed African-American and Native American (Wampanoag) ancestry. Walter was African-American. Riley has described his parents as social justice organizers. He moved with his family to Detroit at the age of one, before they moved to Oakland when he was six. He attended Oakland High School. When the school faced cutbacks in the 1980s, all but 200 of its 2,200 students protested by participating in a walkout organized by Riley and his friends. Interested in politics from a young age, he joined the International Committee Against Racism at age 14 and the Progressive Labor Party at age 15.

Career

Music

The Coup

In 1991, Riley founded the political hip hop group The Coup with E-roc. Alongside rappers Spice 1 and Mopreme Shakur (then known as Mocedes), they released a song on a 1991 compilation album called Dope Like a Pound or a Key, released by Wax That Azz Records. Group DJ Pam the Funkstress joined the following year. Riley was both chief lyric writer and music producer of The Coup's albums.

In 1992, The Coup signed to Wild Pitch Records/EMI, and released their debut album Kill My Landlord in 1993. Two of the album's singles, "Dig It" and "Not Yet Free" received play on national Black radio, BET and Yo! MTV Raps.

In 1993, E-40 released the video for "Practice Lookin' Hard", a song based around Riley's lyric, "I got a mirror in my pocket and I practice lookin' hard", from the song "Not Yet Free". The video featured Riley singing the chorus while he, E-40 and Tupac Shakur reflected light into the camera from a handheld mirror while dancing around.

In 1994, The Coup released their second album, Genocide & Juice, featuring guest appearances by E-40 and Spice 1. Fueled by video play and some radioplay for the single "Fat Cats and Bigga Fish", the album shot up the charts, but stalled when EMI absorbed Wild Pitch. At this point, E-roc left The Coup on amicable terms.

1998's Steal This Album, released on indie label Dogday Records, was called "a masterpiece of slow-rolling West Coast funk" by Rolling Stone magazine. The single, "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night", was an eight-minute song about the grown-up son of a prostitute driving his mother's killer to a secluded place in which to murder him. A novel, Too Beautiful for Words by Monique W. Morris, based on the story characters and descriptions in the song, was published by HarperCollins in 2000. Del the Funky Homosapien guests on the track "The Repo Man Sings for You".

The group's fourth album, Party Music, was released on 75 Ark Records in 2001. It was re-released in 2005 by Epitaph Records. The original cover art depicted group members standing in front of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center as they explode. Riley is depicted pushing a button on a bass guitar tuner and DJ Pam the Funkstress is shown holding conductor's wands. The photo was taken in May 2001, with the album scheduled to be released just after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In response to the uncanny similarity of the artwork with the attacks, the release was delayed until an alternative cover could be prepared. The album hit No. 8 in the 2001 Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll, was named "Pop Album of the Year" by The Washington Post, and "Hip-Hop Album of the Year" by Rolling Stone. The album included a guest appearance by dead prez on the song "Get Up".

Riley released a controversial press release on September 18, 2001, later published in the book, Another World Is Possible. The press release stated that "last week's events were symptomatic of a larger backlash against U.S. corporate imperialism". The controversy surrounding the cover art, press release and the lyrics from Party Music (specifically the song "5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO") led to Riley appearing on local network news affiliates all over the U.S. He appeared on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes and ABC's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. During this time, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin called Riley's lyrics "a stomach-turning example of anti-Americanism disguised as highbrow intellectual expression". The Independent concluded it was "protest album of the year, by a million-man march".

In 2006, The Coup released Pick a Bigger Weapon on Epitaph Records, featuring guest appearances by Tom Morello, Talib Kweli, Black Thought from The Roots, and Jello Biafra.

Work with Tom Morello

In 2003, guitarist Tom Morello invited Riley to be part of the "Tell Us the Truth Tour", which was meant to shed light on the monopolization of the media and the coming FTAA agreements. The tour, hosted by Janeane Garofalo and Naomi Klein, featured acoustic performances by Riley, Morello, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, Mike Mills, and Jill Sobule.

