Boots Riley

The opportunism of electoral politics makes people lie to each other.

— Boots Riley

Making movies seemed so impossible as far as getting my ideas funded.

— Boots Riley

Death to the pigs is my basic statement.

— Boots Riley

I was actually really good at telemarketing.

— Boots Riley

I'm not trying to make a speech on CD because who wants to buy that?

— Boots Riley

People give out compliments because it's polite.

— Boots Riley

I just make music based on what I believe.

— Boots Riley

I was an avowed professional revolutionary by the time I was 15.

— Boots Riley

Until we can democratically control the wealth that is created from our labor, there isn't real democracy.

— Boots Riley

The Obama campaign decimated the newly regenerated anti-war movement in 2008. And he definitely isn't anti-war.

— Boots Riley

I try to find creative ways to put ideas out to make the ground fertile for organizers.

— Boots Riley

Oakland has always had artists attempting to define the immense beauty and ridiculousness around them.

— Boots Riley

What I wanted to do is put forth, musically, the idea that there's hope that we can change the system.

— Boots Riley

I think that in order to make revolution, you need to make reforms, but you should make these reforms with revolution in…

— Boots Riley

The ultimate credo of capitalism is to exploit people. It's not like this is just an incidental problem; it's inherent in the…

— Boots Riley

I think there's something your hormones do that makes a chemical change in the way you think.

— Boots Riley

That existential crisis is something you rarely see portrayed by black characters; the idea that people think about their own existence and…

— Boots Riley

I used to get worried about writing a love song, because everyone else is doing them, and there are already enough of…

— Boots Riley

My father is from North Carolina, and he got rid of his drawl really fast. He's very much about speaking correctly, enunciating…

— Boots Riley

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

I grew up around politics. I organized my first campaign when I was 14, a walk-out in my high school to protest…

— Boots Riley

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

The point is, is that when you elect a politician, it has nothing to do with their personality. Politicians perform a function,…

— Boots Riley

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

Becoming a father made me a lot more sentimental than I ever was before. I never cried at movies before I became…

— Boots Riley

When people listen to Jay-Z, they're working all day or trying to work and pay their bills, and what they hear is…

— Boots Riley

The Occupy Wall Street movement, in general, by putting this idea out there that the one percent is leeching off the 99…

— Boots Riley

“If you press your ear to the turf that is stolen You can hear the sound of limitations exploding Please sir, may…

— Boots Riley

I've been involved in a lot of different kinds of projects. I've been on straight hip hop tours. I've been on underground…

— Boots Riley

What the media is playing is what people want is really a false idea. Capitalism and people who control the market have…

— Boots Riley

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

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

I think I'm a little superstitious.

— Boots Riley

I thought there were too many songs about people's personal lives.

— Boots Riley

In high school, everybody rapped. You just pounded on the table.

— Boots Riley

I think most people would love for us to be a socialist society.

— Boots Riley

No one has a copyright on working-class struggles.

— Boots Riley

The Coup does not support the American flag.

— Boots Riley

The tech world is not a new phenomenon; it's a new era.

— Boots Riley

You can't co-opt labor issues if you are in the working class.

— Boots Riley