Ms Malkin attempts to fan the flames by titling her column ‘Giving America A Bad Rap’ She then reports to her listeners that The Coup had a cover depicting the World Trade being blown to bits… They even went and dredged up the picture. The problem here is that The Coup had already done the album cover several months prior to the September 11^th Attacks. Plus they aren’t the first artists to ‘blow up the World Trade in both rhymes and pictures. The WTC had always symbolized everything from Capitalism to NY. When folks wish to show opposition they blow it up.  Lead rapper Boots who has long stated his problem with the oppressive nature of capitalism attempts to show it’s destruction by blowing up the WTC. At the time the picture was taken, no one including him would’ve imagined the horrors on September 11^th.

Ms Malkin goes on to describe that Boots protested the album cover being pulled after the September 11^th attacks. Now if you recall, when we interviewed Boots he stated that he understood why the album cover was being pulled, but he never went around and caused a big fuss and stink about it. He did say that he didn’t want the album cover being pulled to somehow mean that he was no longer against capitalism. He also spoke about the sincerity of those who would pull the album cover. He questioned whether or not they were concerned about protecting their bottom line or whether or not they had concern about victims of a horrific tragedy.

He spoke about the tendency for big corporations to do business as usual and never pull back when death and destruction occur all around the world, but now that it’s on our shores they suddenly want to empathize and show compassion. A death in Africa is just as painful as a death in America. It’s the loss of human life. He cited how some of these major record companies refused to pull out of South Africa when thousands were being killed and brutalized by an anti-black- Apartheid Regime. Many of the major record companies had no problem doing business despite the please of those suffering. Many continue to serve up degrading lyrics about rape and senseless gang killings despite the pleas from community leaders right here at home. The record companies hide behind the banner of freedom of speech. So why not now?  

Such questions put into context the Coup’s ’protest’. That’s a big difference between somehow implying that Boots was insensitive and unconcerned about those who died. If memory serves me correctly Boots lost people during that attack. He simply talked about folks being consistent on their position.   

This New York Post writer tries to rally people by quoting lyrics to The Coups first single 5 Million Ways to Kill A CEO. She acts horrified and can’t believe that a writer like David Segal would support such murderous lyrics. Ms Malkin conveniently overlooks the fact that Boots uses metaphors. In this case the fictional CEO in the song represents the oppressive boss who over burdens and exploits poor workers. In their mind that CEO who represents the worse things about capitalism, needs to be killed. The song is in the same vein of other Coup songs, most notably the popular song ‘Fat Cat Bigger Fish’. If Boots went out and advocated killing a particular CEO, she might be onto something. But here she’s reaching. That song is no different then Eric Clapton’s song “I Shot The Sheriff’, except its more graphic. Is that song no longer a classic because of the policemen killed on September 11^th?  Do video outlets stop renting movies like Towering Inferno because fireman died in those buildings?

Ms Malkin also gets upset at the fact that Boots describes a scene in the song ‘Shit On Your Grave’ where he stops to pee on the grave of George Washington while visiting the Arlington National Cemetery. She implies this is un-American and hence un-acceptable. Last I recall our esteemed first President was a slave owner who made no attempts to free the human beings who were owned by him. More then a 100 million died in during the slave trade. Boots should’ve done more then pee on the grave. As far as some people are concerned visiting the grave of a slave owner is like visiting the grave of a Nazi Concentration Camp guard. I don’t get her beef. One can’t pee on a slave owners grave?

All in all Ms Malkin seems to be part of this new ilk of self-selecting Patriots. She wants to lead a crusade against the Coup and this Washington Post writer who enjoyed their album Party Music while in the same breath say we have freedom of expression.  ‘Death to the Coup and Death to the Coup supporters!’, she seems to say. I wonder will she come after those who support the Sopranos or those who love Godfather Movies? After all they exude violence every week against American citizens.

In this country we are allowed to dissent and disagree and we have the freedom to like or not like. The Coup hasn’t done a song-praising bin Laden nor have they gone overseas to train terrorist or be apart of terrorist training camps. What’s this bad rap? She’s talking about. The beauty of America is that you can have zealot like Oliver North on one side of the room and Boots on the other and this country will still stand and survive. So why waste time attacking folks for expressing their opinions? Maybe it was a slow day and she like others who have nothing or worth to say needed the controversy of Hip Hop and its lyrics to put her name on the map. God Bless America.