In 2006, Morello approached Riley to form a band together under the name Street Sweeper. The duo, who later changed their name to Street Sweeper Social Club, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2009. They toured in support of it along with Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction. On May 24, a press release went out announcing Street Sweeper Social Club as one of the headliners of the 2010 Rock the Bells tour. Street Sweeper Social Club released The Ghetto Blaster EP in late July 2010.

Independent work

In 1991, the same year Riley co-founded The Coup, he and other activists and hip hop artists created the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective. The Collective put on "Hip-Hop Edutainment Concerts", which allied with and promoted the campaigns of community-based organizations like Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP), Copwatch, International Campaign To Free Geronimo Pratt, the Black Panther Alumni Association, and various anti-police brutality projects. The Collective would use the growing popularity of their concerts to bring a large number of youth to take over a closed Oakland city council meeting and hold a public meeting.

In 2005, Riley produced the score for an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Pranksta Rap".

In 2007 and 2008, Riley toured heavily with New Orleans-based band Galactic. The band performed The Coup songs behind Riley's vocals and they also performed their collaboration, "Hustle Up". In 2008, while performing with Galactic, police interrupted the concert and Riley was charged with using "abusive language"—a charge that had not been laid in 26 years, and never before against a performer.

In 2010 and 2011, Riley recorded with on the album I Will Not Take "But" for an Answer, and toured with the group in France.

Filmmaking

In 2012, Riley finished a screenplay for "an absurdist dark comedy with aspects of magical realism and science fiction", inspired by his own time working as a telemarketer. He later secured financing to direct the screenplay and titled the film Sorry to Bother You (2018), a name it shares with The Coup's 2012 album, which Riley produced instead of the film at the time due to financial issues. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 6, 2018, by Annapurna Pictures. The film received acclaim for its screenplay, direction, concept, and performances.

In July 2018, Riley signed a television deal with Media Res. In June 2020, he announced a seven-episode surrealist comedy series entitled I'm a Virgo. The show premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2023, and was released on Amazon Prime Video three months later.

In 2021, Riley signed a two-year overall television deal with Media Res. He is currently working on a new film, I Love Boosters, which is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 22, 2026.

On January 11, 2026, Riley confirmed that he was working on a film adaptation of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play by playwright Anne Washburn.

Activism

Riley identifies as a communist.

When E-Roc left The Coup in 1994, Riley decided to stop making music in favor of forming an organization called The Young Comrades, with a few other radical, black community organizers including journalist and activist JR Valrey. The organization mounted a few important campaigns in Oakland which yielded some minor victories, such as the campaign against Oakland's "no cruising" ordinance.

In 2000, Riley, through his workshop on Art and Organizing at La Peña Cultural Center, led a group of young artists to create "Guerilla Hip-Hop Concerts" on a flatbed truck which traveled throughout Oakland to protest California's Proposition 21. The workshop also distributed tens of thousands free cassettes of "The Rumble", which he called "newspapers on tape.

In 2002, Riley taught a daily high school class, "Culture and Resistance: Persuasive Lyric Writing", at the School of Social Justice and Community Development in East Oakland.

During the fall of 2011, Riley became heavily involved with the Occupy Oakland movement. In 2018, he spoke at the Socialism 2018 conference.

At the 34th Independent Spirit Awards in 2019, Riley criticized U.S. involvement in the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis during his acceptance speech for the Best First Feature award for Sorry To Bother You. His speech, which was cut short, was delivered to the press.

In February 2020, Boots announced his support for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Riley is a supporter of Palestinian liberation. In 2022, he signed onto the Musicians For Palestine pledge, refusing to perform in Israel following the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. He signed an October 2023 open letter, Artists4Ceasefire, calling for a ceasefire during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. In September 2025, he signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."

Riley has defended the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, denouncing Tibet as a CIA-backed "feudal slave-owning society", with practices that China had attempted to stop before their invasion. The advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet criticized him for these statements.

