The album 'Party Music' is a beautiful album, and people need to hear it. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I listen to everything from The Cure and The Clash to Prince and George Clinton. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Sometimes it takes time to get into what ideas actually mean to you. Even when you're not writing a song, it's like… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Either I'm really into the organizing, or I'm really into the music. As I've been going, I've been able to figure out… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
That punk approach of 'We don't wanna get big' is really a bourgeois thing. It's not a tactic of people that actually… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
What I wanted to do is put forth, musically, the idea that there's hope that we can change the system. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Music is first for me. How the music makes me feel, it's like energy. It has to match my life. What's happening… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I wanted to write a song about sexism, but I didn't want to do it in a mechanical way and be like,… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
If people come to a record store, and they can't find your album, they buy something else. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
When I was five years old, me and my cousin got into a fistfight because when "That's the Way (I Like It)"… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I just look at music as a retreat from organizing. It's like a tug-of-war with me. Music can be effective, but it's… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
What I'm trying to do is make music that people relate to, that talks about ideas that are personal but also make… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
The goal with a show is to push forward the passion in a visual and sonic way. It all comes out in… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I have tried to write songs quickly that get scrapped. I've also taken a long time on songs that get scrapped because… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I always write knowing that people will hear it, but also hoping they'll see it. So a lot of times I make… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
A record is a commodity, but so is a hamburger. Just because I work at McDonald's doesn't mean I reap the benefits… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
What I like about music is that you make a song, you've got your ideas in it, and people make that song… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
It's nice to be recognized for what you do, but that doesn't satisfy what I wanted out of this music, which is… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I think it's important for us not just to edit the culture that capitalism creates but to create the material basis for a culture… — Boots Riley Copy Share
What I'm trying to do is make music that people relate to, that talks about ideas that are personal but also make that connection… — Boots Riley Copy Share
I thought my parents were always having card parties - and they were - but they were actually also having meetings to organize people.… — Boots Riley Copy Share
Going to school in San Francisco, you're not going to meet as many people that are making films as you would if you went… — Boots Riley Copy Share
What I like about music is that you make a song, you've got your ideas in it, and people make that song part of… — Boots Riley Copy Share
What first got me involved in politics was being 14, and a youth organizer comes to my house with a van full of 14… — Boots Riley Copy Share
A lot of organizers tell me that while they are making signs or doing whatever they do, they are listening to the Coup. — Boots Riley Copy Share
When we were doing shows in the mid-'90s, the audiences were 95% black. What's happened now is the gentrification of hip-hop. A lot of… — Boots Riley Copy Share
You make art, you make it from what you know, and that's the best way to make art. You get lost in the details… — Boots Riley Copy Share
If the only time you bang the drum is when it's time to get someone elected, and you don't get involved in a mass… — Boots Riley Copy Share
