If the only time you bang the drum is when it's time to get someone elected, and you don't get involved in… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I had no idea how much the stuff I was doing was affecting people outside Oakland. At the time, also, hip hop… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
When my daughter was born, that was the first time I cried from happiness. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
There's this zeitgeist happening, and people are more open to 'Sorry to Bother You' being a hit with 'Get Out' being out… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
I was born in Chicago. I moved to Detroit until I was six and moved to Oakland at that point. And then… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
It's usually important to me to get my idea out first because a lot of times my ideas will seem weird to… — 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
I think voting is the lowest form of political action that you can do. A lot of times, it keeps people from… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
One time, someone came up to me and said, 'I know so-and-so. They're a professor at Harvard. They're a big fan of… — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
Every progressive movement in U.S. history has been portrayed negatively by the media at the time it happened. — Boots Riley Copy Share Image
For me, the association with rock is one of force and anger and aggression. And definitely, in the past, I've made songs… — 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 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
