Party Music

Party Music is the fourth studio album by The Coup. The album was originally released by 75 Ark Records and has since been re-released by Epitaph Records after the group’s signing in 2004.

The album, which was originally scheduled to be released in early September 2001, is best known for its original cover art, which depicted Boots Riley and Pam the Funkstress appearing to detonate the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. What appears to be a “detonating device” is in actuality a digital chromatic tuner, which is used in music to tune instruments or vocals during warm ups.

The art was created in June 2001. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, the album’s release was delayed until November 2001 to allow new cover art to be used.

In an interview with Seattle newspaper The Stranger, Boots Riley spoke about his fight to keep the album cover following the events of September 11th:

“There’s been a whitewash in the media over the past couple days over what the U.S.’s role in the world is, and the fact that they kill hundreds of thousands of people per year to protect profit. Now how can I get to the point where I could be saying that on the world stage, and interrupt the lies that CBS, CNN, NBC, and everyone is saying? In my view, that by keeping the cover. Not because I think by looking at the cover you get all of this message that I’m telling you, but as a way to have a platform to interrupt the stream of lies that are being told right now.”

—-> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/TheCoupCoverLarge.jpg