Discography

Group artist

The Coup

• Kill My Landlord (1993)
• Genocide & Juice (1994)
• Steal This Album (1998)
• Party Music (2001)
• Pick a Bigger Weapon (2006)
• Sorry to Bother You (2012)
• Sorry to Bother You: The Soundtrack (2018)

Street Sweeper Social Club

• Street Sweeper Social Club (2009)

Solo guest appearances

• 1991 – Dope Like a Pound or a Key (Compilation)
• 1994 – "Streets of Oakland" from The Big Badass by Ant Banks
• 2004 – Zugzwang by Ursus Minor
• 2007 – "Hustle Up" from From the Corner to the Block by Galactic
• 2009 – "Soledad" from Este Mundo by Rupa & the April Fishes
• 2009 - "What I Need is Something Different" from What About Me by 1 Giant Leap
• 2010 – "M M M"; "Get On With It" from I Will Not Take "But" for an Answer by Ursus Minor
• 2011 – "9/11 'til Infinity" from From the Dumpster to the Grave by Star Fucking Hipsters
• 2011 – "Black Flags" by Atari Teenage Riot
• 2014 – "Pocket Full of Slave owners" by Muja Messiah
• 2014 - "Hickory" by Kool A.D. from Word O.K.
• 2014 – "Black Is Beltza" by Fermin Muguruza
• 2015 - "Jaruba Triangle" from Goddess in Yer Way by Howardian
• 2016 - "Booty Bang" by Angelo Moore from Centuries of Heat
• 2017 - "Hit or Miss" by Libretto

