Raymond "Boots" Riley handles all of the production and most of the rap on The Coup second studio album, while Eric "E-Roc" Davis plays the role of second MC and Pam "The Funkstress" Warren takes care of the scratches. The Oakland trio doesn't jump on the bandwagons of gangsta rap or g-funk sound and come up with a project that is an evolution from their political debut: is still political, socio-conscious, against racism and in favor of greater socio-economic equality, but it plays a lot on irony (starting with the title-tribute to Snoop) and goes down more to a street-level in order to get its message across to a wider audience. The production of Boots Riley again deviates from the labels and aims to favor the solid lyricism of the performers as much as possible: delivered in a regular and relaxed style, the lyrics stand out among the best of the season in hip-hop. EMI isn't recognized among the most successful majors in the genre and doesn't adequately promote the CD, which stops far in the charts and gets less praise than it deserves from critics, remaining one of the many hidden gems in the extraordinary Wild Pitch catalog. 8/10.
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