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. (July 17, 2018). "Boots Riley on How His Hit Movie "Sorry to Bother You" Slams Capitalism & Offers Solutions".
2. Kelley, Robin D. G.. (11 September 2018). "Sorry, Not Sorry". Boston Review.
3. Weiner, Jonah. (May 22, 2018). "How Boots Riley Infiltrated Hollywood". The New York Times Magazine.
4. (26 April 2006). "The Life of Riley". Easy Bay Express.
5. (17 May 2018). "Creative Activism: Conversations on Music, Film, Literature, and Other Radical Arts". Bloomsbury Publishing.
6. (2019-02-20). "Boots Riley: Activism Before Art".
7. (24 March 2020). "Boots Riley: The Coup, Sorry to Bother You, and more".
8. [https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/speakers/423418/Boots-Riley Boots Riley Biography] {{Webarchive. link. (2023-05-30. ''All American Entertainment''. All American Speakers Bureau.)
9. Espinoza, Joshua. 2017 December 29. "[https://www.complex.com/music/2017/12/boots-riley-shares-story-on-pam-funktress Boots Riley Shares Heartfelt Post Remembering Pam the Funkstress]." ''Complex''.
10. "E-40's 'Practice Lookin' Hard' – Discover the Sample Source".
11. (November 24, 2009). "E-40 – Practice Lookin' Hard".
12. (17 February 1999). "The Coup".
13. (9 November 2018). "The Coup's 'Steal This Album' Turns 20".
14. (December 9, 1999). "Coup de grace". The Arizona Republic.
15. (6 November 2001). "Party to the People".
16. (19 July 2018). "A Beginner's Guide to the Music of Sorry to Bother You Director Boots Riley".
17. "Album cover of WTC blast pulled". CNN.
18. (20 September 2001). "The Coup Cover Art".
19. Malkin, Michelle. (December 30, 2001). "Stop giving America a bad rap". Townhall.
20. (November 9, 2001). "Album: The Coup". Independent.
21. (23 April 2006). "Review: The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon".
22. (19 November 2003). "Can We Handle the Truth? Audioslave's Tom Morello Talks About Politically Oriented Tour". Boston Herald.
23. (25 November 2003). "Raging against The Machine".
24. (7 November 2003). "Steve Earle Speaks Truth".
25. (28 April 2009). "Tom Morello's Street Sweeper Social Club Posts First Single".
26. Cook, Dave. (1996). "Should rap artist run for political office?".
27. "[https://www.carleton.edu/news/stories/west-coast-hip-hop-artist-and-activist-to-appear-at-carleton-college/ West Coast Hip Hop Artist and Activist to Appear at Carleton College]." ''News''. Carleton College. 2008 January 25.
28. Riley, B. [BootsRiley] (August 23, 2014). 4those watching The Simpsons marathon: Episode 9 of Season 16, "Pranksta Rap" is scored by me. I did not write those raps tho. [https://twitter.com/BootsRiley/status/503240877070745600 Twitter]
29. . (15 August 2007). ["Galactic Announces Fall Tour with Boots Riley, Chail 2NA and Lifesavas"](https://glidemagazine.com/10065/galactic-announces-fall-tour-with-boots-riley-chail-2na-and-lifesavas/).
30. (30 June 2008). "The Coup's Boots Riley Talks Abusive Language Charges After Virginia Festival Scandal".
31. "Ursus Minor invite boots riley & desdamona".
32. Gross, Terry. (July 2, 2018). "Boots Riley Mines His Experiences as a Telemarketer in 'Sorry to Bother You'". [[National Public Radio]].
33. Lewis, Haley. 2018, July 13. "[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/boots-riley-sorry-to-bother-you-1.4742304 'The world was making my movie too on the nose': Boots Riley on his directorial debut]." ''CBC News''.
34. Busch, Anita. (June 15, 2017). "Tessa Thompson, Lakeith Stanfield, Steven Yeun To Star In 'Sorry To Bother You'".
35. Sodomsky, Sam. (22 June 2020). "Boots Riley Announces New TV Series I'm a Virgo Starring Jharrel Jerome".
36. Andreeva, Nellie. (2021-10-26). "Boots Riley Inks Overall Deal With Media Res".
37. Bentz, Adam. (November 3, 2025). "Demi Moore Sci-Fi Movie Gets First Look Image & Holiday 2026 Release Date".
38. "Boots Riley Is Adapting Anne Washburn's Simpsons-Themed Mr. Burns for the Screen".
39. Hughes, Casper. (January 3, 2019). "Boots Riley Talks About a Socialist Alternative for Society".
40. Kimble, Julian. (July 7, 2018). "Boots Riley's career of confronting capitalism finally hits the big screen with 'Sorry to Bother You'". [[The Washington Post]].
41. (April 4, 2019). "Artist and activist Boots Riley talks film, capitalism, social justice at Johns Hopkins".
42. (August 3, 2020). "Bay Area teenagers are taking the reins in the midst of recent rebellions".
43. (July 24, 1996). "Top Cop Says Cruising Law Needs Fixes / Oakland committee meets over youths' demands". Sfgate.
44. Pollard, Mark. "An Interview w/ Boots of the Coup".
45. (11 February 2020). "Make Change Now • Boots Riley Isn't Sorry to Bother You".
46. "Boots Riley | Speakers Bureau and Booking Agent Info".
47. [http://it.peacereporter.net/articolo/32086/Usa%2C+tensione+tra+sindacati+e+Ows "Usa, tensione tra sindacati e Ows"], ''Peace Reporter'', December 14, 2011.
48. (1 August 2012). "Oakland, the Last Refuge of Radical America".
49. "Seeing ahead from the high points of Socialism".
50. "Boots Riley Finishes Incendiary Venezuela-Centered Spirit Award Speech Backstage". Indie Wire.
51. "I have never voted for a candidate in my life. But I will be voting for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and the general election. If I'm doing that, there are probably tens of millions in that same position. Let me explain why I'm doing this now".
52. Press, Alex. (November 5, 2023). "Boots Riley: "The Only Answer Is Organizing on the Job"".
53. Voynovskaya, Nastia. (2023-10-30). "Bay Area Artists Raise $13,000 for Palestinian Children's Relief Fund".
54. "Our names".
55. "Artists4Ceasefire".
56. "Film Workers Pledge to End Complicity".
57. Betts, Anna. (2025-09-10). "Actors and directors pledge not to work with Israeli film groups 'implicated in genocide'". The Guardian.
58. Riley, Boots. "Aight. Here's a quick tutorial on how Tibet was a fuedal slave-owning society (practices China was pushing them to abolish) and how the CIA worked with the Dalai Lama and other slaveowners to keep those practices".
59. N, John. (2023-04-14). "When principles clash: Tibet, anti-imperialism and the left".